“Thanks for believing in me.”

Lettie set her mouth in a firm line. “You’ve been nothing but honest with us, child. Nadine and I just dare anyone to say a bad word about you. We’ll put them straight in a hurry. Right now, I’m going to go get the truck keys for you.”

“No, you sit right here until I get dressed, and I’ll help you down those stairs. If you were to fall, Nadine would never let you live it down after the fit we both threw over her tumble.” Jennie Sue rushed into the bathroom and dressed in her best skinny jeans and a sleeveless, light-blue button-up shirt.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Lettie agreed. “If you get back in time from your mama’s, I’d be willin’ to pay you same as I pay the nail salon to do my nails this evenin’.”

“I’ll make it a point to be back in time. Tell Nadine that I’ll pick her up on the way, and we’ll make it a girls’ evenin’. I didn’t bring any polish with me when I packed to come home. Should I stop by the dollar store and pick some up on my way back?” Jennie Sue asked.

“Might ought to. I like bright red and Nadine likes a pale pink,” Lettie answered. “I got clippers and files and such, but whatever polish I’ve got is probably a chunk of concrete in the bottle. I’ll make brownies, and we’ll pop the cork on a bottle of wine.”

“I’m nervous about goin’ home, Lettie. Mama is so critical. How do I look?” Jennie Sue twirled around twice.

“Beautiful, but then you’d look good in a burlap bag tied up at the waist with a length of balin’ twine,” Lettie said. “Only thing is that you need to have your toenails and fingernails done, too.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute. And I’ll do my nails after we get y’all’s all finished. Just don’t let me drink too much wine,” Jennie Sue said.

“It’s a deal. Now help this old woman down the stairs, and don’t ever tell Nadine that I got winded gettin’ up here,” she said.

“My lips are sealed.” Jennie Sue held on to her arm, and together they slowly made their way down the steps.

Once Lettie was inside the house, Jennie Sue got into the truck, fired up the engine, and backed out into the street. She hadn’t even made it to the stop sign at the corner of the street when she began to have doubts. Maybe she should let Charlotte be the one to reach out to her. If she showed up unannounced, it could put her mother on the defensive again, whereas if she gave it a little more time . . . Her palms moistened against the steering wheel.

Sure, she’d stood her ground with Cricket. Yet she’d feel like she’d really accomplished something if just once Charlotte would be proud of her. Even on her wedding day, the woman had been more interested in being beautiful when one of the ushers walked her down the aisle than she was in Jennie Sue.

When the photographer snapped Charlotte putting the veil on Jennie Sue, she’d told him to take several shots so that she could choose the best one for the album. And then as she left the room, she’d looked over her shoulder and sighed. “I liked the other dress better, but then it’s your wedding. I wish the Wilshire blood would have come out more in you,” she’d said.

When Charlotte was upset with her, she’d always made a remark about either the lack of Wilshire blood or her grandmother Vera Baker, and it was never a good thing. So on her wedding day, Jennie Sue had felt like an ugly duckling the entire ceremony, much like she felt right then. She drove on, slowly, and lingered at every stop sign or corner.

At the city-limits sign, she stopped and pulled over to the side, laid her head on the steering wheel, and literally prayed for a sign to tell her whether to turn around and go back to her apartment or to go out to the house. When she opened her eyes, a big black bird sat on the side mirror of the truck and fussed at her.

“I don’t know if it’s a sign, but I think he’s tellin’ me not to look back.” She took a long breath and pulled back out onto the highway. The bird stayed with her for a few hundred yards and then flew off. “And there’s my second sign,” she said when she saw her mother’s vehicle in the multicar garage. She pulled the truck into one of the empty places and parked.

Frank grabbed her in a bear hug when she got out of the truck, and Mabel rushed out of the kitchen door into the garage to make it a group hug.

“Would you look at her, Mabel?” Frank grinned as he released them. “She’s got some color in her skin. I bet that comes from workin’ outside.”

“She always did love the garden when we had one here. And I just love knowin’ that she might’ve picked the tomatoes or the beans that I get from Rick. Makes them extra special. Come on in the house, darlin’ girl, and tell me all the news.” Mabel pulled her away from Frank.

Frank pretended to pout. “No fair. You always get to spend more time with her than I do.”

“I’ll remember every word she says for you,” Mabel promised. “Now tell me about this argument you had with Cricket because you fell asleep in the same room with Rick last night.”

“That didn’t take long to make it all over town, did it?” Jennie Sue grinned. “But sleep was all we did, honest. I was on the sofa and he was in a recliner. It’s not like we were in the bedroom or even together on the sofa.”

“Honey, if we had to vote on the best juicy bits of the past decade, these past few weeks would win the contest, hands down. You should buy stock in whatever company is offerin’ the most data on those cell phones, because folks are sure usin’ up a lot of it since you got into town. Now sit down at the table, and I’ll make you some breakfast. What do you want? You look thin. Have you been workin’ too hard and not eatin’ enough?” Mabel fussed.

“You do look like you’ve lost a few pounds,” Charlotte said as she breezed into the kitchen, leaving the scent of expensive perfume in her wake. As usual, her makeup was perfect and every hair was in place, prompting the ugly-duckling feeling to wash over Jennie Sue again.

“Good mornin’, Mama.” If she was going to act like nothing had happened, then Jennie Sue would follow her lead.

“I don’t suppose a fattening breakfast would hurt you this one time.” Everybody in Bloom had better bend over, grab their ankles firmly, and kiss their ass goodbye, because the apocalypse was about to be a reality. Either that or one of Lettie and Nadine’s aliens had entered her mother’s body.

“Thank you. Want me to make enough for both of us?” Jennie Sue asked.

“Nothin’ doin’!” Mabel said. “I’ll make the breakfast this mornin’, and you two can eat on the porch. It’s still cool enough that you won’t break a sweat. Just go on out there and get comfortable.”

“Thank you, Mabel.” Charlotte motioned toward the door. “I’ll have an egg-white omelet with mushrooms and tomatoes and low-fat cheese, dry toast, and a cup of lemon tea.”

“Yes, ma’am, and you, Jennie Sue?” Mabel asked.

“A whole-egg omelet with bacon, mushrooms, and tomatoes and double cheese, two pieces of buttered toast, a glass of milk, and one of those blueberry muffins you’ve got hidin’ under the glass dome,” Jennie Sue answered.

She expected at least a sigh from Charlotte, but she got nothing, which was downright scary. Much more of this and she’d believe in the aliens instead of teasing about them, but, like a dutiful daughter, she followed her mother to the screened porch.

“Don’t look at my toenails. Garden work is tough on them, but I’m going to give myself a pedicure tonight,” she said before her mother could make a nasty comment about them.

Charlotte waved the comment away with the flick of a wrist, but she did wince slightly when she glanced at her daughter’s feet. “When you lived in New York, even when you were pregnant, you took better care of yourself. Since you came back to Bloom, you’ve become—” Charlotte struggled with the words.

“What, Mama? What have I become?” Jennie Sue was almost glad to be back on argumentative ground, despite her mission of peace.

“White trash,” Charlotte spit out.