“She said she could make her own way.” Sugar nodded. “But, darlin’, I’m not sorry we did this trip. It showed us where we belong, and we’d never have bought the RV just for vacations.”

Jasper brushed her hair back and kissed her on the neck. “And someday Jolene and her husband might want to borrow it to take the kids to Disney World.”

She laid her head on his chest. “If only we could have had half a dozen kids of our own.”

“That would’ve been wonderful, but that wasn’t in the cards for us. Reuben or Jolene’s children can be our grandbabies. I just hope neither of them wait too long to get married. Are you ready to get started on the last leg toward home?”

She pointed to the wall where the calendar hung. “Yes, I am. See, I wrote it down already because it’s such a special day.”

She strapped herself into the passenger seat. “What time will we be there?”

“Six, maybe, but probably more like seven. We can run on generator power tonight if it’s too dark for me to find things.” He kept talking, but Sugar had her phone out and was picking out furniture for her new place.

At noon, Jasper pulled the RV off into a rest stop in Louisiana and parked it in the truck-only area. Sugar heated up a pan of tomato soup and made grilled cheese sandwiches. Jasper got out potato chips and opened cans of root beer for them.

She had taken the first bite of soup when her phone rang. She bit back a groan when she saw it was Jolene. She handed the phone to Jasper. “You talk first. I’m afraid I’ll tell her and spoil our surprise.”

“Is this the Magnolia Inn callin’ me?” Jasper teased as he put it on speaker mode.

“No, this is your favorite niece.” Jolene giggled. “Are y’all havin’ a good time? Where have you decided to go next?”

“Where our hearts take us,” Jasper answered.

“Aunt Sugar, is there anything special about today? You don’t have it on the calendar, but I’m kind of antsy, and something tells me it’s got to do with the day,” Jolene said.

Sugar glanced over at the calendar and sidestepped the issue. “Maybe it’s got to do with Tucker. Have you thought of that? Or maybe you’re going to win that thing where that company shows up on your porch with a big check.”

“No . . . wait a minute while I step outside,” Jolene said.

In a few seconds, Sugar could hear the screech of the old chains on the porch swing. She pushed the “Mute” button and whispered to Jasper, “She suspects.”

Jasper smiled.

Sugar hit the button again as Jolene said, “Okay, I can talk now. Is it just spring fever that makes me . . . how do I put this?”

“Put what? Don’t beat around the bush. Spit it out,” Jasper said.

“Here lately I’m really attracted to Tucker.” Jolene sighed.

“Oh, dear,” Sugar squeaked. “Does he feel the same?”

“I don’t know, but he seems happy. Maybe that’s just me wanting to see something. I was guilty of that with Mama a lot of times. And God knows I gave Johnny Ray all those chances to straighten up and he didn’t. I’m afraid of getting disappointed or hurt again.”

“Did Elaine ever stay sober for ten whole days?” Sugar asked.

“Not even one time,” Jolene answered.

“Did the boyfriend?”

“He made it two days one time,” Jolene said.

“Then there’s your answer. Don’t judge Tucker by your mama’s or that other man’s half bushel,” Sugar told her.

“What does that mean? I’ve never heard that expression before,” Jolene said.

“It means that your mama’s half bushel of problems stay in her basket. Johnny Ray’s stay in his. Don’t pull out any of those and use it to judge anyone else. The way they handled their issues has nothing to do with Tucker, so don’t judge him by your experiences with those two,” Jasper chimed in.

Jolene laughed. “And never the bunch of them shall meet unless they share a bottle of cheap whiskey. Then I can throw them in a burlap bag together, right?”

“You got it, darlin’,” Jasper said.

“Okay, I guess I just needed to hear y’all’s voices. Travel safe today, and I love you both. Where are you now?” Jolene asked again.

“In a rest stop having lunch, and then we’ll get back on the road,” Jasper answered.

“Well, be safe.”

“We will,” Jasper said.

The call ended without any of them needing to say goodbye.

“Sounds like you handled that real good,” Jasper said. “And, if I was hearin’ right, we might get them grandbabies sooner rather than later.”

“We just might at that.” Sugar nodded.

The windshield wipers had to do double time to keep up with the sheets of rain hitting Tucker’s truck like a sandblaster. The fifteen-minute drive to the lumberyard took half an hour, and he had to sit in the parking lot ten more minutes until the rain slacked up enough that he could jog inside. When he carried the five-gallon bucket out to the truck, there was still a slow drizzle coming down, but at least most of the storm had passed.

He laid his hat on the passenger seat and started back to Jefferson. But when he drove past the road leading to the cemetery, he turned that way. That first year after Melanie died, he’d gone to her grave every single day. The second year he forced himself to only go once a week, but it had been two weeks this time, and he felt guilty about staying away so long. He wondered if Luke had already been there today and felt guilty that he hadn’t gone to the party. With Luke’s problems, he probably wouldn’t be alive another year to celebrate with them.

Tucker parked and sat there for a while, just looking out across the brown lawn. Soon spring would arrive, bringing with it pretty green grass. Melanie had loved spring, but summer was her favorite season. That meant three months when she didn’t have to teach and she could spend more time with her Tucker.

Finally, he got out and, taking cover from the drizzle under a tall pine tree not far from her grave, tried to get into the zone that he always felt when he visited her. Maybe it was the rain, or the fact that he’d wanted to kiss Jolene that morning, but something wasn’t right. He took a step forward and dropped to his knees.

“You were serious in the dream, weren’t you, Melanie? You’re not going to talk to me anymore, are you?”

Nothing, not a clap of thunder or a bolt of lightning, came from the clouds. He shifted his gaze from the tombstone to the skies, and be damned if they hadn’t parted enough to let a ray of sunshine filter through. When he looked back at the tombstone, it sparkled in the fresh sunrays.

“I had the urge to kiss Jolene this morning,” he whispered.

More sunshine, but nothing, not even a faint whisper, from Melanie.

He touched the tombstone. “I guess that means you aren’t jealous. You’re okay with it?”

The clouds covered the sun, casting everything back into grayness—like shades of a black-and-white movie.

“Okay, I get the message. I’ll do my best.” He removed his wedding ring from his finger and his knife from his pocket. Digging a small hole at the base of the tombstone, he buried the gold band. “You gave me yours back in my dream last night. I’m giving you mine this way. I love you, Melanie. I’m not sure where this is going with Jolene, but I’ve got a good feeling about it. She’s a good woman. You’d like her a lot if you . . .”

A loud clap of thunder rolled across the sky, and huge drops of rain began to fall. He rolled up to a standing position and started to run back to his truck when a horn blasted right in front of him, much closer than where his vehicle was parked. He shaded his eyes against the rain and could see an arm waving to him to come that way.

He dashed over there as Melanie’s dad pointed for him to get into his truck. Tucker hopped inside and shivered.

“Cold rain is the worst,” he said.

“Amen to that.” Luke patted his shoulder. “How are you doing? We were sad not to see you at the birthday.”

The story of the dream poured out. Then he went right on to tell Luke how he’d felt that morning when he was close to Jolene.

Luke nodded through the whole story. “Has she talked to you about Jolene?”

“She told me that Jolene was a good woman and I should give her a chance.” Tucker rubbed the place where his wedding band had been. “But it seems so final. Like I can’t go back, but I’m not sure I know how to go forward.”

“It was final the day that we lost her. It just takes a while for us to get that settled in our hearts,” Luke said.

“But how can I be sure that it is settled?”

“I think what you put in the ground says that. I saw that you were burying your ring.”

Tucker glanced down at his finger and the pale line of skin marking the ring’s absence. “Is it possible that there’s more than one soul mate for some of us?”

Luke clamped a hand on Tucker’s shoulder. “Listen to Melanie, son. You’re too young to go through life alone and lonely. I’m sixty-five years old and Carla is the same age, but I told her to find someone when I’m gone. With her family history, she could live past ninety. She could have another thirty years with someone who adores her,” Luke said.

“But . . .” Tucker started.

“You look at things different when you’re lookin’ the Maker in the eye, just like Melanie looks at things different from the side she’s on now. If she said this Jolene is a good woman, then believe her.”

“Yes, sir,” Tucker said.

“Carla and I’d like to meet her,” Luke said.

Tucker couldn’t answer for the grapefruit-size lump in his throat.

“And it would have to be pretty soon. As you know, I’ve got a deadline to meet. Let’s go for ice cream on Sunday afternoon. Meet you at the Dairy Queen here in Marshall at four?”