“Let’s go in the house and get warm and get some coffee.”

“I need to use the bathroom.”

“Okay.”

I was unlocking the door when Sister came through the gate.

“Hey, y’all,” she said. “What’s happening?”

I gave Luke a slight push as the door opened. “Go on to the bathroom.” Then I waited for Sister.

“Was that Puke? Where did he go?”

“To the bathroom.”

“To throw up?”

“I hope not. Come on in.”

“Is something wrong?” She followed me into the kitchen.

“He says Virginia’s left him.”

“You’re kidding. Why?”

“He says for another man. But I don’t know any of the details. He just got here.” I reached into the cabinet and got the coffee. “And he looks like hell, bless his heart.”

“For another man? That’s interesting.” Sister sat down at the kitchen table.

“Interesting?” I measured the coffee into the Mr. Coffee.

“Sure. I wonder where she found him. Available men are as scarce as hen’s teeth in Columbus.”

I plugged in the coffeemaker and came to sit by her at the kitchen table. She was wearing a bright red sweatshirt printed with green frogs that leaped as she breathed. The effect was dizzying. Luke, I decided, given his predisposition to motion sickness, might be in trouble when confronted with this.

“Listen,” I said. “He’s very upset. And don’t you dare call him Puke.”

“You think I would be that rude?” The frogs jumped slightly.

“Just a reminder. You might forget.”

“Well, I won’t.” She drummed red acrylic nails on my white table. “Reckon what he wants with us? I still bet it’s politics and he wants money for Richard.”

“I think he just wants somebody to talk to, and we’re his only close relatives.”

I was wrong, of course.

Luke looked slightly better when he came from the bathroom. He had combed his hair and probably splashed cold water on his face. It was less puffy. He still looked bad enough to shock Sister, though, who said, “Puke, you look like hell!”

He nodded sadly and sank down into the chair opposite me. “I know. I don’t remember when I’ve slept.” He took his first look at Sister and shut his eyes. “Mary Alice, are those frogs jumping?”

“I’ll pull it off.”

“Thank you.”

She stood up, pulled the sweatshirt off, and folded it over the back of the chair.

“It’s just a white shirt now.”

“Thank you,” Luke repeated and opened his eyes.

His appearance was startling. Even though he had several days’ worth of beard, I could see his cheeks were sunken. Apparently he hadn’t been eating either. I got up, turned on the oven, and got a package of Sister Schubert’s orange rolls from the refrigerator.

“Patricia Anne says Virginia’s run off with another man,” Sister said. No beating around the bush here.