The Magnolia Inn(68)

“Good grief!” Flossie’s hands went up to her cheeks. “I never realized that. How’d you know?”

“Because after Sunday dinner with all y’all was my and Bruce’s personal time. I asked Mama about it, too, before she died. She blushed and said that was her business, but why did I think God set aside Sunday for men and women both to have a day of rest?” Dotty giggled.

Jolene couldn’t remember a Sunday afternoon when her parents did anything like that. If her dad hadn’t been working at the kitchen table, then he’d been sleeping in his recliner with the television turned to a ball game. Her mother was usually out of the house shopping with friends.

“Well, no wonder my folks were in a good mood on Sunday nights.” Flossie started passing the food around the table.

Dotty giggled again. “Speakin’ of Sunday, next week is at my house, so let’s plan our menu. I thought Tucker could grill steaks for us, since I hate to cook. I’ll make a dessert and pop some potatoes in the oven to bake. Flossie, you can do the salad and bread again. And Lucy, you can bring your corn casserole.”

“What about us?” Tucker asked.

“The griller doesn’t have to provide any food. Just whatever special sauces he uses,” Dotty answered.

The conversation, as usual, turned to town gossip. Jolene knew that she should be listening because knowing the people mentioned would help when they opened the Magnolia Inn for business. As Aunt Sugar often said, “You can never have too much information. Gather it in and then sift it, and let the unimportant fall through the small holes.”

But she kept going back to what Dotty had said about personal time on Sundays. If she ever got into another relationship, it was going to be like that—not stale after a few weeks, but always lively. One where she’d look forward to Sunday afternoons. Yes, ma’am, that’s exactly what she wanted.



West Memphis, Arkansas

Sugar figured out that Sundays were the hardest of all for her. They found a place to go to church that morning, but as she sat there among strangers in a huge sanctuary, she pictured the little church at home. Dotty, Flossie, and Lucy would be on the third pew—if Lucy wasn’t on some kind of religious kick where she was trying out all the faiths. Granny Alberta would be right up there on the front pew because she couldn’t hear too well. And Mr. Thomas always sat on the back row because he wanted to be the first one out the doors when the last amen was said. He’d hurry to the Dairy Queen to save a seat for his old cronies for lunch.

And then afterward Sugar and her friends would go to one of the girls’ houses for dinner. Jasper would doze on the sofa while a ball game of some kind played on the television. And she and her friends would have a gossip session in the kitchen.

When the services were over that morning, Jasper held her hand as they made their way out to the parking lot. “What’s the matter, Sugar? You’ve been awful quiet today. Missin’ Jolene? I do, too. I’m still disappointed in Reuben, but I’m proud of the way she’s stepped up to take care of the Magnolia.”

Sugar managed to keep it together until she got inside the RV. Then the tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I love you and I love being with you, but I’m homesick.” She buried her face in his chest so she wouldn’t have to see the disappointment on his face.

He hugged her even tighter. “Well, praise the Lord! I like our RV. I like traveling with you, but I hate not having roots, too. I’ve got a confession to make, darlin’. I’ve been lookin’ at real estate in Jefferson and wishin’ we’d just bought a house instead of this big RV.”

Sugar brought his lips to hers for a long kiss. When it ended she asked, “Did you see that the one next to Flossie is for sale?”

“That’s the very one I’ve been lookin’ at.” Jasper grinned. “But let’s keep our RV for vacations. We won’t use it for a way of life but just for short vacations.”

“Do you think we should’ve kept the inn?”

He put a finger over her lips. “Not even for a second. It’s time we retired, and neither of us needs to be climbing stairs. We should be home in three days, and there’s RV parks in Marshall where we can live until we decide what we want to buy. I’ll even be home in time to go bowling Friday night. I been talkin’ to Herbert and they haven’t replaced me on the league.” His grin widened with every word.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner that you weren’t happy?”

“Because this has been your dream for years. We’ve planned it for so long and I thought you were happy. But I’ll gladly turn in my wings for the roots I had. We only thought we wanted to be free birds.” Jasper chuckled.

“Maybe we can run away from Jefferson a couple of times a year in our new RV.” Sugar took a step back and settled into her seat. “But not on holidays. I need to be home at those times. Jolene might need me. We’re all the family she has.”

“And she’s all we’ve got left. Maybe Reuben will come around to thinkin’ responsibly like she does in a few years, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ll be glad to get back there and get some hugs from our girl,” Jasper said.

Later, he was driving through Arkansas when the sky turned dark and great sheets of rain began to sweep across the highway. He gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. “Darlin’, find us the next RV park. We can’t keep going in this.”