Christmas present ever. Then suddenly the feeling disappeared. How in the world was she ever going to tell her two best friends that she was moving more than a thousand miles away from them?
Old habits die hard. On Friday afternoon, Diana flipped on the light as she started into the bathroom, then quickly switched it off, fussing at herself the whole time because she knew that there was no electricity. But she could have sworn the light fixture above the sink had come on.
“Figment of my imagination,” she muttered. It had to be that the flickering candle she had carried carefully into the room had flared up because of a draft. She tried the switch again, and there was light. She tried it three more times, flipping it on and off, on, off, on, off, before she blew out the candle and washed her hands.
She went back out to the dining room, where the rest of the folks were deeply engrossed in a game of Monopoly by lamplight, and turned on the light fixture above the table. “Look what I discovered. I wonder how long it’s been on and we didn’t know it?”
Luke pushed back his chair. “I’ll go take care of the generator. And I betcha we’ll all be looking for places to recharge our laptops and phones.”
“Praise the Lord!” Tootsie raised a hand toward the ceiling. “And I mean that in a very serious way. I’ve been wondering if I was going to have to show up at the Colbert family reunion on Sunday with store-bought food. This will be the first reunion I’ll attend without Smokey, so everyone will be looking to see what I brought.”
“Aunt Tootsie, we all know your talents are not in the kitchen,” Luke said on his way out the door.
“Well, I’m still glad that I don’t have to go with a can of corn and a loaf of bread,” she said. “Now, you three girls tell me what we’re taking.”
“Chicken and dressing. I’m going to put the chicken in a slow cooker right now and let it cook all night so the broth will be rich,” Carmen said.
“Cranberry-orange salad and a chocolate cake,” Joanie offered.
Tootsie rubbed her hands together. “You should make a sample cake tonight just so we can be sure the oven is baking just right.”
“I’ll be glad to.” Joanie pushed back her chair.
Tootsie looked up at Diana. “And what are you making for us to take?”
“Marinated vegetables and taco casserole.” Diana smiled. “I’ll do the vegetables tomorrow morning and the casserole Sunday morning so it’ll be fresh.”
Tootsie clapped her hands. “We’re going to have so much fun. I can’t wait to introduce y’all to all Smokey’s relatives. He’s been talkin’ about y’all for years.”
“I didn’t know we were invited,” Diana said. “We can just cook and send it with you and Luke.”
“Oh, no.” Luke came in from the garage. “Y’all have to go with us, and one of you has to pretend to be my girlfriend so Aunt Mary Lou will stop trying to fix me up.”
“I’m married.” Joanie held up her left hand to show off her rings.
Carmen shook her head. “I’m not even divorced yet.”
Luke looked over at Diana and wiggled his eyebrows. “I guess it’s you. Wear that pretty outfit you wore to the funeral.”
“Oh, no!” Diana threw up both palms.
“Why not? It’ll only be for a few hours, and he’s right. Mary Lou has been drivin’ him crazy for years.” Tootsie said.
“You owe me. I’ve been letting you use my device to send in your work. I can always refuse to let you have it anymore,” Luke teased.
“No PDAs.” Diana held up a finger.
“Done,” Luke agreed.
“No telling my age.” Another finger shot up.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Why, Aunt Mary Lou might pass clean out at the thought,” he teased.
She laughed in spite of herself. “And no telling anyone about me falling on top of you.” The third finger joined the other two.
“You got it, but I really hate giving up that last one. It would have my uncles all in stitches.” Luke winked.
“Okay, we’ve got that settled, and the power is back on, so I can really see y’all’s faces.” Joanie motioned for everyone to sit down. “I’ve got news.”
“Is it about Eli?” Carmen melted into a chair.
“Are you pregnant? You’ve been acting strange the past few days,” Diana said.
“No, it’s not about Eli, and I’m definitely not pregnant, thank God,” Joanie answered. “I have to admit that I’ve been worried. Brett has been so