After that, people began arriving in a steady stream, most showing surprise that the casket wasn’t open as befitting tradition, but having the manners not to ask why.

They were alternately kind or curious, but all in awe of Barb Holland’s family. The ones who didn’t know her well were impressed, and the ones who thought they’d known her were in shock.

But there were many who were kind, sympathetic, and truly sorry for Niles’s passing. When Peanut and Ruby Butterman came in behaving like the decent people they were, Barb introduced them to her family.

“Y’all, this is our local lawyer, Peanut Butterman, and his wife, Ruby. Aunt Belle and Wy already met her when we went to her salon. It’s a wonderful place.”

“Thank you, Barb,” Ruby said. “We’re just so sorry for your loss.”

Jake Austin eyed Peanut and smiled. “I have to say, you have a most memorable name.”

Peanut rolled his eyes. “The actual name on my birth certificate is a capital P, all by itself. Then my second name is Nutt, with two t’s. I had to beat up the school bully when I was in first grade for calling me Pee.”

“Sweet baby Jesus,” Wy said.

“Exactly, but not even the good Lord could help. After two black eyes and both of us getting a whipping for fighting at school, the kids wisely switched to Peanut and it took. Add Butterman, and my whole existence has been one of explanation. My parents were hippies. Mostly I just tell people my mama was stoned on weed when they named me. It used to really tick her off when I said it, but I told her it’s no less than what she deserved for tacking that dang name to me.”

The story was a great moment of levity in a hard evening, and Barb was grateful for it, because every time she glanced at the casket, she remembered Niles’s body was in it. It was a continuing nightmare that seemed to have no end.

When the chief of police and his wife appeared at the door, it was Barb’s family that stared in awe at her beauty.

“Who in the world are they?” Belle whispered.

“That’s Lon Pittman and his wife, Mercy. He’s the police chief here in Blessings, and Mercy is the baker for the local restaurant. Her baking is off the charts, and her biscuits are to die for,” Barb said.

Wy gasped. “She’s a cook? I have never seen anyone that stunning in my entire life. Is she classically trained?”

“The story goes she was raised in foster homes all her life,” Barb said. “But they’re very nice people. Chief Pittman is the one who came to the house to tell me what had happened to Niles. He was so very kind,” she added, and took a deep, shaky breath, willing herself not to cry.

When one of Barb’s girlfriends came to pay her respects, she was so impressed by the ostentatious show of wealth Barb’s family exhibited that she completely forgot to offer her condolences, or even acknowledge Niles’s casket, and started talking about Barb’s hair.