Luke Nelson is our cousin who lives in Columbus, Mississippi. He is a very nice man who was unfortunate enough to suffer from monumental car sickness when we were children. Mary Alice says Luke’s bouts were volcanic eruptions. His mother was our father’s only sibling, though, and he adored her. So a trip to the beach frequently meant holding towels like shields.

“He didn’t leave any messages,” I told Debbie.

“Well, you might want to call him. I asked him if there was something I could help him with, and he said no, that he needed to talk to one of you. He really sounded worried.”

“I wonder what about.”

“Don’t have any idea.”

“I’ll call him.” I paused. “By the way, Debbie, do you know anything about an angel-sighting society?”

“A what?”

“An angel-sighting society. Your mama said she was going to an angel-sighting society luncheon at the club.”

“No, that’s a new one. Did Mama sight some angels in Warsaw?”

“She mainly shopped. Fussed about everybody speaking Polish.”

“I hope our diplomatic relations are still intact.”

“She did enough shopping to assure that.”

“Good. Well, I’ve got to get to court, Aunt Pat. You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to win a case when you’re eight months pregnant.”

“Give Fay and May a kiss for me, and give David a pat.” I hung up, smiling. It was still strange to me to know that much about an unborn child. And nice.

Muffin was taking a bath on the kitchen table. I looked out of the window and saw my old Woofer dog asleep in the sun in front of his igloo doghouse. I put the clothes in the dryer, fixed a peanut butter and banana sandwich, poured a glass of milk, and settled down to watch Jeopardy! All was right with the world. I even knew the answer to the Final Jeopardy question.

I’ll blame it on jet lag. I had every intention of calling Luke as soon as I quit talking to Debbie. Instead, after Jeopardy! was over, I made out a grocery list and went to the Piggly Wiggly. Usually, this time of year, I have all kinds of leftovers from Christmas and New Year’s in the freezer. This year, thanks to Warsaw, the cupboard was bare. The night before, our next-door neighbor, Mitzi Phizer, had brought us over some chicken Tetrazzini and salad. Fortunately. We were even out of Lean Cuisines. Mitzi had taken care of the animals for us while we were gone, and she brought each of them treats, too. They were so glad to see her, it hurt my feelings. Woofer actually whined when she went through the gate on her way home.