“Did she have kids?” Diana asked.

“Yes, she did, and none of them live close to her. I’m lucky to have y’all on the same block. Smokey and I didn’t always go this route, but when we did, we stopped to see her. Anyway, she’s going to pick me up tonight, and we’re going out for supper, so y’all are on your own,” Tootsie answered.

“Y’all want some corn anyway? Luke is saving us places at that table over there.” Joanie pointed. “And, Tootsie, I know how much you love ribs, so we’ll save one for you.”

“Thanks, darlin’. Carmen and I already had our ear of corn. We’ll just sit with y’all and Luke while you eat yours,” Tootsie said.

Tootsie, Joanie, and Carmen sat down across the table from Luke, and Diana took a seat next to him. Other than when she was going through the divorce, Joanie had never seen Diana fidget with nerves. She was the rock in the friendship, always taking the bull by the horns. She’d been sad when the girls had left last week, and angry at Eli, but to show vulnerability—that wasn’t Diana’s style.

Now all Joanie could see was a bundle of nerves, and it had to do with Luke. The guy was kind of cute, but nothing like hunky Gerald with his jet-black hair and dark-brown eyes. Add that to the fact that Diana hadn’t been interested in dating since her divorce, not even when she’d had several chances. Every one of those fellows had been sexier than Luke. It didn’t make a bit of sense to Joanie.

“How much longer y’all want to stay?” Luke asked.

“I’ve seen all I need to and eaten more than I needed to.” Tootsie covered a yawn with her hand. “It’s only a two-hour trip over to Beaumont, so there’s no rush.”

Carmen stretched and then checked her watch. “It’s almost one o’clock already, and I could use a long nap.”

Diana shot a knowing look across the table toward Joanie. Carmen never slept during the day. She was the hyper one of their group—the one who was always up and doing something. If she wasn’t studying for her degree, then she was making some craft to take to the church arts-and-crafts show to support mission trips.

“Then I’ll stop by a rib wagon and buy supper and meet y’all at the motor home.” Luke waved over his shoulder as he disappeared into the crowd.

The buzz of conversations, children’s laughter, and tired babies fretting all blended together and slowly faded away as the four women made their way back to the motor home. They’d removed their jackets and were settling in for the ride to Beaumont when Luke walked through the door carrying a paper sack. He put it in the cold oven and went straight for the driver’s seat. “Next stop, Beaumont, where Aunt Tootsie will run away to her friend’s house for the evening and supper.”

“That was fun, but I ate far too much. I’ll have to jog six miles tonight for the corn alone. I bet each ear had a whole stick of butter on it, and I ate two of them in addition to a barbecue sandwich at lunchtime,” Diana said.

“Smokey would have loved it.” Joanie settled into her place behind the table.

Joanie could hardly wait to get Diana alone that afternoon, but they were more than an hour down the road before Carmen and Tootsie both declared that they couldn’t keep their eyes open another minute. Carmen crawled up on the top bunk, and Tootsie left her seat and went to her bedroom on the other end of the motor home.

Before Joanie could say a word, Diana opened her laptop.

“Hey, you don’t work on Saturday, and you already mentioned that you were caught up until Tuesday morning, so what’re you doing?” Joanie asked.

Diana shut it and smiled. “Old habits die hard. I keep thinking maybe I’ll hear something from Rebecca or that she’ll post on Facebook. What’s on your mind?”

Joanie peeked around the wall to be sure that Luke had his earbuds in place. His head was bobbing to whatever music he was listening to, so the coast was clear. “What was that at the festival? You got all antsy when you sat down beside Luke, and y’all came in at the same time last night after you’d gone out for a walk.”

Diana shrugged. “It’s time for me to start dating. I feel something stirring inside my heart, but it’s not Luke.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Guess how old he is?”

Joanie drew her brows down and pursed her lips together. “Since Smokey was past eighty and he’s a nephew with the Colbert name, he has to belong to a brother.” She drew numbers in the air with her forefinger. “He’s forty or forty-five, and that’s saying he belongs to a younger brother.”

Diana shook her head. “He has to be the son of the youngest of Smokey’s brothers. He’ll be thirty-two next month. He’s seven years younger than I am. Do you realize that he wasn’t even shaving yet when Rebecca was born? That’s kind of weird. Nature might be telling me that it’s my time to have a relationship now, but she’s also yelling at me to do it with a man my age.”

“I’ve been telling you that for the past four years. A year of mourning is enough, especially when it’s the death of a marriage. There’s life to live.” Joanie lowered her voice. “Now what about Carmen? Is she going into depression? She never takes naps.”

“I remember after a few days, I decompressed. Slept every afternoon for a week,” Diana whispered. “Then one day I woke up and the anger had set in. This is pretty normal.”

Joanie nodded. “I know depression is one of the steps to healing, but I can never remember the order.”

“It’s right before acceptance. I think that’s where Tootsie is. Talking to her friend tonight will be good for her. Want a glass of tea? I’m going to make one for myself.” Diana got up from the table and in a couple of strides was at the refrigerator.

“I’d take one,” Luke called out from the driver’s seat.

Diana instantly blushed. “Coming right up.” Then she turned back to Joanie and mouthed, “How much did he hear?”

Joanie raised a shoulder in a shrug. Diana was so much in control that she never blushed, so what was really going on between her and Luke?

Diana poured a disposable cup of tea, put a lid on it, and carried it to him. “There you go.”

“So you think Aunt Tootsie is depressed?” Luke asked.

“It’s all part of the process,” she said.