thirty-one

Sometimes when you look at a phone, it just doesn’t make sense. I mean, it’s this little piece of plastic that you hold while people tell you impossible things.

“Are you there, ma’am?”

Haven and Allie were watching me.

“What?” I said. “What…” It was like I had Gone Grammatical in a bad dream where the words couldn’t come out. “Just… never mind.”

“You wish to cancel the order, Miss Barnes?”

“I don’t… yes.”

“That’s no problem. Thank you for shopping at Classic. Will you stay on the line to answer a few questions for our customer survey—”

I hung up.

Haven and Allie were standing at my shoulders. Haven reached out a hand.

“What happened?”

I couldn’t speak. I went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and said to myself over and over, 39 Red Cedar Road, 39 Red Cedar Road, 39 Red Cedar Road. Verity, South Carolina. I put down the top of the toilet seat so I could sit and think.

Verity was where our old trailer burned down.

Verity was the last place where Mama had been alive.

Verity was where we lived before we moved in with Lori. Verity was—I tried to make sense of everything that was churning and tumbling in my head, but all I could think was…

What If.

Impossible Pie

• 2 cups milk

• ½ cup Mayflower baking mix (or Bisquick works fine, too)

• ½ stick butter, softened

• 4 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1¼ cups sugar

• A 7-ounce bag of sweetened flaked coconut

This is the thing. Sometimes you think something is impossible, but it turns out it’s completely possible. You just need to look. Seriously, in your pantry this whole time you’ve had the ingredients to make pie. Just look at this list. I will bet it’s all in there right now!

Put the first 6 ingredients into a blender in the order listed. Blend for 3 minutes. Add the coconut, and give it another quick blend till mixed. Pour into a greased 9-inch pie pan and bake for 45 minutes at 350°F.

Put a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, it’s done. See? You had it the whole time. You just never knew.

Serves 8.