“These,” she said, gesturing to her breasts, “apparently come with expectations, and if you don’t live up to them. . .” Maddie shrugged.

“How did it end up in the paper, honey?” Sylvia asked.

“I told Mac about it, and he flipped out, especially since his brother was involved.”

“So he made them write the letters?” Patty asked.

Ethel stormed into the room. “What’s going on here?”

“Leave us alone, Ethel,” Betty snapped back.

The others watched nervously as the two women stared each other down.

Seeming to realize she’d interrupted an intense moment, Ethel spun around and left.

Sarah closed the door behind her.

“Mac forced them to write the letters?” Patty asked again.

Maddie nodded. “Unfortunately, he failed to mention anything about it to me, so we’re over.”

“No!” Daisy wailed. “You love him! You’re going to marry him!”

Maddie fought back tears. “I can’t marry someone who’d keep something like that from me. I just can’t, Daisy.”

The others got busy again with the sheets and towels.

“You guys don’t agree?” Maddie asked.

“It’s just that he came here and filled in for you,” Patty said. “That was so sweet.”

“And remember how nice he was to us?” Sylvia added. “Bringing us coffee and that one day he got pizza for everyone?”

“I know he’s a good guy,” Maddie said. “That’s not what this is about.”

“Honey, he wanted to fix it for you,” Betty said. “Granted he went about it all wrong, but he can’t help that. He’s a man. His intentions were good.”

“You guys think I’m crazy to break up with him over this.” She’d expected her friends to share her outrage.

No one replied, which spoke volumes.

“I told him that keeping things from me was a deal-breaker, and still he didn’t tell me about the letters or that he’d punched Darren, even after I asked him what happened to his hand.”

“You have to stand up for what’s important to you,” Sylvia said.

“Absolutely,” Daisy said.

If that was true, why was Maddie suddenly worried that she’d made a huge mistake?

On the way home, she stopped at the post office to buy stamps.

“Hi there, Maddie,” Mrs. Jergenson said with a friendly smile.

Maddie stared at the woman behind the counter. She’d been in there a hundred times over the years and never once had the woman who ran the local post office addressed her by name.

“How are you today?”

“Fine,” Maddie stammered. “Thanks.” She bought her stamps and went to the drug store. Since she didn’t yet have a basket on the new bike, she bought only a few essentials.

“Afternoon, Maddie,” Mrs. Gold said. “Nice to see the sun after all that rain this morning.”

Again, Maddie was rendered speechless.