home in the kitchen.
The first time she’d opened Meg’s empty bare refrigerator, she’d been horrified. At the ripe old age of twenty, Nicky had married a widower with three children and shortly after had two more of her own. Thus her house was always heaving with kids between the ages of ten and eighteen and their friends, not to mention three large dogs. Just to keep the family fed, she had two refrigerators stuffed to the gills.
More often than not, she arrived with a pie or a loaf of homemade bread or a bowl of fruit. Today was no exception. She carried a bowl of pasta salad. When she opened the door, she saw the expression on Meg’s face and immediately went into mother mode, even though she was six months younger than Meg.
“What is it?” she said with concern as she put her offering into one of the many bare shelves in Meg’s fridge.
“I went to the bank today,” Meg told her.
Nicky turned around and looked at Meg. “I take it that it didn’t go well.”
“No. I wanted to punch that weasel-face in the nose.”
“But you managed to restrain yourself, I hope,” Nicky said.
Meg sat down at the kitchen table with her glass of wine. Nicky grabbed a glass of water and sat opposite her.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Meg confessed. “In order to get contracts, we have to have equipment, but in order to get our equipment repaired we have to have contracts.”
“It’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
“The loan officer said the only way they could offer a loan was to mortgage this property. I just don’t know if I want to do that. What if I fail with the business? Then I’ll have nothing.”
Nicky patted Meg’s hand. “Things will work out. You’re just going to have to take it slow. You’re still getting work. Can’t you put some of the money back into repairs?”
Meg took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Yes, I can. If I don’t buy any new clothes or go out to dinner or get a dog, I’ll manage.”
“Honey, you don’t need new clothes, and if you want to go out to dinner or hang out with dogs, there’s always a place at our table for you.”
Meg smiled. She had felt guilty about not keeping in touch with Nicky. But their lives had taken such different courses that she just couldn’t imagine what they would have in common. She hadn’t reckoned with the fact that there was something about childhood friendship that stayed with a person. The embers of affection were still there in the heart, just waiting to be fanned. She was grateful to Nicky for stoking those embers.
“In fact,” said Nicky, “why don’t you pack up that bottle of wine and come over for dinner tonight? We can take my car and then someone will give you a ride home so you can relax and enjoy yourself.”
“You know what? I’m going to take you up on that offer. Let me just go change.”
Nicky grabbed her arm as she started to rise. “Nothing doing. You look fine just the way you are.”
* * *
It was definitely what the doctor ordered, Meg thought as she sat in the great room with her glass of wine. Two kids were sprawled on the floor, their eyes glued to some inane sitcom. Another kid sat at the dining-room table, the ear buds from his iPod blocking out the noise that surrounded him as he worked on a homework assignment. One very large Labrador sat on the couch next to Meg, continually seeking her affection. Every time Meg left off scratching the dog’s ears, he lifted his head and licked her hand.
Nicky sat on her other side. She had a yearbook in her lap. Meg reluctantly looked at the pictures. She had been quite the nerd in high school and really didn’t relish strolling down memory lane. But Nicky was having such a blast pointing out fellow students and recalling some of their antics that she soon had Meg laughing in spite of herself.
Before long another kid entered the room. Meg had met her on her last visit. Her name was Emma. She was tall and painfully slender with frizzy red hair and