He motioned toward the passenger chair. “Sit with me. I got tired of music about the time y’all started talking about depression. I’m bored. I need someone to talk to me so I don’t fall asleep at the wheel.”

Yeah, right, Joanie thought as she opened her Kindle to read. There is nothing between them. Seven years’ age difference might be a problem at thirteen and twenty, but they’re both over thirty now, so the issue isn’t there anymore.

“Well, we can’t have our driver falling asleep, can we? Would you rather have some strong coffee?” Diana asked as she went back to the kitchen area to pour glasses of tea for herself and Joanie.

“No, this has enough caffeine to keep me awake for another hour,” he said.

She set her glass in the cup holder, then sat down, adjusted the seat so that her long legs had more room, and buckled herself into the passenger seat. “You ever wonder why you can get a ticket if both parties sitting in these chairs aren’t strapped in, and yet, all four of us can wander around back there without a seat belt?”

“There are definitely strange laws on the books,” Luke answered.

“I’ve noticed that you’ve been listening to country music most of the time. Why did you turn it off?”

“They were starting to play more alternative rather than classic country. I like Strait, Jones, and Travis Tritt. Guess Uncle Smokey kind of marked me in that area, too. I like to cook, like his kind of music, and love spending time outside when I get the chance.” Luke put on the blinker to get off at the next exit, then turned it off.

“Why’d you do that?” Diana asked.

“What?”

“Almost get off the highway on that last exit?”

“Aunt Tootsie,” Luke answered. “She needs to rest. I was camped out right below her window last night, and she spent most of it talking to Uncle Smokey. If I stop, she’ll wake up.”

Cold chills chased down Diana’s spine. “Is she all right? You don’t think she needs to see a psychiatrist, do you?”

“She’s fine,” Luke answered. “I talk to him, too, sometimes, just not out loud. It’s all part of her healing process. Go back to music for a moment—what kind do you like?”

“Hard metal rock,” she said.

“For real?” Luke’s blue eyes widened out as big as saucers.

“No, I’m joking,” Diana laughed. “I like country music, mostly the old stuff like you mentioned, but I do like some new artists like Midland, Blake Shelton, and Luke Bryan.”

“Blake isn’t exactly new. He’s been around for years now. Remember when he had a mullet?”

“Oh, yeah, he’s always been a pretty boy,” Diana answered.

“You go for the pretty boys, do you?” Luke slowed down and checked the GPS on the dash. “It’s only a few more miles before we turn off to go to the campground.”

“How far off the road is it?” Diana suddenly realized that she’d put her entire life in Tootsie’s and Luke’s hands. Now that was trust she didn’t even realize she had after her divorce.

“Another five miles, but it’s got an indoor heated pool if y’all want to do a few laps. Believe me, when we get to the old house, there won’t be any swimming this time of year.”

“Just how big is Scrap, Texas?” Diana asked.

Luke chuckled and then laughed out loud. “There is no more Scrap, Texas. It’s not even on the map and doesn’t have a city-limits sign anymore. It’s not even in the ghost-towns-of-Texas listings. There’s just an old map hanging in the living room that dates back to the early part of the last century. It used to hug the Red River.”

Diana frowned. “Not even a convenience store?”

“Nope,” Luke replied. “We’ll have to drive to Paris or Clarksville to even get gas for the motor home or groceries.”

“But . . .” Diana had so many questions, she didn’t know where to start.

“Aunt Tootsie’s grandma and mama grew up there. When her grandma moved to Clarksville, she left the house to Tootsie’s mama, and then it was passed on to Aunt Tootsie. There’s no town. I don’t think there’s even a zip code—just miles and miles of farmland and five acres of timber with an old two-story house set back in the trees.”

“Why has she kept it?” Diana asked.

“She and Uncle Smokey honeymooned there, so it’s a special place. Here’s our exit.” Luke tapped the brakes. “Ten minutes and we’ll be parked and set up for the night. Want to take another walk after supper?”

“Love to,” she answered.

She always walked at least a mile in the evenings—in the summer heat or the bitter cold winter. It cleared her head of all the clutter and got her ready for another day. Nothing said that she couldn’t be friends with Luke, and it would be rude to tell him no when he was driving them.

Nothing says that you can’t be more than friends, too. Smokey’s gruff voice popped into her head.

He’s too much younger than I am, she argued. Good Lord! Now I’m talking to Smokey, too.

Chapter Five

Tootsie was surprised to see Delores behind the wheel of the same old big boat of a car that she’d been driving the last time Tootsie and Smokey stopped by her place. She leaned into the driver’s-side window and gave her friend a quick hug. “You want to come inside and meet the kids?”

“Another time, darlin’. It’s a chore for me to get in and out, and going up those little steps into your motor home—well, let’s just say I’m still clumsy, and I don’t want to break a hip. Get in. Supper will be ready when I get you back to the house,” Delores told her.

“How are you holdin’ up?” Delores asked as she backed her bright-red car away from the RV park and headed into town.

“Pretty good, I guess. I still talk to Smokey a lot, and I mean I talk out loud to him. I prop up his picture and pretend he’s right there with me,” Tootsie admitted.

“Honey, it’s been ten years since Jimmy died, and I still talk to him all the time. Those old soldiers were our life. We can’t just turn it off like a water faucet.” Delores stopped at a traffic light and then made a right-hand turn. “Talking to them keeps them alive to us, and that’s all right.”