THIRTY-TWO

The palm trees danced in the breeze, their fronds impossibly green against the Carolina blue sky. The heat and humidity abated overnight, with just a hint of fall in the air. Nate and I pulled into Mamma and Daddy’s driveway in a shiny new silver Lincoln Navigator.

“I don’t understand,” I said again.

“I had time on my hands yesterday before everything went sideways. We needed a new car. If you’ll recall, we’ve had very bad luck with the last three Explorers. I got a great deal.”

“But these are so much more expensive. Why didn’t you get a Tahoe, or…or a Subaru of some sort? I’ve never owned a car with a theme before. This car has a theme.”

“I should never have told you that. I thought it was funny. It’s a marketing thing. Look. We spend a lot of time in our cars. We depend on them to be reliable and to have enough room to carry all of our equipment—”

“And that’s another thing…how in the world did you get so much of that replaced yesterday afternoon?”

“I simply had the time to knock a few things on our to-do list out. I was thinking it would take away some of your stress. And I have to tell you, this whole conversation feels like a distraction, so we don’t talk about the fact you nearly died last night.” He drew a deep breath, let it out slowly. “Sonny let that go too long.”

I hadn’t slept at all the night before. My nerves were still ragged. “I had a bad moment. One where I truly thought I’d never see you again.”

“Never again,” he said. “Never again will I agree to go unarmed to a scenario where your life is put in danger.”

“You know why Sonny insisted on that,” I said. “It’s one thing for Sonny to shoot a captain during a sting. It’s quite another, legally, if you do it. He was trying to protect you.”

“And I need to protect you,” he said.

“Listen, Mamma’s going to come out here and drag us out of the car any minute now. Can we talk about this later?”

“Sure. Yeah. We’d best go inside.”

We climbed out of the car. By the time we made it to the front porch, Daddy stood in the doorway. He looked me up and down. Then he turned to Nate. “Is this the new normal, son? My daughter having near death experiences?”

“Frank.” Mamma pushed him aside. “Come in the house, children, I’ve made pot roast.”

Pot roast was Mamma’s ultimate comfort food dish. She usually made it in cooler months. But that day, she knew I’d need comfort food. Perhaps she did too.

Merry and Joe and Blake and Poppy were in the foyer behind Mamma and Daddy. We walked through and I stopped to hug every one of the people I love most and thought I might never see again.

Mamma gentled us all to the table laden with melt-in-your-mouth pot roast and gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, butter peas, fried okra, squash casserole, deviled eggs, and biscuits.

When we were all in our places, she prayed extra hard, and extra long. Then we all dug into the feast she’d prepared.

Blake reached for a normal tone, and almost found it. “Looks like Darius is a shoo-in for the vacant town council seat.”

“He convinced me he’s against development,” I said. “He’ll get my vote.”

“Merry, when are you and Joe leaving for your trip again?” asked Poppy. “It just sounds amazing.”

“In November,” said Merry. “It’s shoulder season in Patagonia then—spring. It won’t be quite so crowded.”

“So you’ll be here for our anniversary?” asked Nate.

“Yeah,” said Merry. “We’ll be back in plenty of time. Are you planning a party?”

Nate turned to me. We hadn’t discussed a party. But it sounded fun.

“I have a surprise planned,” he said. “No one make plans for Christmas week this year. Actually…leave two weeks open. The Saturday before Christmas through the Saturday after New Year’s. I’ll plan this year’s holiday celebration. If that’s all right with you, Carolyn?” He looked at Mamma.

“You don’t want me to plan Christmas?” She couldn’t quite parse the idea.

“Every year you work so hard to make the holidays special. I’d consider it a favor if you’d let me do the heavy lifting this year. We’ll celebrate Merry and Joe’s wedding, our first anniversary, and the holidays. One big celebration. That sound okay?”

He looked at Mamma. We all knew this was her call.

“Well, if that’s what you want.” She gave him a bewildered look. “Frank’s never planned a single thing his entire life.”

“It’s what I want,” said Nate. “Thank you.”

I looked at him sideways. What was he up to?

Colleen laughed her signature bray-snort laugh. She was perched on the sideboard watching us eat. “Fix me a plate, would you?”

If you tell me what’s going on.

More bray-snorting ensued. “And spoil the surprise? Never in a million years.”

Then tell me about Sara Catherine. I’d forgotten all about checking in on her. I’d wanted to reassure Mamma and Daddy she was fine.

“What about her?” Colleen asked.

Is she…okay? Is she happy with the Causbys? Does she need anything?

“Sara Catherine is well taken care of. She’s fine. I watch after her.”

You do? Why? How is she a part of your mission?

Colleen laughed again. “I can see down the road a little farther than you can. Someone has to look after things here after you’ve retired.”

Retired? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m nowhere close to retirement age.

“And she’s only three,” said Colleen. “Don’t forget to fix me a plate. Don’t skimp on the gravy now. And I want two biscuits.”