“I’m not in denial,” Carmen protested. “I really think Eli and I can work this out.”
“So did I, even though Gerald had cheated on me,” Diana said. “Just know that we are here to support you, no matter what happens.”
Tootsie laid a hand on her heart. “Yes, we are, and with that said, I’ve been makin’ plans since yesterday and finalized them this morning. The only thing y’all have to do is agree with them.”
“What kind of plans?” Diana asked.
Tootsie lowered her voice. “Y’all got to promise not to think I’m crazy.”
“We’d never think that about you,” Diana declared.
“Okay, then, even though it was a month yesterday since Smokey passed away, I still talk to him,” Tootsie said between bites. “I was visitin’ with him yesterday morning about our anniversary trip that we take every fall. I needed a sign to know whether to go or not. It’ll be sad to go without him but even sadder to stay home and wish I’d gone.”
“I’m so sorry,” Carmen apologized. “With all this going on, I forgot. We should be comforting you, not getting taken care of.”
“It’s being needed that keeps me going. I know he can’t really answer me, but, by damn, he can send me signs, and he sure sent one in a big way yesterday,” Tootsie explained.
“How’s that?” Diana asked.
“With the divorce papers.”
“What?” Carmen frowned.
The wrinkles around Tootsie’s eyes deepened when she smiled. “Smokey and I vowed to each other that we’d live to be ninety, and then we wouldn’t fight the good Lord if He wanted to come and get us. When Smokey’s heart stopped when he was only eighty-two, I knew that God had other plans.”
“I’d forgotten that this is the time of year you and Smokey usually went away for a few weeks, but what has the divorce got to do with that?” Joanie asked.
“Oh, I’m going,” Tootsie said. “I’m going to make the trip, just like we planned, and stay at the old house up in Scrap, Texas. Only now I’m making different plans for the trip back. I think it’d be nice to take the motor home to Lawton and see the girls graduate from basic training, don’t y’all?”
“Oh, Tootsie, that is so, so sweet,” Carmen said with more enthusiasm than Diana had heard from her since the day before. “But we’ll worry about you out there on the road in that big vehicle all by yourself.”
“Y’all are going with me, so pack your bags. Smokey’s favorite nephew, Luke, is going to drive me. Y’all haven’t met him. Since he’s grown-up and not a little boy anymore, I only get to see him at the Colbert family reunion up in Paris in November each year and when he can get off to come to Scrap for Thanksgiving. He did come to the funeral, but things were so stressful, I hardly even realized he was here. He sold his company—some kind of software thing—this past month down in Houston, so he’s got some free time,” Tootsie said.
Diana sucked in a lungful of air. “Tootsie, we can’t do that. We can’t leave for a month.”
“Two months, maybe more,” Tootsie argued. “And why not? We’ll be in Lawton in time for the graduation.”
“But what if . . . ,” Joanie started.
“When’s Brett coming home?” Tootsie asked.
“He’s hoping to meet up with me in Lawton for the graduation,” Joanie answered.
“Carmen said yesterday that she wants to run away. Diana can do her insurance coding work from anywhere. So what’s the next excuse?” Tootsie asked.
“What if I need to be here for the divorce?” Carmen asked.
“Are you going to sign the papers? Is he being fair about everything?” Tootsie asked.
“I have no idea,” Carmen answered. “I can’t make heads or tails out of that stuff. I just know that it says Decree of Divorce across the top.”
“I thought so. I took the liberty of calling my lawyer to represent you. Don’t worry about the money. He was Smokey’s best friend, and he’s doing it as a favor to me. If you’ll let me take the papers with me, I’ll pass them on to him. Then y’all can keep in touch by phone about the whole rest of it,” Tootsie said. “Any more excuses other than that you just don’t want to be stuck in a camper or an old house back in the woods with an old woman?”
“Tootsie, how can you say that?” Carmen asked. “We love you. You’ve been a surrogate mother to us and a