“How would you feel about me buying Joanie’s house?” he asked.

Tootsie almost dropped the phone. “Are you serious? I’d love to have you close by. You don’t even need to ask such a thing.” She wanted to squeal, but if she did, Carmen would come rushing to see if she was hurt.

“It’s just something I’ve been thinking about this weekend. Don’t say anything to Joanie yet, until I make up my mind. But I would like to know who the real estate agent is so I can be first in line to make a bid,” he said.

“Oh, Luke!” Tootsie sighed. “That’s just the best news I’ve had in a long time. I’ll find out for you. Got to go now. It’s my turn for a shower, and then we’re all meeting in my room for a glass of wine. See you tomorrow by noon.”

“I’ll have dinner ready, so don’t eat more’n a snack on the way. Good night,” he said.

“Good night to you. Kiss Dolly for me,” Tootsie said.

“You got it,” he said. “And y’all drive safe.”

Carmen came out of the bathroom with a towel around her head and wearing a pair of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer pajama pants with a bright-green tank top. “Your turn.”

Tootsie danced a little jig in the bathroom when she kicked off her sweats and underwear. If Joanie had to leave, then the best new neighbor ever would be Luke. She just had to figure out how to get the name of that real estate agent without causing suspicion. When she came out of the bathroom in her royal-blue silk pajamas, the other three were already sitting on Carmen’s queen-size bed. They’d already gotten the wine from the refrigerator and four plastic hotel cups. The package of chocolate cookies sat on the nightstand between the two beds.

“I’m calling this meeting to order.” Tootsie took her place in the circle. “Old business?”

No one said a word.

“Okay, then, let’s get on with the new business. I’ll go first this time. These past two days haven’t been easy on me. Smokey wasn’t there beside me to help me pick out presents, and he won’t be in Sugar Run when I get there to fuss about how many Christmas cards I send out. We’ve all escaped the pain of the empty nest, but in about four weeks, we have to go home and face it. I’m not sure I’ll be ready for the first Christmas without him.”

Diana poured wine for all of them and held up her glass. “I’ve been thinking the same thing all day. We needed to escape. That’s a fact, but when we get home, the nest is still going to be empty.”

“Okay, go on. What’s going on with Luke now? Seemed like he was quick to make an excuse not to come with us on this trip,” Joanie said.

“I’m glad he didn’t come. We both needed to be away from each other for a while.” Diana told them about their conversation concerning kids during the Halloween event at the church, but she didn’t mention his problems with conception.

“That’s a pretty serious discussion before y’all even have a first date.” Tootsie broke the cookie apart and ate the icing first.

“We’re old enough to know that it’s a waste of time and effort to start something that can’t be finished.” Diana sipped at the wine.

“Well, then it’s a good thing that you had these days to think.” Tootsie nodded. “Have you changed your mind about starting all over with kids?”

Diana shook her head. “Nope, and I really don’t expect that he’s changed his.”

“You’ve kind of gotten past the age difference, though, haven’t you?” Carmen asked.

“I guess I have.” Diana nodded. “Your turn, Carmen.”

Carmen took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. “I called Sharlene at the base today. Remember, I told y’all about her offering me a job? Well, I finally got in touch with her. I’ll be helping take care of kids who are in the after-school program on the base,” Carmen explained. “She says that in the next year or so, she’s putting in a day-care center where the base personnel can leave their preschool-age kids. They’ll need at least one certified teacher to run it the way she wants to, so it’ll work out perfect because I can have my degree by then.”

“You think you’d like that?” Tootsie asked.

“It’ll pay the mortgage and keep the lights on, and I love kids; plus, I’ll be a teacher.” Carmen finished off a cookie and reached for another one.

“Joanie, do you want to share?” Tootsie asked.

“I talked to Brett again today. He thinks we should go ahead and send the house key to the real estate agent. The market isn’t very good right now, and that would give her a whole month to show it. I keep trying to remember if I left everything in order, because buyers will be opening closet doors. Thank goodness Zoe had just cleaned her room up before she left,” Joanie answered.

Diana laughed out loud. “I’m glad I don’t have to let a buyer into my place. They’d run for the hills if they saw Rebecca’s messy room.”

“Is he listing it exclusively or with several Realtors?” Tootsie asked.

“Exclusively with the wife of one of the guys on the base.” Joanie divided the rest of the wine between the four of them. “Lindsey’s Real Estate out of Sugar Run. They live on the other side of town, and she works out of her garage. He says if we haven’t had any bites at all on the place in a month, that we’ll go wider when he gets home.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Is that all the new business?” Tootsie yawned.

“Well, I do have one more piece of new business,” Carmen said. “I make a motion that we all sleep in tomorrow morning and don’t hit the hotel dining room until nine o’clock.”

Diana raised a hand. “I second the motion.”

“And I third it,” Tootsie said. “Now let’s join hands, and, Carmen, you can read the sign tonight.” She pointed to the little plaque that was now lying on the end table beside Tootsie’s bed.

When they’d finished, Diana and Joanie hurried across the hall to their room, and Tootsie sent Luke a text telling him the real estate agent’s name. Then she closed her eyes, snuggled down in her bed, and dreamed of Smokey. In the dream, they were sitting on the porch of their house in Sugar Run watching little children run and play on the front lawn. She awoke at midnight with a smile on her face. Maybe the dream meant there would be more children on her block after all.