Jasper hoped it would help straighten Reuben out. He thought your influence would be good. Reuben is on his third professor job. He had a wonderful position at Baylor and didn’t make tenure. Then he got hired at a junior college in Oklahoma and didn’t make tenure. Now he’s at another junior college and it’s not looking good there, either.”
“Me help him?” Jolene gasped. “I’m just a bartender. He’s a professor. How was I going to help him?”
“Common sense and life lessons go a lot farther than book learnin’,” Sugar said.
“Thank you for that much trust.” A wave of guilt washed over Jolene for ever even having second thoughts about selling her half to Tucker. She wiped away a tear making its way down her cheek and changed the subject. “So tell me how you’re managing cooking in that small space when you’re used to this huge kitchen. And when did y’all start going to different places every week?”
“It’s been an adjustment learnin’ to cope with such a small space,” Sugar said. “And we’ve been takin’ turns with dinner for several years. Hey, speakin’ of dinner, Dotty says that Tucker is a great guy. Tell me what you think.”
Jolene giggled. “I’m pretty sure they’re playing matchmaker, but”—she lowered her voice—“he’s still not over Melanie.”
“Some things take a little more time to get over than others,” Sugar said. “Don’t shut a door until you’re absolutely sure about it. At least you’re friends. It would be hard to work together if you didn’t at least like one another.”
Jolene could hear Tucker working, but she took the phone outside. Wrapping a quilt she’d taken from the sofa on the way out around her, she settled down on the swing. She had questions for Sugar that she didn’t want Tucker to hear.
“We work together really well, but I can’t go through what I did with Mama and with my last boyfriend, so I’m not going to start something that has no finish line,” Jolene answered.
“Smart thinkin’,” Sugar said.
She wasn’t even sure how to begin her next thought.
“You still there?” Sugar asked after several long seconds.
“Yes, I’m here. I was trying to think about how to ask about Melanie. Maybe if I knew more about her, then I could understand Tucker better,” Jolene said.
“You could be right,” Sugar said. “She was a tall brunette, rather slim built, and when she and Tucker were home and came to church with her parents, they seemed like the perfect little couple. Her mother wanted grandkids, but she and Tucker didn’t seem to be in a big hurry for them. She’d taught the little kids’ Sunday school class, so it wasn’t any surprise to us when she became a schoolteacher and got a job in Dallas. I’d worried about a small-town girl going to the big city, but Melanie did fine. Met Tucker and got married. Then she was killed in an auto accident, and you know the rest.”
“Thank you,” Jolene said.
“And now moving on,” Sugar said. “Dotty raves about you working at the Gator. I wasn’t real happy about that, but it’s what you know, and I reckon you can take care of yourself.”
“Had to have something to pay the bills and buy food after Reuben did what he did,” Jolene said. “So you’re having a good time?”
“Oh, sweetie, we’ve been having the best time. We spent a couple of days on that beach where we scattered your folks’ ashes. We stood there in the edge of the water and remembered the day we scattered their ashes. It’s such a peaceful place. I’m glad that you wanted to put them where they’d honeymooned. Then we fished and picnicked. I love this journey,” Sugar gushed, “but I miss home. It’s takin’ a lot of adjusting, goin’ from the Magnolia to an RV. Don’t tell the girls I’m homesick—” Sugar’s voice cracked. “If they knew, they’d beg me to come back, and I couldn’t do that to Jasper. He’s barely over the way Reuben . . . no need in talking about that anymore. It’s crazy how a person can love a new life and miss the old one at the same time.”
“I miss you, too, Aunt Sugar. Why don’t y’all swing back through here as you zigzag across the states?” Jolene got up and went back inside. “It’s our secret, but if you change your mind, you can come back to Jefferson and live right here in the inn with us.”
“Thank you. It’s starting to snow.” Sugar’s voice wasn’t