I’d be out there enjoying myself and then I’d turn and see Ben in the shadows, not staying in one place but always keeping within the perimeter of the lit-up storefront, like a hungry stray dog circling a hunter’s campfire. And I’d think, What right do I have to enjoy myself when he can’t? Sometimes I’d go join him, and we’d wait together until Momma and Daddy were ready to go. Other times I wouldn’t. Every now and then Momma would coax Ben out with soft drinks and food, but he quickly returned to the shadows.

BY THE TIME ALLEN AND I GOT TO THE STORE A FEW DOZEN people had gathered, and I knew a name to match every face. Billy was on the porch with his sons, setting up a makeshift stage for Randall and Jeff Alexander. Billy’s wife Wanda worked the cash register inside. Most people had brought lawn chairs, though a few sat on the gas islands.

“You want a beer?” Allen asked.

“Yes. Something in a bottle.”

I reached into my jeans for some money.

“I got it,” Allen said.

I looked around at the familiar faces, familiar but older. Several people waved or nodded. Randall and Jeff arrived, instrument cases in their right hands, Randall’s left hand on his son’s elbow. They stepped slowly up the steps, Jeff holding on to the banister. Jeff led his father to a stool and then un-cased the instruments. He handed his father the guitar.

Joel’s pickup pulled off onto the shoulder of the road. He lifted two lawn chairs from the truck bed and helped Aunt Margaret out of the passenger side.

“Oh, girl, it’s so good to see you,” Aunt Margaret said, pulling me to her. She was Daddy’s older sister but had always looked and seemed younger, even more so since Daddy had been sick. “It seems like it’s been more than forever.”

I knew without looking that Aunt Margaret’s eyes had brightened with tears as she hugged me tighter. In a few moments she loosened her arms and stepped back to look at me.

“You’re pretty as ever, Maggie,” she said, clasping her hand around mine. “Come here.” We stepped farther away from the stage where she could speak more softly. “I don’t know what your daddy’s telling you, but he’s in a bad way now. That cancer’s eating away at him.”

Aunt Margaret gave my hand a final squeeze. I felt the strength in that hand.

“The time’s come to let bygones be bygones, Maggie,” she said. “You wait too long, and you’ll not have a chance to set things right.”