Is Velma jealous that she hasn’t been asked to join the group? Why hasn’t she been asked? Brenda’s organized our group. “Velma. You can’t be suggesting that being a member of a red hat group had anything to do with May’s decision to leave Billie?” Grace shook her head. “May’s never discussed her personal life or problems at any of our gatherings. Mainly, we get dressed up in purple clothes and red hats and meet in a restaurant for dinner or lunch. One of our members is a great joke teller. We laugh a lot, and eat too much, and that’s about it.”

Velma sat back. Her face softened, and she smiled. “Personally, I don’t believe red hats and all that stuff has anything to do with what’s going on with May. It’s other folks that think that, but I just thought I’d throw it out, get your opinion. May was a year behind me and Brenda in high school. She’s always been an odd one. Nothing she did would surprise me.” She beckoned the waiter. “You want more tea, Grace?”

“No, thanks.” Grace decided not to ask in what ways May had been odd in high school. At some later date, she would ask Brenda.

Velma threw back her head. “Hey, I didn’t mean to ruin our lunch. We don’t hardly get to see one another. Tell me, how are Amelia and her new family getting on? Amelia seems to love that little girl, Sadie, as if she were her flesh-and-blood granny. That Sadie’s so pretty, and she seems right happy, always smiling and cheerful.”

“Yes, Amelia feels as if she’s the child’s granny. She adores her and Miriam too. We’re all happy for Amelia. She had no family to call her own—children, you know—until they came into her life.”

“We’re all glad it turned out well,” Velma said. “Amelia got any new photo shows coming up? Charlie and I always go to her openings. Amelia takes such good photographs.”

She didn’t wait for Grace’s reply. “And how’s Hannah doing? Charlie says he saw a taxi pull up to Max’s door this very morning. Max got company?”

“Now, that’s what I was going to tell you,” Grace said. “Max’s son, Zachary, and his wife came home unexpectedly. She’s about to have a baby.”

“And they traveled with her about to have a baby? Bet they wanted the baby to be born in the United States. They all do, those foreigners.”

“It wasn’t that. There were serious problems where they lived in India—fighting, people getting killed—and they thought they’d be safer here.”

“In India? Fighting? How so?”