Parr chose ham on a roll and Howard did too. She selected a pimento-cheese that didn’t look too lethal and nibbled cautiously on a corner once she’d gotten it unwrapped.

“All right. Here’s the deal,” Howard said when the box of cookies was passed around. “Parr, of course you know that Alma wants to stay here with me when she’s released, which will be ahead of Bobby Joe.”

Mary Beth spoke up quickly. “Which is fine with me.” Surely her dad didn’t think she’d be upset if Alma took up temporary residence in their house.

“I just wanted to be sure we all understand each other,” Howard said, looking a trifle embarrassed.

Mary Beth smiled at him. It was true that in all the years of her upbringing, no woman had ever been invited to dinner, let alone stayed the night. Her father was nothing if not discreet.

“Thanks.”

“And Parr—that means Bobby Joe would be back in your house fairly soon.”

“I don’t think of it as mine,” Parr said. “It belongs to my mother.”

“Well, I didn’t quite know how to say it and I don’t want to be giving orders here. I’m just conveying Alma’s thoughts on the subject, Parr.”

Mary Beth and Parr exchanged a look that expressed their mutual amusement. It was kind of funny that Alma and Howard felt obligated to be so cautious. The older couple’s affection was obvious to all, and if they thought it was a secret—or ought to be one—

Parr interrupted her thoughts. “I appreciate that, sir. You’ve been her rock.”

Howard Caine looked at his daughter. “Now, I’m not kicking you out, Mary Beth. You, ah, have your bedroom here just like always. Unless . . . well, you and Bobby Joe won’t have much privacy over there, what with the construction crew going night and day to finish up.”

Her dad wasn’t ever going to get used to the fact that she wasn’t a little girl. And Mary Beth respected him too much to push the point. She patted his hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.” She didn’t look across the table. It was easy enough to read Parr’s expression in the polished surface.

He didn’t seem overjoyed by the thought of her and his brother together at the Weston house, but since that was about the last thing she wanted, he didn’t have to worry on that score. If Alma preferred to stay with her dad, that was fine with Mary Beth. Besides, fooling around would probably be out of the question for Bobby Joe.

The arrangement made sense. For now.

“What do you think?” Bobby Joe leaned on his cane and gestured expansively around the first floor of the old office building with his free hand. “Are we going to get rich people in here or what?”