Him being Bobby Joe and his fiancée being her. Mary Beth didn’t know if she should cover her ears while she waited for the check or just throw down a twenty, pick up her shopping bags, and run. Her back was to the tree. By the rustling, Mary Beth guessed that Luellen was sitting with her back to it as well. Bobby Joe’s secret squeeze wasn’t the shy type and wouldn’t be talking to the leaves.

The friend’s voice was louder than Luellen’s. But no less unpleasant.

“Let’s order,” Trudy squawked. “Two Cokes to start.”

The unseen twosome hailed a waitress, selected their entrees, and got that over with. Then Luellen got started. “Bobby Joe told me that his fiancée is a little too inexperienced. It was obvious that he was desperate for some female attention.”

Mary Beth cringed inwardly.

“Which you were kind enough to provide,” Trudy said archly.

“Yes indeedy. In the storage closet.” Luellen giggled. “What a place for a rendezvous. Although nothing much happened.”

Her friend had nothing to say to that. Mary Beth wondered if Bobby Joe knew Trudy too. What would he think if he knew Luellen was dishing the dirt on their clandestine encounter out in public where anyone could hear?

Mary Beth almost didn’t care. She just wanted to get out of the restaurant, but that wasn’t possible at the moment. She heard a double thunk of two soft drinks being set down. The other women sucked noisily through straws and refreshed themselves before the gossip really got started. She listened with burning ears. Not all of it was about her.

“So my lawyer said that adultery is still a crime in Mississippi,” Luellen said, laughing. “I was amazed. But turns out that he’s right.”

The second woman rattled the ice in her glass, slurping the last of her Coke. “You mean you can go to jail for what you did?”

“Technically. But since DH—my darling husband—was cheating on me way before we separated and Bobby Joe isn’t even married, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue. Someone would have to sue for alienation of affections. It’s not going to be me,” Luellen cooed.

“Remind me why you married DH again. Were you crazy in love or was it just the bulge in those football britches?”

Luellen leaned back. “That’s a protective cup, as if you didn’t know. Basically an optical illusion.”

“I never got to investigate. Jocks didn’t like me.”

“Oh, you did all right, Trudy.”

The fake tree rustled as both women laughed. Mary Beth scooted forward away from them, holding on to the little table and moving it with her.

“He was hot while it lasted,” Luellen said without much interest. “But between you and me and the lady in the beauty parlor, I get bored fast.”

“No kidding. So now what?”

“We eat.”