Chapter 13 - The View from the Club
On the other side of town, the Westlake Country Club was holding its annual mid-summer luncheon on the open-air terrace overlooking the golf course.
Eleanor sat at a round table near the shade of the grand oak tree, sipping a glass of iced tea with three other prominent socialites.
Theresa Stanhope walked past the terrace carrying a modest tote bag, wearing a plain cotton dress from a department store sales rack, her hair styled simply without its usual professional salon lift.
She had been forced to sell her Westlake estate to satisfy the civil judgments and legal bills, moving into a modest one-bedroom apartment in a suburban complex five miles north of the city limits. Her country club membership had been quietly revoked three months prior due to unpaid annual dues.
"Is that Theresa?" one of the newer club members whispered, pointing toward the parking lot where Theresa was waiting for a ride-share vehicle.
"Yes," Eleanor replied dryly, setting her teacup down on its saucer. "Poor thing. She spent ten years bragging about her son's restaurant, only to find out she was living on her daughter-in-law's charity."
"Did she ever pay back the fifteen-thousand-dollar lunch bill?"
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Eleanor chuckled into her silk napkin. "Oh, she paid every penny. She had to sell her grandmother's pearls to do it. And now Elena owns three new properties in the culinary district."
Theresa stepped into a silver compact sedan that pulled up to the curb, closing the door quietly behind her as the car drove away into the Texas heat.
