“Wasn’t that lucky?” An’gel murmured. She raised her voice at the parlor door. “Dickce, you’ll never guess who it is. Rosabelle Sultan.”

Dickce’s mouth dropped open but she closed it quickly. She stood to greet the visitor. “My goodness, Rosabelle, what a surprise this is.” She flashed a glance at her sister, and An’gel gazed stonily back. They would find out soon enough what their former sorority sister wanted.

“Dickce, I declare, you are just as darling as ever.” Rosabelle sounded tired. “I never did know how you and An’gel managed to keep your figures.” She dropped her purse on the floor and plopped down beside Dickce. “I always felt like such a lump around you two.”

An’gel could have told Rosabelle how, but good manners precluded her telling a guest that she always ate like a pig at a trough. She eyed their visitor critically. Perhaps Rosabelle had reformed her habits, or had been seriously ill. She was thinner than An’gel ever remembered seeing her. Her dress was at least two sizes too large, and it came off a bargain store rack. Rosabelle must have fallen on hard times. An’gel took a deep breath. She and Dickce were going to be hit up for money. It wouldn’t be the first time Rosabelle had done it.

“Would you like some sweet tea?” An’gel recalled her duties as a hostess. “Or something else?”

“Sweet tea would be fine.” Rosabelle leaned back and closed her eyes. “That might revive me.”

“I’ll go,” Dickce said. “You rest there, and I’ll be back in minute.” She frowned at An’gel as she headed toward the door. “Where is Diesel?”

Startled, An’gel glanced around. “He was with me in the hall. He didn’t go outside. Maybe he went to see Clementine.”

Dickce glanced at their visitor, who still had her eyes closed. She pointed at Rosabelle and pinched her nose before she left the room.

“What brings you all the way to Mississippi from California?” An’gel resumed her seat. “I can’t believe you drove all that way by yourself.”

Rosabelle’s eyelids fluttered open, and she blinked at An’gel. “Oh, dear, I fell asleep for a minute there. So tired from all that driving.” She covered her mouth as she yawned. “It took me several days to get here, but I had to come.”

“Do you have particular business here? I didn’t know you still had family in the state.”

“Nobody in Corinth anymore,” Rosabelle said, her eyes tearing up. “Everyone left years ago. No, I came because I had to get away from California.”

An’gel waited a moment but Rosabelle did not continue. “We haven’t heard from you in twenty years, I reckon. Last we heard you had remarried.”