“Don’t let what’s going on with me and Jody spoil what you might have. Good Lord!” Paula eased her way to a standing position when someone knocked on the back door again. “If it’s Clinton again, load that shotgun. This time I mean to do more than scare him. We can drag him inside, and then bury him in the cellar out back soon as it gets dark. The dirt floor won’t be too hard to dig up. I’ll even repair the hole in the screen myself.”

Mitzi eased the door open a crack and shook her head. “It’s Darrin. Do we let him in or not?”

“Sure, we do. Unless you want to offer to let Ellie Mae crash on our sofa upstairs,” Paula answered.

Mitzi opened the door wide and unlatched the screen door. “I suppose you’re here to see Ellie Mae?”

“I’ve been driving all over town, looking for her car. I finally spotted it out front but there wasn’t a parking space.” His eyes were swollen, as if he’d been crying, and his hands trembled when he motioned toward his truck. “Tell her that I made a huge mistake. I love her, and we’re havin’ a baby, and—”

“We’re not the ones to tell all that.” Paula pointed. “She’s in the foyer, and you might lead with the line about loving her.”

He rushed that way, and in a few seconds, Jody joined them in the kitchen. “Quincy is gone, and I refused to go for ice cream or coffee with him. Darrin is still here, but they don’t need a referee since he dropped down on his knees, laid his head in her lap, and cried like a baby. We might as well sit out here until it’s done. There ain’t no way we can go to the sewing room or upstairs without interrupting them. I could barely get through the foyer.”

Paula was the first one to pull out a chair and sit. “It’s like we got a sign outside. Clinton was here.”

“You’re shittin’ me,” Jody gasped.

“Nope, not one bit. Mitzi even loaded the shotgun,” Paula said.

“Is he dead? I didn’t hear a shot. Please tell me that he’s layin’ on the back porch, bleedin’ out,” Jody said.

“No, he’s not dead, but he might be if he gets tangled up with another woman and she finds out he’s married,” Mitzi answered.

“One can always hope.” Paula went to the refrigerator and brought out what was left of a cheesecake. “If he was out there with a gutshot, I’d eat a piece of this, then go brush my teeth before I called the ambulance.”

Mitzi got out three forks and laid them on the table. “It’s probably going to take a while for the lovebirds to get things settled between them.”