“It was great.” Sister followed me into the kitchen. “He called and said to dress casually, that he had a surprise. And, Mouse,” Sister pulled out a chair and sat down, “it was wonderful. He had By Request fix a lovely picnic basket, and we went to the Oak Mountain Amphitheater to see Michael Crawford. I’d been meaning to get tickets, but it was sold out when I called.”

“How wonderful,” I said, and I meant it.

“And he’s funny, Michael Crawford is. I’ve always thought of him as just singing. But he’s a comedian, too. He had that audience right in his hand. It was great.”

“Did he reach way out on ‘The Music of the Night’?”

Mary Alice slightly cupped her hands and did a pretty good Phantom of the Opera reach.

“Oh, my.” I got each of us a Coke from the refrigerator. “I would have loved to have seen that.”

“You could have. All you have to do is buy two tickets and get Fred up off his butt.”

“True. We’re in a rut, aren’t we?”

“Yep.”

“Maybe things will be changing soon.” I told Sister about the offer Fred had had for the business, that he would be going to Atlanta and Chattanooga the next week to find out all the details.

“Are you going with him?”

“Don’t think so. He hasn’t mentioned it.”

“Why don’t you go to Destin with me, then? They’re having a writers’ conference at Sunnyside I’m going to.”

I took a sip of Coke. “You’re deserting a man who takes you to see Michael Crawford and plies you with goodies from By Request?”

“Oh, he’s going to be down there. Some friend of his is building a big development on Choctawhatchee Bay. He wants to go check it out.”

“Hmmm.” Twenty-five years ago, Sister bought a three bedroom condo in Destin, Florida, “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village” (so the sign at the bridge says). Located on the Panhandle between Panama City and Fort Walton Beach, Destin was, at that time, a few old beach houses on piers and a few stores on Highway 98 that sold mostly fishing supplies. We thought she had lost her mind. That high-rise condo stuck out like a sore thumb. For heaven’s sake, we told her, there’s not even a grocery store!

“It’s a great investment,” she assured us. “You need to get in on it.”