“Aunt Tootsie, we all know your talents are not in the kitchen,” Luke said on his way out the door.

“Well, I’m still glad that I don’t have to go with a can of corn and a loaf of bread,” she said. “Now, you three girls tell me what we’re taking.”

“Chicken and dressing. I’m going to put the chicken in a slow cooker right now and let it cook all night so the broth will be rich,” Carmen said.

“Cranberry-orange salad and a chocolate cake,” Joanie offered.

Tootsie rubbed her hands together. “You should make a sample cake tonight just so we can be sure the oven is baking just right.”

“I’ll be glad to.” Joanie pushed back her chair.

Tootsie looked up at Diana. “And what are you making for us to take?”

“Marinated vegetables and taco casserole.” Diana smiled. “I’ll do the vegetables tomorrow morning and the casserole Sunday morning so it’ll be fresh.”

Tootsie clapped her hands. “We’re going to have so much fun. I can’t wait to introduce y’all to all Smokey’s relatives. He’s been talkin’ about y’all for years.”

“I didn’t know we were invited,” Diana said. “We can just cook and send it with you and Luke.”

“Oh, no.” Luke came in from the garage. “Y’all have to go with us, and one of you has to pretend to be my girlfriend so Aunt Mary Lou will stop trying to fix me up.”

“I’m married.” Joanie held up her left hand to show off her rings.

Carmen shook her head. “I’m not even divorced yet.”

Luke looked over at Diana and wiggled his eyebrows. “I guess it’s you. Wear that pretty outfit you wore to the funeral.”

“Oh, no!” Diana threw up both palms.

“Why not? It’ll only be for a few hours, and he’s right. Mary Lou has been drivin’ him crazy for years.” Tootsie said.

“You owe me. I’ve been letting you use my device to send in your work. I can always refuse to let you have it anymore,” Luke teased.

“No PDAs.” Diana held up a finger.

“Done,” Luke agreed.

“No telling my age.” Another finger shot up.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Why, Aunt Mary Lou might pass clean out at the thought,” he teased.

She laughed in spite of herself. “And no telling anyone about me falling on top of you.” The third finger joined the other two.

“You got it, but I really hate giving up that last one. It would have my uncles all in stitches.” Luke winked.

“Okay, we’ve got that settled, and the power is back on, so I can really see y’all’s faces.” Joanie motioned for everyone to sit down. “I’ve got news.”

“Is it about Eli?” Carmen melted into a chair.

“Are you pregnant? You’ve been acting strange the past few days,” Diana said.

“No, it’s not about Eli, and I’m definitely not pregnant, thank God,” Joanie answered. “I have to admit that I’ve been worried. Brett has been so abrupt when he calls that I was afraid that—”

“That he was following in Eli’s footprints,” Carmen finished for her.

“It’s understandable that you’d have doubts,” Diana said.

Joanie rolled the dice and moved ahead five spaces. She landed on the Go to Jail space. “I feel so guilty about not trusting Brett that I deserve to be in jail. Okay—here’s the deal. Brett has an offer from a civilian firm to teach survival skills to private security recruits, and he thinks he’s going to put in his twenty-year retirement papers.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Diana squealed. “That’s amazing news.”

“When? Where?” Carmen jumped up to hug her and almost knocked the Monopoly board on the floor.

“He’ll be home for good after Zoe gets out of basic, and . . .” She dreaded saying any more, but these were her friends. “And we’ll be moving to a suburb of Arlington.”

“That’s not so very far away,” Tootsie said. “It’s only a couple of hours from Sugar Run over to Dallas, and Arlington is right there. You can come back to see us every week.”

“Arlington, Virginia. He’ll be working out of Washington, DC, but we won’t move until spring,” Joanie said all at once and watched their faces turn from happy to sad in an instant. “Please be happy for me. I can’t stand it if you’re not.”

Tears rolled down Carmen’s face. “I’m happy for you, but I’m sad at the same time. We’ve been through so much together, but I’d have gladly moved with Eli if it would have saved my marriage.”

Tootsie’s chin quivered. “I moved many times with Smokey. I’d never hold you back, but at the same time, I’ll miss you so much.”

Diana’s world took another downward spin. She couldn’t say that she didn’t want Joanie to go, because that might be the very thing that kept her marriage intact. And yet she couldn’t bear to think of not seeing her again. Finally, she leaned down, hugged Joanie, and said, “All I got to say is that you’d better rent or buy a house with a couple of extra bedrooms and make sure your phone is charged at all times. I refuse to ever say goodbye, but when the time comes, I will say ‘See you later’ and mean it with my whole heart. We will make a way to visit at least every other month.”

“That’s good,” Tootsie said. “Delores and I have decided that we need to stay in touch more often than we have in the past. You girls hold to that every-other-month idea, and make it work.”

Diana patted Tootsie on the shoulder. “Not only us. You’re part of this family, so you have to make time for visits, too.”

“Thank you.” Tootsie’s voice broke. “We are family, aren’t we?”

Diana hugged her. “Of course we are. We’re all here right now living under the same roof.”

“And it takes more than blood and DNA to make a family,” Carmen said from across the table.

“Well, then, we’ll take the motor home anytime y’all want to. Maybe we’ll meet in the middle, like somewhere around Nashville part of the time. That way none of us have to go as far.” In her usual manner, Tootsie was already making plans for them, and Diana loved her for it. “And Luke can drive us so we can all be together a few times a year.”