Her brow wrinkled. “I guess it’s okay. Barbie drives a pink car.”

“Well, Barbie doesn’t own a nursery.”

“But she’s a vet. And a teacher.”

I laughed. The logic of a five-year-old. “I suppose a pink car works for that, but I got a blue truck, and I like it.”

“But boys drive trucks, like my daddy.”

“Girls can drive trucks if they want to. They can do pretty much anything a boy can do.”

“They can’t pee standing up. I tried it, and Mommy got really mad because I made a huge mess.”

I tried not to laugh. She was using her serious voice, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “True, they probably shouldn’t pee standing up, but girls can do just about anything else.”

“Are you going to marry Joe?”

I wasn’t sure how we’d changed topics so quickly, and this one caught me by surprise. “Well, he hasn’t asked me officially, but yeah, I think we’ll get married someday.” The thought filled me with happiness. I pictured me and Joe in my tiny house with a baby, and tears sprang to my eyes. How could I go from being so miserable five months ago to this happy now? I kept expecting to wake up from a dream.

Ashley talked about her day with her grandparents, and Mikey made sounds like he wanted to join the conversation, but was having a hard time getting a word in edgewise with his talkative sister. I kept my eyes on the road, my nervousness about driving something so big dissipating with each mile.

When we got home, Muffy was excited to see the kids. It was hard to tell who was happier—her or them.

I made a quick dinner of hot dogs and carrots and let the kids have a picnic on the front porch while Muffy chased a bug in the yard. I was sure Joe would teasingly disapprove of our meal. He always gave me a hard time about rarely cooking for myself, even though I used to do all the cooking when Momma was alive.

A pang of regret struck like a sharp stab. After what Violet’s mother-in-law had said to me, I was starting to question everything about my life before, and a brand-new thought struck me: Was my poor relationship with my mother partially my fault?

My cell phone rang.

Ashley picked it up and looked at the caller ID, staring at it for two rings. I resisted the urge to snatch it from her as she tried to read it. “Joe,” she finally said, and I took the phone, quickly pressing answer.

“Joe?” I answered, hoping I hadn’t missed him.

“Hey, darlin’. I miss you.”

I leaned my shoulder into the support post on the porch, my heart aching at the sound of his voice. “I miss you too.”

“I wanna talk to Joe!” Ashley said.

“Joe. Joe.” Mikey mimicked.

My eyes widened in surprise. I’d never heard him say Joe’s name before.

“Does my fan club miss me too?” Joe teased.

“Not as much as I do.”

“Let me say a quick hello, so I can have you all to myself.”

“Good idea.” I handed the phone to Ashley.

She grinned from ear to ear. “Guess what, Joe? We get to spend the night at Aunt Rose’s house and play with Muffy while Mommy goes out with her new friend. And we took a ride in Aunt Rose’s new truck.”

Oh, crappy doodles.

Ashley was silent for several moments. “When are you gonna come back and play with me?” She paused. “Okay, bye Joe.”

She handed the phone back to me, and my stomach balled into a knot of nerves. “That was short.”

“You got a truck?” He didn’t sound happy about it, but he didn’t sound upset either. It was like he was testing the water, dipping his toe in to gauge the temperature. Or perhaps it was the other way around.

I took a deep breath. “Yeah, we got that job with Jonah, and we needed to haul things to the church. Violet’s father-in-law brought his truck to help, but I realized that we needed our own.” I waited for him to answer.

He hesitated for a couple of seconds. “That’s probably a good idea.”

My shoulders relaxed.

“If you’d waited, I would have helped you.”

“I know, but I didn’t know when you’d be back. You said it could take a couple weeks or more. Does it still look like it’s gonna take that long?”

Joe sighed. “It’s hard to say. I hope it gets wrapped up soon. I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“Did you have trouble negotiating a deal on the truck? Where’d you get it?”

“The Moore For Less Used Car lot.”

Joe groaned. “Earl Moore? He’s a crook, Rose. He probably ripped you off.”

I suppressed a groan. I was gonna have to tell him. “No, I had some help.”

“Who? Violet? I know she thinks she knows everything, but—”

“No, it wasn’t Violet. It was Mason.”

Joe was silent for so long I thought he’d hung up. “Let me get this straight.” His voice was tight and controlled. “I told you that I was worried about you talking to Mason Deveraux, and as soon as I leave town, you ask him to help you buy a truck? After I’ve been after you to buy a new car for months?”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I know this looks bad, Joe, but I promise you it just happened.”

“It just happened.” He sounded so detached.

“I saw Mason after they found Miss Dorothy dead—”

“The Miss Dorothy on your street?” At least he sounded concerned about that. “How’d she die?”