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the hardware store in a bit. And then I might put in a few hours on the Bartholomews’ deck this evening if the weather holds up. What are y’all up to today?”
    “Errands, mostly,” said Maggie. “And we’re going to the movies in Grover City this afternoon.”
    “That reminds me,” said Sarah. “I phoned in a prescription yesterday and I need to pick it up at the drugstore. Can we swing by there first?”
    Maggie and Dorsey exchanged looks of mild dismay. Sarah appeared taken aback by their reaction.
    “What?” she said.
    “You phoned in a prescription? Where was I?” said Maggie.
    “I don’t know, in the shower, I guess,” Sarah replied. “What’s wrong?”
    “Honey, this is a small town. And in a small town, everybody knows your business. We should have taken you over to GC to drop that off.”
    “But isn’t the pharmacist bound by some kind of confidentiality oath?” Sarah asked.
    Dorsey snorted, then mumbled “Sorry” as Sarah looked at her. Maggie continued to explain.
    “The pharmacist is, yes, but his wife isn’t and neither is anyone else who works in the drugstore. And somehow, sooner or later, things have a way of always getting out in this town.”
    “Well, I don’t care,” said Sarah, a little defiantly. “It’s too late now anyhow and it’s not like it’s anything I’m ashamed of.” Although she did, in fact, look a little unsettled. Maggie gazed at her with concern.
    Sarah said, “I mean, hell, half the women I know in Chicago are on Prozac and proud of it. Not that I am,” she added hastily, seeing the alarm on her cousin’s face. “My prescription is just, uh…well, to help me sleep, mostly. It’s okay, Maggie, really, it’s no big thing.”
    “Okay,” Maggie said, sounding not entirely convinced. “I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea about you. Dorse, you remember what happened with Velma Ray?”
    Dorsey laughed, but said, “Look, I’ve got to go to work, but I’m sure you’ll tell Sarah all about it. And I like your idea of a picnic—how about Wednesday?”
    The three of them agreed on Wednesday night at seven for their picnic at the Bartholomew farm. Dorsey took her leave of them and headed the few blocks downtown to the hardware store. She had to smile as she heard Maggie start to tell Sarah the story in her usual highly animated way.
    “There was quite the scandal when word got out that Velma Ray—she’s the twin sister of the Earl Ray we mentioned earlier who married Dorsey’s mom?—well, anyhow, word got out somehow that Velma Ray was on steroids. Which was ridiculous, because she’s just a tiny little wisp of a thing. So, turned out it wasn’t steroids, it was actually just thyroid medication and whoever started the rumor just got the ‘roid’ part mixed up, but even so…” Her voice faded in the distance.
    * * *
     
    By closing time, the day had turned dark and the front window of the hardware store was streaked with rivulets of rain. Thunder rumbled off in the plains as the storm moved eastward. Ira, the smaller of the two store cats, sat twitchy-tailed and wide-eyed on the counter, flinching a bit with each flash of lightning outside. George, the big surly gray, was asleep in the back on a pile of plumbing supply catalogs.
    It had been a slow afternoon, thanks to the rain. Two customers and only one of them had bought something. Dorsey ran a hand through her hair impatiently, feeling a bit frustrated and antsy. The storm had ruined her plan to put in a few hours on the Bartholomew deck project, so it looked like the highlight of her evening was going to be laundry. Whoopee.
    She stood at the front window of the store, watching the rain. It was dark enough outside that her reflection stared back at her in the window. Her reflection looked irritated too. She pushed an errant strand of her hair out of her green eyes for the hundredth time that day. Not a conventional beauty by Romeo Falls standards, she nonetheless had her