“I’m afraid not,” she said. “I learned to do nails before I attended nursing college. I thought I’d be a beautician one day but then Charlie came along and I needed a more dependable income. Doing nails has come in really handy during those tough times when nursing jobs aren’t in good supply.”

“It can’t be easy,” Grace said. “Being a single mother with a demanding nursing career. And I know nursing is a good field, but it’s expensive raising a child.”

“There have been challenging times, but this particular job, bringing Charlie along to be entertained by all the people around here, this is like a paid vacation.” She massaged Winnie’s hands. “It’s true, there isn’t a lot left over at the end of the month but we do fine.”

“Do forgive the intrusion, but do you have a man in your life?” Winnie asked.

“Yes, ma’am. Mr. Charlie Simmons. All the man I can handle,” she added.

“May I ask...?”

“You may ask me anything at all, Winnie. I’m in your employ and I want you to be comfortable that I’m completely honest with you.”

“Charlie’s father?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, he was killed in an accident before Charlie was born. We hadn’t yet married. Charlie carries my name for that reason. I try not to make too much an issue of the fact that I hadn’t been married to his father...but of course, he knows.”

“And your family?”

“Well...” She stopped massaging for a moment. “We’re estranged. They didn’t approve of Charlie’s father. And they didn’t exactly approve of my decision to have and raise my son.”

“Damn fools,” Winnie said.

“Mama, don’t pass judgment,” Grace said. “We’ve had our issues, you can’t deny that.”

“I can’t deny it but I sure as hell lived to regret it!”

Grace grabbed her heart. “Holy shit, get the Bible. It’s got to be the end of the world!”

“Serpent’s tooth,” Winnie muttered.

Lin Su laughed at them. “Now, ladies,” she admonished, “no need to feel sorry for us, really. We’re a very good team. I’ve been so lucky—everywhere I go with Charlie people like him. Admire him. He had a lot of illnesses and look at him—smart as a whip, polite, handsome.”

“You said that a couple of times,” Grace said. “What kind of illnesses?”

“Luckily nothing we couldn’t survive. But it was terrifying at the time. Asthma, a lot of allergies, a weak immune system, winter colds that turned into bronchitis and pneumonia. When he was three he spent two weeks in the hospital, most of that on oxygen. I don’t think a camel could carry the weight of antibiotics he’s had in his lifetime. And that’s its own worry—too many antibiotics.”

Grace glanced at the boy running along the beach below the deck. “He seems awfully healthy now.”

“He’s much better, but he has to carry an inhaler and an EpiPen. He’s a little undersize—I know that frustrates him. He hates his glasses but he’s nearly blind without them. When he’s older, when contacts work or maybe even surgery... Well, I’m a nurse. I’ve seen young parents through far worse situations—cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, cancer...”

“How is the asthma?” Winnie asked.

“Well, it depends who you ask. If you ask Charlie it’s much better and he hardly ever uses his inhaler, but he still takes daily medication for it. Charlie is determined it’s going to go away and I’m determined he learns to manage it without telling himself fairy stories that it will disappear. If he eats peanuts or shrimp or gets stung by a bee—we could be rushing to the emergency room. That’s why he carries an EpiPen and so do I.”

“You’re a superwoman,” Grace said after a moment of silence. “I can’t imagine the stress of that.”

“You’re having a baby,” Lin Su said. “You’ll soon realize you have many difficult and stressful moments to deal with and deal with them you will. If there’s anything that can make a woman strong, it’s taking care of her child.”

“Amen,” Winnie said.

“Are you getting by all right now?” she asked Lin Su.

“We don’t have a surplus but where is the shame in that? We do fine. Better than ever since we’ve been taking so many meals with you!” She laughed a little, then grew more serious. “We’re doing very well, thank you for asking,” she said.

* * *

Ginger felt there was an almost magical quality to her life. She put Matt in his truck and sent him on his way home before calling her mother. Sue Dysart cried, she was that happy at the news. Or maybe she was relieved that her only daughter wasn’t going to rot on the vine, after all. Or choose another deadbeat like Mick.

It was true, Ginger had a new hope—a second chance. “I hope you never know the agony of watching your daughter suffer through such terrible heartache,” Sue said. “I don’t think there’s any pain worse than the pain of watching your own flesh and blood struggle. I was so afraid you’d be alone forever. Not because you’d never find the right man to build a life with but because you wouldn’t let yourself find him.”

“You’re going to love Matt,” Ginger said. “He’s the sweetest, most loving man I’ve ever known and he’s so unselfish. I honestly don’t know how I found him.”

“Tell me every detail,” Sue begged.

“I can only tell you the details of our courtship, which has been so romantic even if it hasn’t been very long—just three months. But three of the most lovely months I’ve ever had. From the time the lambs were born and the sheep sheared until now, the onset of the harvest, we’ve had almost every weekend together. Long weekends. And soon the chaos of the harvest begins with the gathering of extended families every moment they have to spare, helping each other bring in the crops.”

“My goodness, you sound like a farm wife already!” Sue laughed.

“I’m already starting to feel like one.”

She gave her mother all the details she knew of a big farming empire. It would be such a busy few weeks she and Matt weren’t sure there would be enough time to shop for and buy a proper ring, but he promised her she would have a beautiful one before they were wed.

Sue wanted to know what kind of wedding Ginger hoped for.

“Are you a little afraid I’m going to ask you to get me married a half dozen times?” Ginger asked.

“I expect you’re looking for entirely different things in a man this time around,” Sue said.

“I know I already apologized to you and Dad for the debacle of Mick,” she said. “I don’t know what to blame that failure of good sense on. I was young, but not that young. Not young enough to be that blind and foolish.”

“I guess love isn’t always brilliant even though it seems so at the time.”

“You have no idea how I wish I’d been smarter,” Ginger said. “I guess once you cast your lot with a partner you hang in there until it’s entirely hopeless.” And as she said that she couldn’t help but think about Matt and his brief marriage. It wasn’t dissimilar, only shorter. “Since we’ve both been married and divorced, we don’t really feel like a huge celebration. Just something meaningful and modest, something to match how we feel about moving forward, that’s all. It feels very safe and solid.”