Good Woman Blues by Lynn Emery Read Free Book Online Page B

arched
eyebrows pulled together.
    “Very. Nadine will think I can’t go out
without a chaperone if she sees you.” Erikka put her shoulders back
and lifted her chin.
    “Good point. Go get ’em, girl.” Roz brushed
the lapels of Erikka’s pearl gray jacket and flashed an encouraging
smile. “You look like a million bucks.”
    “Really?” Erikka glanced at herself in the
mirror. Roz had helped her apply a layer of makeup especially
designed to hide scars.
    “Perfection,” Roz said, with vigor.
    After briefly pressing her cheek to her
mother’s, Erikka got out of the car. She smoothed her skirt and
made sure her white blouse was straight as she walked. By the time
she pushed through the glass double doors Erikka was on. She beamed
at the receptionist. Showtime.
    At six o’clock that evening Erikka sat across
from her two best friends at Deanie’s. The popular restaurant was
in Metairie, a small city that bumped up against New Orleans,
thanks to urban sprawl. Karin dug into the platter of onion rings
they’d ordered. Hope licked the salt around the rim of her glass
then sipped. The frozen margarita looked inviting. Erikka swallowed
with her as though tasting the tangy sweet drink.
    “So what the hell do people do in
Leroyville?” Hope said.
    “Don’t slip and say that in front of my Aunt
Darlene. She kinda got pissed about my joke.” Erikka forced herself
not to watch her take another taste.
    Hope drank a third of the margarita and
smiled. “I’m adjusted after a rough day in the corporate coal
mines. Now why is your aunt so touchy?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe because she likes living
in Loreauville.” Erikka drank more strong iced tea. A poor
substitute that didn’t quench her thirst. Maybe a daiquiri wouldn’t
be so bad.
    “Hard to believe.” Hope picked up an onion
ring and took a small bite.
    “People do actually enjoy living in places
other than New Orleans, Hope.” Erikka shook her head. Her friends
were typical natives. They didn’t think much of the quality of life
anywhere else in the state.
    Karin shrugged. “I could go for a little
country atmosphere.”
    “Please. I got fifty phone calls the first
week you were at your grandmother’s house in Mississippi. ‘Girl,
Granny is driving me crazy cleaning up every two minutes. There is
nothing to do out here in Podunkville.’ ” Erikka did her version of
Karin’s whine while pretending to hold a telephone.
    “I didn’t know when I was well-off. Dedric
did a lot better in school.” Karin’s face took on the strained look
she got whenever she talked about her seven-year-old son.
    “I was divorced and bored. You’re right.
Running away isn’t the answer.” Karin heaved a sigh.
    Hope waved a hand. “Waitress. Another one of
these and one for my friend.” She nodded to Karin’s glass.
    “I thought we were supposed to be helping
lift Erikka’s spirits?” Erikka stared at them.
    “Sorry. Bring a diet cola for me,” Karin said
to the waitress.
    “On a brighter note you can go back to your
job.” Hope broke off when the waitress arrived and put the drinks
on the table.
    “Our meeting should have been to bring me up
to speed so I could go to work Monday. Instead, Nadine insisted I
take my time and get more ‘rest away from the hectic pace.’ She was
vague about when she expected me back. Laurie is taking most of my
projects for now.” Erikka thought of her colleague and frowned.
Laurie’s warm smile had given Erikka a chill.
    “That’s a good thing. She wants you in full
form once you get back. Right, Hope?” Karin gave the other woman a
keen look.
    “Stop kicking Hope under the table. She
probably doesn’t get it anyway.” Erikka gazed at the way Hope
seemed more into her second margarita and a man sitting at the
bar.
    “What?” Hope blinked at them and proved
Erikka’s point. “Oh, girl, like I said, you’ve got a great future
with Lewis and what’s-their-names.”
    “Thanks. Don’t let me interrupt your