It took her a second to understand, and then she quickly put the woman’s mind at ease. “Of course. We’re all fine. I just wanted to stop by and say hi. ”
The way the woman looked at her made Laura wonder, was the friendly gesture such a shock?
She went around to the passenger side and grabbed the bouquet of flowers she’d brought. There wasn’t a florist around for miles, so the daisy-carnation mix from the Raley’s in Silver City would have to do. “You and Pearl were so sweet, and I was such a crazy woman when I came to see you at the hall. ”
Pearl appeared behind her sister. “Is that Edith?” She adjusted her glasses.
“Laura Bailey’s come to pay us a visit. ” Ruby gave her sister a weighty look.
She kept the smile pasted on her face. This was getting ridiculous. Really, it couldn’t have been so very shocking to see her pay a friendly visit, could it?
“Flowers?” Pearl stepped forward, and the screen door slammed behind her.
“For us?” asked Ruby.
“Of course. I wanted to thank you for helping me with the building stuff. ”
“Oh, dear,” Pearl exclaimed.
Ruby looked too nervous to accept. “But you shouldn’t have. ”
“Well, I did. ” When neither sister took the flowers, Laura simply walked inside and brought them to the kitchen to snip the stems and put them in water.
Sunlight shone through the curtains, and though the yellow gingham was faded with age, it was no less cheery. She let go a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “It’s good to be here. ”
“You’re just in time,” Pearl told her as she led them into the sunroom.
“Just in time,” Ruby repeated. “We were sitting down to tea. ” She pointed to the side table, which bore a plate of sweets and a teapot that probably contained the same Lipton they’d been serving since she was a kid. “Pearl even made a plate of fancies. ”
“You made these?” She studied the homemade petit fours, momentarily tempted. There were several of them, each a tiny little cake with a hard frosting shell in pale pink or white. They were a bit lumpy and uneven but looked yummy nonetheless.
“Pearl did. ”
“How?” She took one for her plate to be polite, choosing a white one with an uneven pink bow.
“It’s a simple pound cake,” Pearl said proudly.
Ruby beamed. “But it looks like more, doesn’t it?”
“I used to use almond cake. ”
“But the taste was too much. ”
“Almonds are a flavor best reserved for liqueur,” Pearl finished, and the ladies tittered.
It was the Kidd sisters in a new light. She made a note to bring a bottle of Amaretto instead of flowers next time.
As Ruby poured their tea, Pearl leaned forward and put her hand on Laura’s knee. “You tell us. That old Wexler ranch still giving you trouble?”
She plucked a few packets of Sweet’N Low from a decorative dish. “How’d you guess?”
“Your brows. ” Ruby offered her the cup. “You keep frowning like that and you’ll get wrinkles. ”
“You’ve got to mind the elevens,” Pearl said, rubbing between her eyebrows to explain. She turned to her sister. “Remember how Emerald used to use those things at night?”
“Frownies,” Ruby exclaimed. “Our Laura could use some Frownies. ”
Pearl nodded. “Look into it, dear. ”