“Feelin’ a little numb, are you?” Diana asked.

Carmen nodded. “Like I’m hanging in space waiting for . . .” She paused. “I don’t know what, but it feels like it’ll shock the shit out of me when it arrives.”

“It won’t,” Diana told her. “It’s over now, but complete closure takes a while. For me, it was when I realized that I hadn’t thought about Gerald in a whole week.”

“Then I may never have it, because every day something reminds me of him.” Carmen slipped the stack of paper into the envelope and sealed it. “Makes me wonder what he thought when he signed his name.”

“Probably that as soon as he got the final decree, he could rush off to the courthouse and marry that girl.” Joanie covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry. That was harsh, wasn’t it?”

“Life is harsh,” Tootsie said. “But he’s fixin’ to find out the same thing. Being a full-time husband and father isn’t easy. I remember when Smokey got out of the service. It took some serious adjustments for us to get used to living together. I used to wish to God he’d get a part-time job and get out of my hair for a little while each day, but we finally settled into a lifestyle that we came to love. Delores said that she had the same problems when her Jimmy retired. Eli is going to have even more adjustments than you will.”

“Think I’ll ever get used to this new way of life?” Carmen asked.

Diana laid a hand on her shoulder. “Yes, you will. Want me to take that out to the mailbox? It was right nice of the lawyer to send a stamped self-addressed envelope along with the papers.”

“I think it’ll help if I do it myself,” Carmen answered. “Thank goodness Smokey left behind a heavy coat for us to share for the outdoor chores. I’m hoping to have the final papers back by Thanksgiving.”

“If they don’t make it by then, I’ll wrap up a piece of paper for your Christmas present that will have the word closure written in glitter on it,” Tootsie said.

“That may be the only way I get it.” Carmen smiled as she took the heavy coat from the hook inside the kitchen door. She picked up the envelope and almost tripped over her kitten, Sugar, romping around the floor with her two siblings. She laid the envelope and the coat to the side and sat down on the floor to let all three kittens crawl up into her lap.

“Y’all need to name your kittens.” She looked up at Luke and Diana, who were sitting on the sofa. “Poor babies should’ve been named before they opened their eyes, but now that they can see, they’re feeling unloved.”

“Simba, from The Lion King. That’s my boy’s name,” Luke said.

“Nala,” Diana said. “That’s Simba’s friend in the movie.”

“Sugar, darlin’, I want you to meet Nala and Simba, your siblings. We’ll plan playdates for you, so don’t be sad when we separate you. Now be nice while I’m gone,” she said as she stood and put on the coat.

“I’ll go out this afternoon and bring in the mail,” Luke offered. “Here’s hoping we all get letters today and that they aren’t bills.”

“I won’t argue. It’s colder’n a mother-in-law’s kiss out there.” Carmen started for the door. “And I can testify to that.”

But not anymore, Smokey reminded her. No more trying to please a woman who was never going to think you were good enough for her son, and never again having to sit through a tense meal with her or spend any time with her at all.

“Well, that’s certainly one good thing that’s coming out of this,” Carmen muttered to herself as she stepped off the porch. Then it hit her that Luke had been going to get the mail pretty often the past couple of weeks. She and Diana and Joanie had been taking turns taking their outgoing letters out in the morning, but Luke was often the one who brought in the mail later in the day. Maybe, she thought, he just likes yelling “Mail call.”

Or maybe there’s something more going on, Smokey whispered so softly that she jumped to see if he was behind her.

“I think today I’ll beat him out here and see who’s writing to him. I’ll shoot him myself if he’s flirting with Diana and getting letters from some other hussy.” She put the flag up on the mailbox, slid her envelope inside, and trudged back to the house. The mail person was slow that day, or else they had no letters, because there was nothing for her to take back to the house, but at least the divorce papers were there for him to pick up when he did get there. That brought a good-size measure of closure to her.

Since it was her day for kitchen duty, she forgot about the mail until Luke came inside that afternoon and yelled out the familiar words: “Mail call.”

He had letters for everyone, including himself. Carmen watched as he shoved his letter into his hip pocket, and she vowed that she’d not only find out who was writing to him but that he’d pay if he hurt Diana. Her friend had fought a long battle before she would even say that she’d go out with him, so if this wasn’t going to be an exclusive relationship, then Diana deserved to know up front.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Happy Thanksgiving,” Tootsie said when Delores answered the phone that morning.

“How wonderful to hear your voice,” Delores said. “Happy Thanksgiving to you, and I’m so glad you called. The kids all came home yesterday and surprised me, but it was for an intervention.”

“You been drinking too much?” Tootsie was genuinely concerned.

“No, it’s an intervention for me to move to be closer to one of them. They gave me a choice, and I thought about it all night. I don’t want to leave the country, so England is out, and I didn’t like New York when we were stationed there, or Arizona, either, for that matter. But I do like Florida, so I’m moving there to be near my daughter,” Delores said. “You are so lucky that your adopted kids live so close.”

Lucky didn’t even describe her good fortune when Diana, Carmen, and Joanie had all moved to her block with their little girls that summer more than a decade ago. They’d brought life back into Tootsie and Smokey’s world and had truly been a blessing.

“Remember, one of them is moving to Virginia pretty soon after we go home. Closer to you,” Tootsie reminded her. “But there’s a possibility that Luke will be moving into Sugar Run.”