Page 139 of The Endowment Effect

Birdie considered this an opportunity to tell Mia about her grandparents and how they died. Then again, she was hesitant to broach the subject as her daughter was going through something with her dad, and she didn’t want to pile on with the fact her grandparents were abusive, religious zealots, who killed themselves by guzzling down cherry-flavored cyanide. Likely, blaming their oldest daughter of their religious woes.

Of course, her parents never attended the local church, spouting that they were too lenient. Claimed they failed to adhere to the true fundamental teachings of the Bible and created more weak-minded Christians than any saving of souls.

Still, Birdie made it a point to stay away from religious institutions. Christianity, Hinduism, Snake Charming, or otherwise. The thought of doing so, brought about what had to have been, level-ten post-traumatic stress symptoms.

“Butyou’lltake me. Right?”

No. No, no, no, no. She would take a bullet for her daughter. Throw her body in front of a wild boar chased by a panther. But take her to church?

She couldn’t do it.

Wouldn’t.

“Of course I will.” If she weren’t driving, she would’ve face-planted into the steering wheel.

“Good,” Mia said, with a high level of self-righteous vindication, pulling her phone from the pocket of her jacket and typing bullets through a text. “There. I told him I wouldn’t see him Sunday because you and I were going to church.”

“Okay.” Just great. She would have to come up with plan B. Maybe find a way to get Angus to take her or heal the rift with Lucas so she could bail.

Right now, she needed to get to the bottom of why Lucas didn’t want to take Mia. “You want to talk about what happened with your dad?”

“Nope.”

Birdie gingerly made a few attempts at conversation. After receiving some prickly mono-syllabic responses, she gave up and drove the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

Once pickingAngus up at the inn, he then returned the favor by dropping Birdie off at Bernadette’s, with plans for him and Mia to install locks on the service station doors. He made another attempt to convince Birdie he could stay with her, sleeping on a pallet on the floor.

She refused.

He continued to argue, stating he had money. There was no need for anyone to suffer the stark accommodations.

Birdie knew he loved the attention he received from the ladies during mealtime. Who was she to deny him such adoration at his age?

Mia wanted to say hello to Bernadette, but Birdie was running late and the meeting had already started.

She waved goodbye to the tall, redheaded Scot and her much smaller raven-haired daughter, vowing to check in later with her friend to see if Mia coughed up any new information on her dad’s issues with taking her to the local church.

After giving Bernadette a hug and the ladies a hello wave, she plopped down at the picnic table.

It was late morning, and she was exhausted.

And financially destitute.

And due for a mental breakdown of Biblical proportions at approximately nine o’clock on Sunday morning.

The ladies were all seated around the picnic table or in Adirondack chairs, going through their ideas for the infamous TikTok video.

Of course, everyone brought a covered dish.

No get-together between Southern ladies was ever without a tabletop steeped with Southern cooking.

She forced herself to pay attention as the women began to discuss ideas for the video.

“We could do a belly dance,” Pinkie suggested.

“We’re missing two things for that,” Willa Mae mumbled, “A waist and the ability to belly dance.”

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