“Of course they will. What am I thinking of?”

I was damned if I knew. She was acting weird.

She handed me several one-dollar bills. “Get me some kind of sandwich and potato chips and a Coke.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t about to push my luck and tell her to get it herself.

I found the vending machines and got back with the food just in time to see the reason for Sister’s good mood. The emergency room door opened and a man in uniform swept in. He looked a lot like Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf with a little Willard Scott thrown in. He paused, Sister got up, and then they walked toward each other. I swear if this had been a movie they would have been playing something like “Unchained Melody” in the background.

They stopped about a foot apart and smiled.

“I got pimento cheese,” I said. “Is that all right?”

“Mouse,” Sister said. “This is Virgil Stuckey, the sheriff of St. Clair County. Sheriff, this is my sister, Patricia Anne Hollowell.”

He turned to shake my hand, realized I was balancing Cokes and sandwiches, and said, “Here, let me help you.”

Sister pushed magazines to one end of a coffee table and we put the food down. She and I sat on the sofa and Virgil Stuckey pulled up a chair.

“Do you know, Mary Alice,” he said admiringly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen purple boots before.”

The man was hooked.

Chapter Six

Chapter
Six

E-MAIL

FROM: HALEY

TO: MAMA

Philip says the testicle is called a neutercal, which sounds nutritious, like some kind of a drink with vitamins. He says obstetricians swear by them here. Debbie says she will send me a picture of David Anthony on the Internet right after he’s born. The hospital does it somehow. I can’t wait to see him.

I hope your jet lag is fine by now. I finally got an E-mail from Alan. He says they’re fine and had a good Christmas. Thank the Lord he came to his senses and he and Lisa are doing okay. They are, aren’t they?

We are. Last night we rented Fargo and had popcorn and hot chocolate.

Any news?

Give Papa a kiss for me. Aunt Sister, too.

I love you all.

Haley

Any news? I turned off the computer. Maybe later in the day I would have time to tell Haley all that had happened. In the meantime, I had to get dressed and go back up to Oneonta. I had checked with the hospital, and they were releasing Luke in the afternoon.

It had been almost ten o’clock the night before when we got home. We wanted to talk to the doctors and be sure Luke was all right. No fracture, they assured us, but a bad concussion. They wanted to keep him twenty-four hours for observation.