the general direction of the lake house. “There were a few logs blazing when I left to pick you up. Would you like to sit and watch them turn to soot together for a while?”
She reached over and patted his knee a few times. “I think I’d like that very much.”
“I know that I don’t want to rush things,” he continued, “but I’ve always liked telling stories by the fire, ever since I was eleven having a blast at summer camp on Lookout Mountain. It was always chilly after nightfall up there, and it was easy to imagine monsters lurking in the woods as the counselors would try and scare us with their spooky voices and tall tales. I remember everything from deranged farmers on out-of-control tractors to maniacal lumberjacks running around the forests sawing people in half while they were sealed up tight in their sleeping bags. None of us slept a wink after that one. I guess boys grow up with a lot more visceral thoughts in their heads.”
Maura Beth had a resigned expression on her face. “I’m afraid my experience at summer camp was a lot tamer. Just us girls allowed, and the most daring thing we ever discussed was makeup and who was being allowed to use it. Or who wasn’t and why. The whole summer was an all-out ‘my mother is a monster’ vent, so in that respect, there was a bit more drama than I first remembered.”
They drove on along the two-lane road that wound its way to the lake from the outskirts of town. There was a full moon rising ahead of them, filling up the windshield with such luster and swollen size that it appeared the night had been completely vanquished, difficult to detect even with peripheral vision. There was only the prospect of looking up into the heavens and wanting to drive straight up to eternity immediately. It was all mesmerizing and therefore distracting.
“Oh, my God, here comes Peter Cottontail!” Jeremy suddenly exclaimed, swerving the car slightly to avoid a rabbit scampering across to the safety of the opposite shoulder.
“I’m so glad you missed him,” Maura Beth said, smiling gratefully. “If it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird, I’m sure I’d feel even worse about being a party to flattening a bunny rabbit.”
Jeremy waited for the slight rush of adrenaline his wildlife encounter had produced to subside. “No hint of roadkill here. I’m quick at the wheel. I’ve even been known to brake for falling leaves.”
Maura Beth sighed quite audibly. “Oh, brother!”
“A little too poetic?”
She just smiled and raised her eyebrows, enjoying the ride.
He pressed on. “I’d really like to know what you’re thinking right now, though.”
Once again, she sat there, looking mysterious and utterly irresistible. “We’ll get to the details later on. For now, I’ll just tell you that I was thinking happily about page twenty-five.”
Recipes for Loyal, Hungry Readers
No trip to Cherico, Mississippi, and the inner workings of The Cherry Cola Book Club would be complete without a few convenient recipes so that readers can duplicate the delicious dishes of some of their favorite characters. For sampling at your leisure, therefore, we present the following pages as lagniappe in hopes that you will enjoy many a satisfying meal with all good wishes in the years to come. Just turn the pages, pick out something you like, and get cooking!
Becca Broccoli’s Easy Peasy Chicken Spaghetti
Ingredients you will need:
1 whole chicken
1 package of thin spaghetti
1 stick of butter
1 chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 large can of mushroom soup
1 can of diced pimentos
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook chicken in salted water until tender. Remove chicken and dice the meat. Use chicken broth to cook spaghetti until tender. Sauté butter, onion, green pepper, and celery until onions are translucent. Add veggies to pasta; then add large can of mushroom soup, chicken, and pimentos; pour into casserole dish and sprinkle cheese over top. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden bubbly.
—Courtesy Mrs. Rose Williams Turner, Natchez, Mississippi
Connie McShay’s Frozen Fruit Salad
Ingredients you will need:
8 ounces cream cheese
½ cup sugar
1 cup mayo
1 cup white raisins
½ cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1 can fruit cocktail (drained)
Poppy seed dressing
Mix cream cheese and sugar; add mayo, raisins, nuts, and fruit cocktail; pour cocktail into twelve lined muffin tins and freeze; package in large Ziploc bag. (For additional flavor, add two tablespoons of poppy seed dressing upon serving.)
—Courtesy Alice Feltus, Lucy Feltus, and
Helen Byrnes Jenkins, Natchez, Mississippi
Periwinkle Lattimore’s Baked Sherry Custard
Ingredients