Secrets told in the church ladies' room are supposed to
stay in the ladies' room. But that doesn't mean that what Trudy overhears there
during her great-aunt Gertrude's funeral won't change the rest of her life.
Trudy has a daughter in the middle of a major rebellion;
a two-timing husband who has been cheating for their entire married life; and a
mother with Alzheimer's residing in the local nursing home. She doesn't really
need a crumbling old house about to fall into nothing but a pile of memories
and broken knickknacks.
Billy Lee Tucker, resident oddball in Tishomingo,
Oklahoma, lived next door to Gert, and in her will she leaves him the funds to
help Trudy remodel the old house. That's fine with Billy Lee, because he's been
in love with Trudy since before they started school. And just spending time
with her is something he'd never ever allowed himself to dream about.
A beautiful home rises up from the old house on Broadway,
and right along with it rises up a relationship. But is Trudy too scarred from
what she heard in the ladies' room to see a lovely future with Billy Lee?
A fun story of what happens when a cheated-on woman decides
to take charge of her life. In a funny, but also emotional scene, Trudy is at
her Aunt Gert's funeral when a trip to the ladies' room results in an unexpected
revelation. Any woman can empathize with Trudy's trials involving pantyhose and
bathrooms, which made the first part of the scene pretty darn funny. Laughter
turns to tears though, when Trudy overhears her gossipy cousins talking about
her husband's frequent infidelities. It seems that everyone in town except
Trudy knew about them, and no one bothered to tell her. When the reading of her
aunt's will provides Trudy with a slightly rundown house, and the funds to do
something about it, she wastes no time dumping Drew for a new start.
I liked Trudy a lot. She's almost forty years old, not in
the best of shape, but accepts herself the way she is. After twenty years of
Drew putting her down and stifling her personality, she's ready to break out,
and she does so with great enthusiasm. I loved watching her do her makeover,
from hair to clothes, to please herself and to hell with anyone else's opinion.
I laughed out loud when she stood up to her blustering bully of a husband,
especially when he came to take back her car. I liked how she stood up to the
people who had hurt her or made her mad, but she also didn't hold a grudge for
long (except for Drew). Her determination to restore Gert's house to its former
glory was great. I loved the parallels between the house and Trudy herself, as
the true beauty of each were revealed. A big part of those transformations was
Billy Lee.
Billy Lee was Gert's next door neighbor and a childhood friend
of Trudy's. He's very laid back and friendly, and most of the town thinks he's weird
and a bit slow. He'd had a close relationship with Gert, who left him the money
to fix up the house if that's what Trudy wanted to do. As the book went on, it
became clear that there was more to Billy than anyone suspected, even Trudy. He
has a kind and compassionate heart, which is especially evident in his dealings
with Trudy's mother.
I loved seeing the relationship between Trudy and Billy
blossom right along with the house. It starts slowly as a friendship that
deepens as time goes on. I loved their insistence on honesty with each other, believing
that burying issues would only lead to resentment - as Trudy well knew from her
marriage. I loved watching how Billy's belief in her abilities and support of
her actions gave Trudy new confidence in herself. It was easy to see how much
he cared for her in the things he did, from the "Gone With the Wind"
trip to the motorcycle rides to the furniture he made for her. I thought he had
the patience of a saint as he waited for her to feel the same way. I loved how
Trudy stood up for Billy to the people who talked badly about him. As their
friendship grew, Trudy realized that she had also been one of those who
underestimated him before she got to know him, and knew she'd never look at him
the same way again. She didn't realize how her feelings for him had changed
until a New Year's kiss opened her eyes. It was fun to see her frustration as
she wanted more and Billy went back to normal. The tension built to a sweet
ending as they finally came together the way they were meant to be. I loved the
epilogue, especially the surprises that it revealed.
The secondary characters were terrific. Trudy's mother
was a sweetheart, and I ached for her and for Trudy as they dealt with her
Alzheimer's. Her good days did a great job of showing the loving relationship
that they had. There were some lovely scenes with her and Trudy. I also loved
seeing her with Billy, especially the scenes at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I
didn't like Trudy's cousins at all during the first parts of the book,
especially with the way that they treated her. But Trudy's changes helped
motivate some changes in them, and by the end they redeemed themselves quite
nicely. Trudy's daughter, Crystal, started as a whiny, spoiled brat. I
definitely didn't like the way that she talked to Trudy, especially when it
came to Drew. I cheered when Trudy laid down the law to her, firmly but kindly.
The changes in her by the end were very impressive, thanks to Trudy and Billy's
compassion and support. Drew, on the other hand, was a complete ass from start
to finish. He deserved everything he got.
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