Miss Julia Stands Her Ground by Ann B. Ross Page A

just couldn’t wrap my mind around a picture of him on a treadmill.
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    We hurriedly finished dinner before the party guests arrived, and Sam good-naturedly took himself off for the evening. I didn’t think it was a good sign that men wouldn’t be welcome, but then they generally weren’t at an afternoon tea, either.
    Little Lloyd was able to come to the table in his bathrobe, but he didn’t have much of an appetite. Hazel Marie prepared a tray of iced ginger ale and soda crackers to put beside his bed, in case he felt like eating later on. As she ran to answer the first ring of the doorbell, I straightened his bed and propped up his pillows.
    â€œWe’ll be right downstairs, Little Lloyd,” I told him. “Just sing out if you need anything.”
    â€œI’m feeling a lot better,” he said, pushing back his glasses with one hand and reaching for a book with the other. “But I slept so much today, I probably won’t close my eyes all night long.”
    â€œOh, I expect you will.” I moved the lamp a little closer. “Don’t read too long, now. You need to rest your eyes, especially while you’re feeling poorly. Do you have enough blankets on your bed? I don’t want you to get chilled. Next thing you know, you’d be down with pneumonia or something.”
    â€œYessum, I’m warm enough.” He closed his book with a finger left to hold his place. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m a whole lot better, and I’ll probably go to school tomorrow.”
    â€œWell, we’ll see. Call me now, if you start feeling bad again.”
    I walked to the door, then looked back at him sitting up in bed with the lamplight making a halo of his wispy hair. We smiled at each other, and I pulled the door closed behind me.
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    By the time I got downstairs, Hazel Marie had welcomed six or seven women and was opening the door for more. I knew most of them, and knew of the rest. Helen Stroud was there and MildredAllen, but not Tonya, which I thought unusual since she generally accompanied her mother wherever she went. LuAnne greeted me with a flurry of hands and excited giggles.
    â€œJulia!” she said. “I couldn’t believe it when Tina called to change the party from her house to yours. Marriage has done wonders for you, because I didn’t think you’d ever be a party to a party like this.”
    So LuAnne knew more about the merchandise than I did, which didn’t allay my concerns as to its suitability in a mixed company of Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, and a few Catholics, as this group was shaping up to be. It was just not done to proselytize from one church to another, and I hoped Tina would keep her enthusiasm under control and not offend anybody.
    Moving through the crowd of women, I noticed that most of them seemed somewhat subdued, even shamefaced, with averted eyes and less than warm greetings to each other. Hazel Marie made an effort to introduce everybody, but she didn’t know half of them. I think they were mostly independents of one kind or another.
    Tina took her place in front of a card table and opened up a large black case on the table. As she organized her notes, I smiled at Miriam Hargrove and Kathleen Williams, who had just come in. They gave me a quick nod and took seats in the back of the room. It struck me that everybody had been remarkably close-mouthed about this party at the circle meeting that morning. And with that thought, I realized that Emma Sue Ledbetter wasn’t with us, though that didn’t exactly surprise me. She wasn’t very ecumenical in her thinking.
    â€œLadies,” Tina said, bringing to a close the murmur of voices among those present. “Ladies, tonight I am going to introduce you to some products that will literally change your lives. But before I show them to you, let me remind you that we are blessed to live in a time of greater