False Impressions by Terri Thayer Page A

there was any place in the room without a view of the TV.
    Rocky downed a shot and raised the glass to April as she left the room.
    Upstairs, Yost had thankfully finished his lecture on staying safe in Aldenville. April, for one, felt so much safer knowing he was on the job.
    She joined Mary Lou and Deana in the kitchen. “What can I do?”
    “I’m out of forks,” Mary Lou said. “Everyone seems to be using two at a time. Is it too much to ask that people hang on to their forks for dessert?”
    Deana and April looked at each other. “Probably,” they said in unison.
    Mary Lou smiled. “You’re right. That was a little crazy.”
    “Everything okay?” April asked as Mary Lou handed her a pile of silverware to dry. “You seem out of sorts.”
    “I’m fine,” Mary Lou said.
    Deana caught April’s eye and shook her head slightly. She was washing a glass plate that had held crudités. A pile of cream puffs was waiting to go on it. Mary Lou, opening a cupboard and the refrigerator simultaneously, grabbed a pile of paper doilies, indicating they should go on first. Deana complied.
    Mary Lou went out of the room carrying a plate of deviled eggs and a basket of pretzels.
    “What’s up?” April said as she disappeared. “What’s with the evil eye?”
    “Were you going to ask Mary Lou about her brother?”
    April popped a slice of jicama into her mouth. “Jeez, no. I’m just concerned about her. She and Kit are fighting. She bought a house for them that Kit’s not crazy about.”
    Deana said, “She probably just wants the best for her grandchildren.”
    “Sounds to me like she needs to back off and let the kids find their way.”
    “I guess it’s easier for those of us without children to see the right thing to do.”
    April looked at Deana and saw the sadness in her friend’s stance. She knew that Mark and Deana had been trying to get pregnant for months now.
    April put an arm around her friend. “Is it hard to see Kit and Logan, so young, with twins?”
    Deana dried her hands. “I don’t begrudge them, you understand.”
    “I get it.” April said, her voice catching. Deana deserved babies, lots of them, and it did seem unfair that she wasn’t getting pregnant as easily as she wanted. She and Mark were settled, making a good income at jobs that they loved. Their home had plenty of bedrooms waiting to be filled. Logan and Kit were living on the edge of poverty. Kit had a two-year degree in medical transcription from Penn State Lynwood but hadn’t worked for nearly a year. April was sure Logan didn’t make much. She did know that if it hadn’t been for the foreclosure Mary Lou found them, they wouldn’t be getting a house at all.
    “I wonder if we waited too long,” she said quietly. Mark, big and silent, appeared in the doorway. He seemed to know exactly when his wife was in need of a hug.
    April smiled at the sight of the two of them. Mark didn’t say much. He just took the dish towel from her hand and pulled her into his chest.
    “You two will make pretty babies,” April said. “How many, six?”
    “At least,” Mark said over Deana’s head. She giggled.
    “Pretty and smart,” April said. “Girls, so that Mark can be all wrapped around their fingers and I can teach them how to carve stamps and flirt with boys.”
    “They won’t be allowed boys until they’re thirty-one,” Mark said.
    “If my parents followed that rule, you and I would never have married,” Deana said. She gave him a push and went back to filling the plate with desserts. April put the silverware into the special holder Mary Lou had set out.
    Deana offered Mark a cream puff. He ate it off her fingers, smacking his lips. She grinned at him and handed him the full plate with instructions to put it on the dining room table. She washed her hands again.
    April said, “You’re just tired. You need a vacation. You and Mark need a week off. Can you take one?”
    “That would be nice. I thought Dad was coming up for a few