the front porch and the clear, high voice of Andy in the backyard, peppering Sis with questions.
“Do holes have bottoms?”
“Can I dig to China?”
“Do frogs get married?”
“Is first grade scary?”
“Can I come home if I don’t like it?”
The sun was lowering toward the western horizon, reminding Emily she’d promised to cook dinner for Larry. An anxiousness rose inside her, the kind of wishy-washy feeling she hated. How could she leave her brother and yet how could she disappoint her fiancé? A mosquito buzzed through the window, and she balanced on one foot to scratch the back of her leg. She got red welts every time one bit her.
“Jim?” He turned toward her with a look of surprise, as if he were just returning from a faraway country and couldn’t believe she was there waiting for him. “If I invite Larry over for dinner here, will you come down and eat with us?”
“I’m not good company.”
“You don’t have to be good company. In fact, you don’t even have to make conversation. I’d just like for you to spend some time with the man who is going to be your brother-in-law.”
His long silence was bound to be no. She scratched her mosquito bite again, waiting.
When her brother finally shrugged and said, “Okay,” Emily felt as if she’d successfully led an expedition to the North Pole.
She left him heading toward the bathroom to shave, and went downstairs to call Larry. When she got to the telephone in the kitchen, she lost some of her resolve. Should she discuss the revised dinner plans with Beulah and Sis first? But what if Larry said no, and then she’d have to tell them he wasn’t coming?
“Emily?” Sis was suddenly standing in the doorway, holding the hand of a dirty little urchin after an enthusiastic excavation of the backyard.
“Good Lord, Sis, you startled me.”
“What’s up, Em? You look like a scared rabbit.”
“Mommy, what’s a scared rabbit?”
“Go wash your hands and face, Andy,” she told her son. “I’ll explain later.”
As he marched off, she told Sis about her plans to invite Larry over for dinner and how it might turn out to be a wonderful ploy to get their brother out of his bedroom.
“That’s great, Em!”
“I thought I could find something in the pantry to fix.”
“Good Lord, Emily. Beulah always cooks enough to feed an invasion of Martians. And don’t you worry about Sweet Mama.”
“Are the Martians coming?” Andy was back, standing in the doorway bouncing up on his toes in his excitement.
“No, the Martians are not coming.” Emily studied the level of dirt still on her son. “You forgot to wash behind your ears. I could build a frog house with that leftover dirt.”
“’K.”
As her son raced off once more and her sister puttered around the kitchen—washing her hands, pouring herself a glass of iced tea—Emily felt herself settle down. Apart from her family and Sweet Mama’s café, she sometimes felt a bit out of her element, as if she’d taken a wrong turn on the road and ended up in an unfamiliar place.
“Okay, then.” She smiled as Sis settled into a kitchen chair with her tea. “That settles everything.”
“It’s a good idea, Em. Larry needs to learn more about the family he’s marrying into.”
The way her sister’s eyes gleamed, it seemed to Emily the shoe was on the other foot: Sis was the one who wanted to find out about the man Emily would soon be calling her own. Still, as she picked up the kitchen phone and dialed Larry’s work number, she even felt a small sense of accomplishment.
When she said, “Hello, Larry,” and he called her darling, she saw her future unfold as a series of Hallmark cards, each scene a perfect depiction of a happy family.
Words spilled out of her so fast, she got tangled up and had to start over. By the time she’d finished telling him about the change of plans, she was flushed as if she’d been running.
There was a deep silence at the other end of the line.
“Larry? Are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“Oh, thank goodness. For a minute, I thought we’d been cut off.”
“No, I was thinking...how could you just change plans without even discussing it with me?”
“Well, of course I should have. I know that.” She bit her lip, feeling somehow inadequate and wondering what she’d done that was so wrong. “Still, my brother is just home from the war, and he’s feeling so alone right now, I thought it would be nice if you could come over and cheer him up.”
Why didn’t Larry say something?
“You know, a little man-to-man talk in a house full of women?” She waited, nervous, and still Larry said nothing. “Of course, there’s Andy, but I’m afraid his conversation runs to frog houses and rocket ships.”
Emily twisted the phone cord around her fingers, and a little pulse started pounding in her temple.
“Larry? Are you still there?” She put a hand to her forehead and silently counted to three. “Say something. Please.”
Sis set down her glass in that slow, deliberate manner she had when she was getting ready to wade into the middle of a situation gone bad. Even worse, she pushed back her chair. Emily frantically signaled her sister to sit back down.
When Larry finally decided to talk to her again, she was so flustered she nearly dropped the receiver.
“You said you’d make spaghetti and meatballs, Emily.” He was breathing hard, like somebody having a heart attack.
“Larry? Are you all right?”
“Of course I’m all right. Just disappointed, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry, Larry.” She looked down at her engagement ring and twisted it on her finger. “I was just... I don’t know what I was doing.” She squinted at her ring. “I was just trying to be helpful, that’s all.”
Sis was scowling so hard it seemed to Emily the whole room had gone dark.
“I was looking forward to your spaghetti, Emily,” Larry told her.
“I promise you I’ll make spaghetti and meatballs the next time. And listen, Beulah is one of the best cooks on the Gulf Coast. I know you’re going to enjoy having dinner with my family.”
“I even told my boss I was eating spaghetti my fiancée made.”
“I’m
