She went in and shut the door behind her. The lamps lighted the room, and all four of her family sat at the table. Allegra pulled up a chair next to Amelia.
Allegra reached for a tortilla from the plate. “Are you having anything, Amelia?”
Amelia nodded. “I’ll have some. I’m hungry now.”
“It won’t make you sick tonight, will it?” Alma asked.
Amelia shook her head. “Actually, I sleep better if I’ve eaten something. And I think the chili helps, too. There must be something in it that acts on my stomach.”
“We could make you some other food with chili in it,” Allegra suggested. “We could make you some really hot green chili tacos. That might be all you need to make you feel better.”
Amelia grimaced, but she smiled for the first time since she got pregnant. “Thanks. I’ll think about it. So far, I’ve been able to eat the same breakfast and supper I ate before I got pregnant, and the baby’s doing fine, so I don’t think I need anything else. I just have to keep still and not move around too much. If I do that, I’ll get through the next couple of months, and then this will all be over.”
Alma dandled Flora on her knee and gave her pieces of tortilla to munch on. “It will be wonderful to have another little one around the place.”
“What about you, Allegra?” Amelia asked. “Are you getting ready for your big day?”
“Do you know,” Alma butted in, “she plans to run off by herself and get married without any of us there to stand witness for her?”
Amelia nodded. “She mentioned it. What about it?”
“Don’t tell me you approve of the plan?” Alma gasped. “I thought you of all people would understand the value of having family around when a woman gets married.”
Amelia shrugged. “I could take it or leave it, myself. I really only did it for Papa. I wouldn’t have minded getting married alone. I can understand why she wants to. You ought to leave her to make her own decisions. Then again, I’m glad Bruce brought his brothers to our wedding. I wouldn’t have felt right if I knew he didn’t get his family’s okay to get married.”
Alma threw up her hand. “There you go! You tell ‘em, Bruce. Tell ‘em it isn’t right for anyone, male or female, to go off getting married without their family attending.”
Bruce shrugged. “She should do it her own way. You and Amelia did your duty to your father when he was alive, but he’s gone now. If she wants to get married alone, let her. She’ll be bringing her husband back here when she’s done. It’s not as though she’s runnin’ off with the minister’s youngest son. She’s getting married. Let her do it her own way.”
“I got married alone,” Jude remarked. “I didn’t tell my parents what I was doin’, and I didn’t bring any of my family to attend, either. That’s just the way I am, I guess.”
“Let’s talk about something else,” Allegra mumbled. “Let’s talk about when you’re gonna finish your house, Jude.”
“It should be finished by spring,” Jude answered. “We’ll get the roof on in the next couple of weeks. Then we’ll just finish the fine details—hanging the door and whatnot. There’s not that much to do.”
“I just went down there to have a look,” Allegra told them. “It looks good. It’s looking like a regular house already.”
“Once Bruce gets our house finished,” Amelia reminded her, “you and your husband will have this house all to yourselves.”
Allegra nodded. “I won’t be sorry about that. I won’t be sorry to have a house to ourselves. I don’t know how the pack of you did it all these months, living under the same roof with me, and Papa, and everybody else. It must be nerve-wracking.”
The two couples looked at each other. “It’s not as hard as you might think,” Amelia replied. “You get used to it after a while.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it,” Jude grumbled.
“That’s because you didn’t grow up with your whole family in one room,” Bruce told him. “If you had, this way of life would be normal to you.”
“But I didn’t,” Jude returned, “so it isn’t normal to me.”
“You’ve managed just fine for eighteen months,” Alma told him. “I think you can manage it.”
“I’ll manage it for one more summer—maybe not even that long—until we move into the new house,” Jude declared.
The others turned away from him. “So,” Alma said to Allegra, “if you decide to wear a dress to get married, where will you get it from? You won’t be able to get one made on the spot—not in Eagle Pass, anyway. You might have to go to San Antonio for that.”
Allegra shrugged. “I don’t care. If we have to go to San Antonio, we will. I’m not going to worry about it. Once we meet up, we’ll talk about it. But one thing I do know. Mama’s dress is staying in the trunk. No ifs, ands, or buts.”