Tapping her wineglass with a spoon, Cara signaled she’d like to make a toast. As everyone quieted and gazes turned toward her, she rose, glass in hand.

“Let me start by saying thank you to all who worked so hard to prepare this wonderful feast. And to all you young people who worked so hard to gift us with such a beautiful place in which to eat it!”

“Hear hear!”

“Honestly, I can’t remember stepping foot in this barn since Miranda passed, God bless her soul.”

“To Miranda!”

“And to Flo!” called out Emmi.

“Where is Flo?” asked Linnea. “She should be here too.”

Emmi shook her head. “Oh no, honey. This would be too much for her. She’s eating a plate in her room, happy as a clam. I’ll go check on her after we eat.”

Cara returned to her toast. “Mama… Lovie… would have loved this night. She would’ve basked in the glory of seeing family and friends celebrating what was a favorite holiday of hers. In fact, her last party was a Fourth of July feast much like this one. Many of you were there. Even you, John,” she added with a wry smile. “Though if I recall, you were a handsome young teenage buck and you and your brother breezed through the food line so fast you might not remember.”

Amid the laughter, she heard John call out, “I remember!”

“If there is one lesson I learned from Lovie,” Cara continued, “and there were many, it is that above all, only one thing matters in life. Family. Who your people are, as she used to say. And by that she didn’t mean lineage or exclusivity. Nor wealth or position. But instead, what Lovie meant is what is visible right here in this barn tonight. We’ve weathered a lot since the pandemic began. We’ve been frustrated, upset, and challenged. But we’ve also been brought together in a way none of us could have foreseen. We are weathering yet another storm together, with, if you don’t mind me saying so, compassion, camaraderie, ingenuity, commitment, friendship, yes, fun too. And most of all, love.

“So tonight I raise my glass to all of you wonderfully unique individuals from different parts of the world. You who make up this pod. To our new family.”

Everyone cheered and raised their glasses, calling out “To the family! To the pod!”

“Mama,” Cara said softly, looking up at the sky. “I miss you.”

LINNEA SIPPED AND looked over her wineglass at her friends and family around the table, eating, drinking, and talking. She couldn’t remember a better party. It may have been her idea, but it wasn’t her success. They’d all worked hard to make the feast special.

Her gaze caught the pinkened skin on the faces from all the sun. The candles were dripping wax in the summer breeze. The flowers in the odd assortment of vases were wilting in the humidity of a Southern night. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and hoped the pending storm would hold off as predicted. Around the room, everyone seemed to be enjoying the night as the fans circulated the air.