Jean Colson smiled, her hair getting longer and grayer over the summer. Her pale blue eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled, putting a hand on Boom’s leg. “Looks the same as when my ex jumped all those Pintos here back in ’77. Lord, love is blind when you’re wearing hot pants and suede boots up past your knees.”

“Momma,” Caddy said, the last thing she wanted was to hear stories about the wild old days of the seventies when her father split time between north Mississippi and Los Angeles, working as a stuntman. Or the time her mother visited an aging Elvis at Graceland, talking to him in the Jungle Room about the existence of God and man’s place in the universe.

“You still seeing that nice girl from Memphis?” Jean said, having the sense to change the subject. “The one with the nice smile and all that wild hair?”

“Nat Wilkins?” Boom said, stroking his beard, the way he did when he got nervous. “She come down to visit from time to time. But she’s a busy woman, a lawwoman like Lillie Virgil. Don’t have much time for relationships. Especially with a busted-up dude like me.”

“Hush your mouth,” Jean said, taking a long pull from her tumbler. “You and Quinn have heads made out of steel.”

“Shit,” Boom said. “What you drinking there, Miss Jean?”

Boom looked to Caddy and Caddy grinned, having a little fun with her mother. At the far end of the football field, Jason dropped back for a pass but then just as fast ran it hard and quick up the middle for a touchdown.

Jean just shrugged and toasted them both with her cup. Boom looked over at Caddy and studied her face. “What?” Caddy asked.

“Saw you last night at the service,” Boom said. “You and that Bentley fella seem real close.”

“He’s just helping me with some grants,” she said, feeling her face flush, trying to keep her eyes on practice. She wouldn’t turn to Boom because he’d known her his whole life and would see it all over her face. “His nonprofit in Jackson can be a godsend to communities like us. Helping get food and supplies where they’re needed. We’re getting hamburger meat. Cheese. Clothes for the schoolkids . . . Stop looking at me like that.”

Boom laughed. It was good to hear him laugh, even if it was at her expense.

“Mmm-hmm,” Boom said.

“What are y’all talking about?” Jean asked.

“Nothing,” Caddy said. “Nothing at all. Besides, the boy is six years younger than me. He’s just a damn kid.”

Boom just grinned and the three of them sat back on the bleachers watching the Colson boys practice.

Episode 2: The Big Woods