I went back to my house to change clothes, and Momma and Leslie weren’t there. I wondered where they had gone. There was no note. They’d probably gone shopping. I was dying to hear what had happened over her breakfast with Charlie. I wondered how he’d shown up and where they’d gone and boy, I would’ve loved to have been in the booth or table next to theirs! If I’d been the waitress, I’d be refilling their coffee cups every two seconds and then running away to write in a journal. I would have given them the tip back and said something like y’all gave me more than I gave y’all. Don’t you know that’s the truth? But all joking aside, I wondered how Leslie was taking this. She seemed too stoic or something. Numb? Well, I’d be numb for a long time, I think. I just hoped she wasn’t too heartbroken.

I showered and changed and went out to my apiary to check on the girls. Time to add another box! Gosh, we were going to have tons of honey this year. Of course, I wound up giving them an earful of Sharon, Archie, and Charlie stories. What a week it had been, and it was only Monday!

I worked my shift at Publix, decorating a hundred cupcakes for a bridal shower with white icing and white crystal-looking sprinkles that sparkled but were edible. When they were all lined up they looked like a field of beautiful clouds made of glitter. It sounds simple, I guess, but through this almost mindless work I found some creative satisfaction that left me wanting more. Maybe I’d try some designs that were more intricate.

We were having leftover spaghetti for supper, so there was not much need to grocery-shop. But I did bring home milk and a freshly baked apple pie. If this job hadn’t done anything else for me, it had turned me on to fresh baked versus frozen, although frozen pies were still a wonderful thing to have on hand in case you had to have pie right that minute. Sometimes I felt like that.

I was home about half an hour before the boys would be there. Leslie’s car was back in the driveway, so I left a note on the door for the boys and hurried over to get the latest on Charlie.

“Leslie?” I called her name as soon as I was inside the door.

“In the kitchen!”

Weren’t we always in the kitchen?

“So, spill it, sister,” I said. “What happened with Charlie?”

“Oh, Lord,” she said. “It’s complicated like all hell. Sit down.”

I took a place at the table.

“No kidding. I’m sure.”

“You want tea?”

As you know, in our house that meant iced tea. It could be freezing outside, and we still drank our tea with ice.