“Country club ready,” she said. “That’s not bitterness, mind you. In my line of work, you learn to read people. Helps me determine what songs to sing.” She removed the napkin covering the plate, pinched off a piece of cheese, and popped it in her mouth. “Delicious.”

“I wasn’t sure how you’d like your sandwich, so I brought a lot of fixings.”

“I appreciate that.” She tore off another piece of cheese. “So what were they saying about my show last night?”

“Big hit,” she said.

“I didn’t see many men last night.”

“The husbands come mid- to late week. The mothers and the kids stay a few weeks, but the dads just come on the weekends.”

“Very practical.”

“I’m pretty sure the dads are going to love you too.”

“They usually do,” she said.

Ruth noted the camera sitting on the dining room table. “Do you take a lot of pictures?”

“I have a couple of rolls of film,” she said. “When I see something interesting, I snap a picture.”

“Have you seen anything interesting since you got here?”

“A few things. Are those your drawings?”

Butterflies wrestled in Ruth’s belly as she handed over the book still tucked under her arm. “I drew these last week.”

Carlotta carefully opened the book and thumbed through the pages. “These are very good, Ruth.”

“You don’t have to be polite.” A mama would say nice things because she had to.

“I’m not,” she said. “You have real talent.”

Warmth rose in Ruth. “Really?”

“Really.”

Carlotta’s gaze rose from the penciled seascape out toward the ocean. “This area is quite beautiful. I’ve seen many waterways, rivers, sounds, bays, but this place is one of the prettiest.”

Ruth tried to identify what was so special about the ocean. “I’ve always wanted to see the mountains. I’ve seen pictures, but I’ve never been there.”

“I grew up in western North Carolina. There are lots of mountains there. It’s very green and in the winter very white and cold.”

“My mama lived in the mountains when she was a baby. How did you end up working on the showboat?”

Carlotta regarded her but didn’t answer.

Ruth rushed to say, “My mother says sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my head. If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine.”

“What made your mother move to this area?”

Ruth shrugged. “She always wanted to see the ocean, like me and the mountains. She came for a visit, met Daddy, and she said it was love at first sight.”

“Is that so?”

“You ever been in love?”

Carlotta grinned. “Many, many times.”

“I thought we all had one true love.”

Carlotta closed the sketchbook and handed it back to Ruth. “This is the kind of conversation you should be having with your mother.”

“She never likes to talk about that kind of thing.”