Chapter Thirty-Eight

ALMOST TIME FOR the party to start. Annie looked around for Jake, and spotted him standing around the pit where Brett roasted the pig. Jake laughed at something Brett said, a sight that warmed Annie’s heart.

When Brett had asked Annie to set him up with Lindy, Annie knew it would not go over well with Jake, especially with Lindy now becoming Jake’s step-sister. But both parties were interested, so who was she to prevent romance? She gave Brett Lindy’s phone number and he took it from there.

Now they were a couple, much to Jake’s initial disapproval. Annie smiled, thinking back to the winter days when they had circled each other like two roosters. They had since become friends.

Jake left Brett and went over to the other fire pit where some of his farmer friends roasted whole chickens, flipping them between two stainless steel metal grids, and browning the hens to perfection on both sides.

“Are you enjoying the view?” Lindy said.

“I sure am. I never get tired of it,” Annie said. “How’s it going with Brett?”

“It’s so good,” Lindy sighed. “We’re taking it slow, but I’m falling.”

“You’re over Rob?”

“Completely. I made my non-negotiables like Janice suggested and I realized Rob would not have made the cut. Brett fits every one of them, so we’ll see, but I can’t help thinking this could be it. How’s it going with your first official overnight guests?”

“Since this stay is free, no one is complaining. I’m pressing them for feedback, so hopefully, we’ll open at the end of this month.”

“Who’s staying where?”

“Suzanne and her family are in the cottage. All my New York friends are in the main house. That’s Janice, Jimmy, and their kids; my old boss, Bob Vichy and his wife; and my flight attendant friends, Prema and Evie. We stayed up so late last night telling airline stories,” Annie said. “You should have seen Bob when he got here. His face . . .” Annie giggled thinking about it. “He looked as if he had been dropped off on the moon. He kept saying, ‘It’s too quiet around here.’”

“Don’t forget you were one of those New Yorkers a year ago,” Lindy reminded her.

“I know, isn’t that strange?”

***

The meal was beyond anything Annie could have imagined. Beulah, Betty, Evelyn, and Stella had been cooking up a storm over the last week. Dressed eggs, green salad, broccoli salad, seven-layer salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, baked beans, corn pudding, and collard greens went with the roasted meats. Pans of corn bread, gallons of sweet tea, and a table laden with Kentucky nut pies and bourbon bread pudding finished out the culinary selection.

Tom and Evelyn, the happy newlyweds, sat with Stella and Pastor Gillum and seemed in earnest conversation. Annie caught snippets of conversation about marriage after losing a spouse as she passed the table.

Beulah sat with Benito, Angelina, Luca, Rosa, and Anna with Janice helping to translate, next to her husband, Jimmy. Moving past, she heard Anna giving instructions to Luca on how he was to behave while living with Beulah. Benito was backing her up with the famous Italian hand gestures that needed no words.

In the barn lot, Janice and Jimmy’s kids played with Scott and Mary Beth’s children and Jake’s niece and nephew, running and screaming from the hay loft to the corn crib to the old concrete water tank.

At another table, Bob Vichy and his wife sat next to Woody, along with Prema and Evie. Joe and Betty Gibson were also at the table. This she had to hear, so she lingered nearby a few moments and caught snatches of conversation.

“What’s there to do at night around here?” Bob asked Woody.

“I take my pipe and sit on the front porch most summer nights. It’s right peaceful.”

“And you do that every night, all summer?”

“Well, now, sometimes I take an evening ride on my horse. They like it better when it’s a little cooler.”

Bob shook his head. His wife said, “Bob, we should book a stay down here at Annie’s farmhouse. A little porch sitting might do us both good.”

At the other end of the table, Betty Gibson held court with Prema and Evie.

“I was Tobacco Festival Queen for three years in a row. I broke a record that still holds,” she said, her blonde curls bobbing.

“What is this Tobacco Festival Queen?” Prema asked. “I am not familiar with this concept.”

Prema, you’re in for it now, Annie thought, as she moved on to the next table.

Jerome and Vivian Givens and the other Givens family members sat with Jake’s sister Suzanne, her husband, and Jake’s grandmother. They compared school systems in Kentucky and Arizona. There was even a table of Richwood Manor friends. Annie’s volunteer service at Richwood had taken the form of teaching an art class in charcoal pencil. She planned to tackle water color in the summer and move into acrylics for the fall.

Lonnie presented her with a bouquet of yellow roses upon his arrival, and Gin Taylor agreed to come after checking the Farmer’s Almanac. Assured the moon was in the right phase for such an outing, she decked herself out in turquoise earrings and a long shift dress. Lonnie Caldwell caught her eye and winked. He was cozied up to Gin Taylor now, but Annie wasn’t worried about Gin. That mountain girl could take care of herself.

Gin followed Lonnie’s wink and motioned her over. Annie sat down on the seat next to Gin while Lonnie shifted his attentions to another of the Richwood Manor female residents.

“I hadn’t seen ye lately to tell ye,” she said, leaning in as if to tell a state secret. “Ye daddy dropped the claim. We all knowed ye was the reason. There’s a widder woman that’s mighty grateful for whatever ye did.”

“I didn’t know,” Annie said, processing. “Thank you for telling me.” The news surprised Annie. Her father had not responded to the message she had left on her honeymoon. In fact, she had no word from him at all since December, despite several phone messages and several invitations to the barbecue. Jake had called Pete’s bar in Malaga to verify her father was still alive. Pete said he saw him every evening, as usual, but he also confessed to Jake that Eddie Taylor had grown sullen.

Annie suspected he was waiting for the barbecue to pass before responding so there would be no pressure for him to come. When he didn’t show up at the wedding, a short flight away, she knew he would not be here on this day.

This news Gin shared with her made her think that he did care what she thought of him in some way. Otherwise, why had he dropped a claim? Certainly, it wasn’t out of compassion. Still, she knew better than to expect anything more.

Annie left Gin with a squeeze on her shoulder and looked for Jake. She heard a few warm-up notes from the bluegrass band, and then the bearded musicians began the first tune of the night, strumming dulcimers, cellos, and violins. The upbeat tune would get guests on their feet dancing.

Benito tapped her on the shoulder. In halting English, he said, “Would you like dance?”

Annie smiled at him. “Si, grazie.”

He led her to the dance floor. Jake followed with Beulah, who laughed and shook her head, then to Annie’s amazement, started dancing.

Soon, the dance floor was crowded with guests. As the next tune started up, Benito took Beulah by the hand, and Jake swung Annie around in a twirl as the singer crooned, “Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shinin’.”

Annie looked up at the waning half-moon and whispered a prayer of gratitude. For Vesta, her mother, and her grandfather, all now in heaven. For her father, in all his brokenness, and for her family and friends here tonight. For her grandmother, who guided and raised her, and helped her find the way home.

Most of all, for Jake.