Chapters (26)
“Oh, well, they got the eating part right,” Meemaw answers. “I suppose it’s not for me to comment on all the rest. But his woman’s here sitting at the kitchen table if you want to come in and meet her.”
Meemaw opens the door wider, and a Latina woman with her hair pulled back in a long ponytail comes waddling in. She's a teeny-little thing—probably no more than five feet tall, but she has a big box balanced on top of a nearly as big belly.
I jump up from the table and rush forward to take the box out of her hands.
“Thank you!” she says with a sweet smile. “Those are just a few things the other girls and me put together for you. Meemaw told us on the text chain that Waylon dropped you off without any clothes except for the ones on your back. A pair of scrubs? Did Waylon bring you here straight from work?”
I crook my head and squint as I open the box. She knows where I work? Or maybe she just assumed it because of what I arrived in their trailer park town wearing.
“Thank you so much for this,” I say either way. I’m too relieved about what I find inside the box to ask too many questions. There’s underwear and even a few sports bras that look like they’ll fit me. “I didn’t mind the scrubs at all. But I appreciate having something clean to wear while I figure out how to wash them.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Meemaw assures me. “I already put them in with my things. I’ll take them over to the laundry building right now while you’re at your new job. And, Lucinda, after you show her the way to work, can you get some bacon for me from Charlie? That’s what Waylon wants for his and Amira’s breakfast date tomorrow. I was thinking of making some Belgian waffles to go along with it. Maybe I’ll top them with strawberries and whipped cream.”
“Ooh, that sounds romantic and delicious,” Lucinda says, rolling the “r” on romantic. “And you know, they say strawberries are supposed to be an aphrodisiac.”
Okay, this line of conversation needs to stop now.
“It’s not a date,” I insist to the both of them. “And, Meemaw, you’ve already done so much for me. You don’t have to buy bacon or make anything special or wash my scrubs. If you show me where the laundry building is, I can do a load myself when I return from—”
I cut off, realizing I’ve missed a critical detail. “Wait, what do you mean, my new job?”