“Hello, Daddy,” she said. “I’m on my way to Granny Lizzie’s place. She’s left it to us three girls.”

“That’s probably for the best,” he said. “Your mother has been crying one minute and then yelling the next since you ran away. She can’t even hold her head up at the country club. You’ve made a mess of things, Lainie. You could have had such a good life with Eli, so it seems fitting that you have to live on the river in little more than a slum. It would be best if you call before you come back to see us. Give us time to forgive you for embarrassing the hell out of us.”

“Yes, sir,” she said and ended the call.

She was almost to Conroe when her phone rang again. This time it was Eli, and she let it ring four times before she finally answered.

“I’m very disappointed and upset.” Eli’s big booming voice startled her. “Why did you run away? I deserve an answer.”

“I figured out that I don’t love you,” she answered.

“Couldn’t you have figured it out a hell of a lot earlier?” His tone was so icy that it sent a shiver down Lainie’s spine.

“I did, but you are so controlling that you wouldn’t…” She pulled off at the next exit to get a cup of coffee.

“I wouldn’t what?” Eli demanded.

“Have let me break up with you,” she finished. “It’s over. I’m sorry I embarrassed everyone, but I’m not sorry I left. Goodbye.” She ended the call before he could say anything else.

“Granny understands why I ran away,” Lainie told herself as she parked and ran into the Love’s store for a cup of coffee. “I’ll try to suck it up and not gag at the smell of fish bait, but I’m not making any promises about getting along with Becky and Jodi. It would have been so much better if Granny Lizzie had left me money instead of a beer, bait, and bologna shop. Then I could have opened my own little restaurant anywhere other than Dallas and could have been happy working sixteen hours a day.”

Her phone rang just as she hit the Dallas noon traffic. When Becky’s name came up on the screen, she sighed loudly, pushed the accept button, and said, “Hello, how are things in Catfish?”

“Jodi and I have been here since last night. I opened up the shop this morning, and everything is in a mess. Jodi is still in the house trying to get awake. Where in the hell are you?” Becky’s tone was covered with a thick layer of ice.

“Coming through Dallas,” Lainie answered. “According to the GPS I should be there by two o’clock.”

“Well, don’t fart around,” Becky said. “I’ve decided that we’ll each take two days a week to open up the store at six in the morning, and whoever opens up can leave at three in the afternoon.”

“What gives you the right to make the rules?” Lainie asked.