for her death lay at my feet. I knew that in the weirdest way it was true. I begged God’s forgiveness. And I even asked God to forgive Sharon. That was the best I could do for her. If the situation were reversed, I doubted she would pray for me. And I prayed for Carin then, too, hoping that she’d ask the good Lord to forgive me. I knew that she had no anger toward me. In fact, I could still feel her gratitude.
Finally, the Mass was ended and the processional took Sharon’s casket to the waiting hearse, which would then take her remains to be buried in Mount Pleasant. I watched as Archie and his boys walked together, followed by her parents and close friends and family. It had to be an awful ordeal for his boys, as I was sure they were reliving their mother’s funeral.
We did not go to the cemetery. I delivered a sheet cake to the house for all those who would stop by to help Archie and the boys get through the remainder of the day.
I watched from my living room as dozens of people came and went from Archie’s house. There were at least ten or so kids at any given time, running around their yard. It was good to see children there again, to hear their laughter and to see Hunter and Tyler at play, just being kids.
Around seven that night I got a text message from Archie.
Thanks for the cake, it read.
You’re welcome, I answered.
I guessed then that the door was open to me again. As much as I had once wanted to be with him, that day I decided to let him come to me. I stopped blaming myself then, because what was done was done and it could not be changed. And I also knew that the hive had a will of its own.
“How do the bees get the nectar out of the flowers?” Hunter asked.
“Well, they can fold their tongue like a drinking straw and then they suck it out.”
“Like this?” He rolled his tongue and made a great slurping sound.
“Yes,” I said and thought he was priceless.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Good to Bee
Leslie and I were up early and driving Momma to MUSC first thing in the morning. I’d had no further communication from Archie. And I was pretty sure Leslie had not been in touch with Char. Our focus was all on the QB.
“Did you talk to Suzanne?” Leslie said. “Does anyone want me to stop at Dunkin’ for coffee?”
“Yes, of course,” Momma said. “I talked to Suzanne.”
“I wouldn’t mind an iced coffee with cream,” I said.
Leslie pulled into the drive-through lane at Dunkin’ Donuts on Coleman Boulevard.
“Y’all want anything else?”
“I wouldn’t shoot you if you got me a glazed doughnut,” I said.
“You’ve got it,” Leslie said. “Actually, that sounds pretty good.”
“I’m not allowed food or drink,” Momma said.
“I know,” Leslie said. “I’ll get you doughnuts when this is over. So what did Suzanne say?”
“She wanted to come,” Momma said. “I told her no.”
“Why?” I said. “I’d love to meet her.”
“Well, you might meet her sometime but not today. I’m too nervous about this procedure to play hostess.”
“I understand that,” Leslie said. “But if Suzanne were to come, I doubt she’d be expecting you to show her the town.”
“Exactly, and I’d want to. I mean, after all she did for us in Las Vegas.”
Leslie gave our order and we drove around to pay.
“Did Char come up in conversation?” Leslie said and handed the person at the window a twenty-dollar bill.
Leslie handed me my coffee and a small bag and dropped her change in her bag. I put the coffee in the cup holder and took the paper wrapper off the straw, stabbing the opening in the top of the cup. I couldn’t get the doughnut in my mouth fast enough.
“Of course,” Momma said. “Suzanne said Char wishes me luck and sends her love to you. I told her about the autopsy and the police finding and she was very relieved for us.”
“That’s nice,” I said, “but I still have the threat of that civil suit.”
“You’ve got to stop worrying about that,” Momma said. “It may never come to pass, and you’ll get a hundred gray hairs for nothing.”
“That’s a decent piece of advice, Holly,” Leslie said.
“I suppose it is,” I said. “You know, there’s this piece of me that wishes life could go back to before Sharon met Archie. I was so much happier.”