She stopped at the snow-cone stand on her way back through town and got three with lids—all rainbow with cherry, coconut, and grape—then drove straight home so she’d get there before they all turned to nothing but liquid.

“Hello! Y’all home?” she called out as she kicked the back door shut with the heel of her cowboy boot.

“Up here in the living room,” Mitzi yelled.

Jody took the stairs two at a time. “I brought snow cones.”

Paula reached out a hand as soon as Jody was in the room. “Bless your heart. I wanted one but the line was so long that I didn’t stop on the way home. Where have you been?”

“You first,” Jody said. “What’d you do? Shop for the baby?”

“I saw a movie today that made me feel much better about everything. Clinton is a first-class bastard. I feel sorry for his wife, but he’s her husband, not mine.” She dipped into the snow cone with the plastic spoon that came with it. “I’m glad you’re here. Mitzi wouldn’t tell me a blessed thing until you arrived.”

“I didn’t want to tell it twice. Graham asked me for a date next Sunday. We’re taking his pontoon boat out on the lake, and y’all are invited,” she said before she took the first bite of her snow cone.

“I believe you’re old enough to go on a date without chaperones,” Paula said.

“The girls are going and so is Alice. You might as well come with us,” she said.

“It’s not a real date until it’s just the two of you, but I’d love to go out on the lake, so I’m in. Now your turn, Jody?” Paula said.

Jody curled up in the recliner across the room from the sofa where the other two sat. She needed a few minutes to talk without tears or cussing, so she turned to Mitzi. “I’ll tell you in a minute, but I want to hear more about you and Graham. I know it was hot out there building the arch. How did it turn out?”

“It was a sweaty job but I’m pleased with it. He’s storing it out on his screened porch until we need to load it, and he made it so that afterwards it can be dismantled and stored flat,” she said.

“Did he kiss you and make you all hot and sweaty on the inside?” Jody asked.

“Yes, he did,” Mitzi answered.

“Well, I’ll be danged.” Paula clapped her hands. “I told you it was a real date. Do you believe me now?”