“Well, then, just be a country girl and be happy. There’s baskets on the garden fence, for starters. Pick whatever you want before the birds get everything.”

“That sounds good.”

“And I don’t think you’ve enjoyed the pool yet. Take a dip, do laps, get some sun.”

Mary Beth hadn’t brought a swimsuit but she could make do with short shorts and a tank. No one would be looking.

“And of course there’s the hammock for doing absolutely nothing at all.”

“Sounds heavenly.” Mary Beth was grateful to not have to be a third wheel. Alma seemed to have recovered her customary cheerfulness in the presence of her old friend. It could be a while before she was able to come out to Brickell again.

“That’s settled, then,” Sheila declared. “Alma and I will leave in the morning and you get a whole day alone. But first you have to tell me more about yourself. Alma thinks the world of you, Mary Beth. I want to know what you do and what you like.” She pointed to the empty side of the settee. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Alma scooched over to make room. “Don’t worry. I won’t let her interrogate you for too long, Mary Beth. I hear that peach pie calling.”

“What the hell,” Sheila said. “Let’s have it for dinner with whipped cream. I don’t feel like cooking.”

Sheila had retired for the night, and Beau had followed her up the stairs. That left Shep to guard the household. The big dog was doing that in his twitchy dreams.

What with her nap, Mary Beth was wide awake. Alma was yawning. She’d set out two of the boxes that she intended to take home to Iminga and had finished going through the first one. Several piles of photos surrounded her.

“I’d rather paint a whole house top to bottom than sort through old snapshots,” Alma said.

“There aren’t that many.” Mary Beth was burning with curiosity. Bobby Joe had only a handful of family snapshots, mostly of him at various ages.

She very much wanted to know what Parr had looked like in college and in high school. As a kid. Even as a baby. Why exactly, she didn’t understand. Maybe to see certain character traits appear at different stages. He’d probably been a serious baby and then a stubborn kid. By his teen years, there would have been hints of his smoldering sexiness, once he’d fought his way out of the gawky stage. In college, well—he would be an earlier version of the Parr he was now, perhaps with longer hair in a trendy-at-the-time cut.