Matter of Wife and Death (Secrets from Lulu's Cafe Series)

CHAPTER 1 Lulu's Cafe Tuesday, January 16 12:01 p.m. Mimi Plaisance groaned as she pulled her green Freestar minivan into a parking spot in front of the friendly but divey Lulu's Cafe in Southwest Ohio's Cheeksville. The other women's cars were already there. She hated to be late, especially for these get-togethers -- the one point of sanity in an otherwise chaotic existence. Mimi prided herself on being punctual. Even while rearing three children -- now five, eight, and ten -- she had succeeded at keeping it "all together." Well, almost. Last year had been a bust. And this year looked to be more of the same. Worse, actually. All because of baby Milo. The child who refused to cooperate. Well, she wasn't about to miss her lunch date with her three best friends, Jennifer, Felicia, and Lisa -- all pastors' wives, like her, from churches in her hometown of Red River, forty miles from where they secretly noshed every other Tuesday. It was their only chance to get away from their nosy, busybody town. Because Mimi gave birth to Milo on December 22 -- the day of her church's live nativity and Christmas sing-along -- the four women had discussed canceling their biweekly gathering at Lulu's, at least until things settled down for Mimi. But they'd all quickly agreed: Their time together was worth juggling holiday schedules and maneuvering snow-covered back roads. Mimi was grateful; she desperately needed to get away and spend some time with adults. Being alone all day with a screaming, colicky baby and a whiny, ornery five-year-old in the afternoons was enough to make her pull out strands of her blond hair and tie their mouths shut. But packing up Megan and her newborn brother and getting them settled at the baby-sitter's was a real trick. Not to mention trying to avoid the snoopy comments and questions from Gladys, the nearly-seventy-year-old who watched the kids for her. Gladys had never before asked where Mimi dashed off to every other Tuesday. But now that Mimi had Milo, who was less than a month old, the upraised eyebrow and less-than-subtle judgments began. "It's not good for you to drive in this kind of weather -- especially since you have another baby ...Is Pastor okay with you runnin' off like this'...It must be somethin' mighty important for you to leave these babies every other week..." And on and on. Mimi tried to be as noncommittal as possible without being rude. Where she went was nobody's business -- even though the members at her church, Trinity United Methodist, tended to think otherwise. The one good thing about Gladys was that she didn't blab. Mimi's secret was safe. At least she hoped so. Mimi glanced at the dashboard clock. 12:02. Well, technically,I'm on time. She pulled her red angora scarf tight about her neck, just in time to see one of her "favorite" people come out the door of Lulu's. "Oh, great." She groaned and ducked to the side, hoping Katherine Katt, the notorious Kitty, wouldn't see her. Tap, tap, tap. Maybe if I ignore her, she'll go away, Mimi thought, even though she knew there was no escaping Kitty. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Mimi inhaled deeply, pasted her best pastor's wife smile on, and turned toward the window. There stood Kitty in her trademark bright yellow coat and gloves, both with black fur trim. With her black bouffant hairdo, Kitty resembled a giant bumblebee more than the pastor's wife of First Presbyterian, the oldest and largest church in the county. "Oh, hi, Kitty!" Mimi said as she opened the door to get out, acting as if she'd just noticed Kitty standing there. Kitty smiled her big, toothy grin. "If I didn't know you better, Mimi, I'd think you were trying to avoid me." She laughed and pulled her faux fur collar closer around her. "Not at all, Kitty." Mimi reached over, grabbed her purse, and held it up. "I was just gettKolbaba, Ginger is the author of 'Matter of Wife and Death (Secrets from Lulu's Cafe Series)', published 2008 under ISBN 9781416543886 and ISBN 1416543880.