Christmas Cake by Lynne Hinton

she said to Margaret.
    â€œWhy?” Margaret asked. “This is how we do things here, remember?”
    â€œI know, but with everything going on for you, you don’t need a sick child in your house,” Jessie replied. She turned to her friend. “How long have you had her?” she asked.
    â€œOh, you just missed Lana. And it’s fine. I’ve got an iron stomach, remember. I don’t ever catch these little bugs. I just get cancer,” she added, punching Jessie in the arm.
    â€œRight,” Jessie responded.
    Margaret could see her friend’s concern. “I’m fine,” she said, trying to reassure Jessie.
    â€œI know,” Jessie replied. “You’re going to be fine,” she added.
    â€œSo, where have you been?” Margaret asked.
    â€œWith Louise,” Jessie said. “I stopped by there after my walk.” She leaned against the table. “Beatrice put her in charge of the holiday cookbook and contest.”
    â€œWhat?” Margaret was very surprised. “Is Beatrice sick?” she asked, wondering if her friends weren’t telling her their own problems anymore, if they were protecting her from something.
    â€œShe’s just acting different,” Jessie said. “No, nothing’s wrong as far as I know,” she added.
    Margaret shook her head. “And Louise, is she sick?” She smiled.
    Jessie laughed. “I know, both of them are acting pretty strange.”
    â€œWell, I never thought I would see the day when Louise was handling a Women’s Guild project that Beatrice started and then turnedover to someone else.” Margaret scratched her head in amazement.
    â€œWe live in different times,” Jessie announced.
    â€œThat’s for sure.”
    The two friends paused for a minute.
    â€œHave you told Charlotte yet?” Jessie asked.
    Margaret looked up at her friend. Then she turned back to notice the photograph on the refrigerator she had been studying earlier in the morning. She shook her head. “Not sure how to,” she replied.
    Jessie nodded. “You want me to call her?” she asked.
    Margaret considered the offer and then glanced up at her friend. “Since you’re here, why don’t we both call her?” And she turned to the little desk in the corner of the kitchen where she kept her address book and Charlotte’s phone number. “What time is it in New Mexico, anyway?” she asked.
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    Hummingbird Cake
    3 cups sifted flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon salt
    2 cups sugar
    1½ cups cooking oil
    3 eggs
    2 cups chopped bananas
    1 cup crushed pineapple (include juice)
    1 cup coconut
    1 cup nuts
    1½ teaspoons vanilla
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    Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir by hand. Pour into 3 greased 9-inch cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
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    ICING
    2 sticks soft margarine
    1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
    1 box powdered sugar (16 ounces)
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    Mix ingredients with mixer and spread between layers and on top.

Chapter Five
    W hen the call came in from North Carolina, Charlotte was trying to figure out how she was going to fit one more person in the shelter. She was already over the occupancy limit, but she knew she was going to have to find one more bit of space. She was not going to turn anyone away.
    The hospital had called about a young woman earlier that morning. The social worker said that she had nowhere else to go and was recovering from the most recent and most dangerous attack from her boyfriend. She had a broken pelvis and two fractured ribs. She was young, not quite twenty, but she had no family nearby and nowhere else to go. She was over the age limit for foster care and the hospital wouldn’t keep her any longer.
    This victim, like so many of the others Charlotte served, had fallen through the cracks in the broken system that tried to assist battered women. Charlotte knew that if she didn’t find this woman a