I, Gracie - Sharon Sala Page 0,9

need arose. She opened the windows beside her bed and turned the box fan toward her face. She sat down on the side of the mattress, pulled her long hair over her shoulder, and slowly braided it to keep it off her neck as she slept. And when she was through, she turned out the lamp, crawled between the freshly washed sheets and rolled over onto her side toward the open window, feeling the cool spot on the pillow against her face.

It would be heaven if the central air conditioner still worked. Even at night, summer in Texas was brutal. But she wouldn't be here much longer, and it didn't matter anymore.

She was just about to close her eyes when she remembered she hadn’t notified her sister-in-law, Darlene. So she sent her a text, with the same info she’d given her siblings and then hit Send, and waited for an answer. It came within moments.

I’m sorry about Mama D. But I will not grieve her passing. It is a blessing for her and for you. You already know how much I loved her. And you know how much I love you. I just sent money via Venmo, as usual. Don't argue. The kids and I are fine. I don't want anything from James Dunham, and wherever you're going, you are going to need it. Love you.

Gracie sent a text through a veil of tears.

Love you, more. Thank you for saving us. You will always be my sister of the heart. Don't lose touch with me. You're all the family I have left.

She hit Send, put the phone back on the charger, found another cool spot on the pillow, and settled in.

As she shifted her shoulder, a pain shot through the muscles all the way to her neck, and for a moment, the memories that flooded put a knot in her stomach. Then she sighed and let it go. It wasn't anything but a remnant from living with Mama.

The last thing she remembered was the moonlight on her face as she closed her eyes.

Brother Harp always said his bedtime prayers on his knees at the side of the bed, but tonight, he was struggling with a heart full of guilt. He could hear Ramona banging around in the bathroom. The ceiling fan over their bed was circulating the flow of cool air from their HVAC system, and his belly was full from their evening meal of fried ham and biscuits with gravy.

It was one of his favorite meals, but it hadn't set well with him tonight. Probably that third biscuit he'd eaten.

He kept thinking of how hot the old Dunham house had been, and how worn out everything looked—including Gracie. She was at least twenty pounds thinner than he remembered her, and he'd been shocked when she'd let them into the house last night.

He hadn't seen the dust on everything, or the circles beneath her eyes, until the next morning. She'd obviously devoted the majority of her time to the care of her mother, but he'd had no idea of how sparse their existence had become until sunrise. And he had no one to blame but himself.

Gracie Dunham had shamed him today, and he deserved it. But there was no way to fix his sin of omission, other than to ask the Good Lord to forgive him because he feared Gracie would not. So, down on his knees he went and spilled his guts to God.

By the time Ramona came to bed, he was lying on his side, pretending to be asleep. He did not want sex. He did not want to talk. He did not want to listen to her complain. He just wanted to forget what a pitiful excuse for a preacher he had become.

Mamie received Daphne's text about the services while she was still at lunch with her friends and went straight to the mall after lunch to buy herself a new black dress.

Once she got home, she'd amped up enough tears to call Joel, telling him about her mama's passing, soaking up all of his sympathy and basking in his promises that he would be on the next plane out of Portland.

That night as she was getting ready for bed, she decided to take the tags off her new dress. Joel didn't need to know how much it had cost, and she'd make it up to him with some good hot sex anyway, so it didn't really matter. Tomorrow, she would make an appointment to get her