Mind Games

“It doesn’t bring your mama and daddy back to us.”

“We’re never going to see them again.”

“That’s not altogether true. We’ll all have them in here.” She laid a hand on her heart. “And in here.” Against her temple. “We’ll see them in our hearts and minds, and all the memories.”

“We can’t ever make new ones.”

“No, Thea, we can’t, which makes the ones we have more precious. I have one of when your mama brought your daddy here to meet me and her brothers. On spring break it was, and John brought me flowers, so I knew right off he was a smart young man. Tulips yellow and bright as sunshine. We were standing right here on this porch when he gave them to me.

“Do you want to know what he said, first thing?” When they both nodded, she smiled. “He said not ‘Pleased to meet you,’ like you might expect. He said how Cora looked just like me, and she was the most beautiful woman in the world.”

She sipped her lemonade. “Your mama wasn’t the only one who fell for John Fox on the spot.”

On a sigh, she rose. “Let’s go feed our animals, then we’ll cook up some dinner and feed ourselves. By tomorrow, people’ll bring food.”

“Why?” Rem asked.

“Because that’s what neighbors do when you’ve lost someone.”

Leeanne McKinnon, along with Abby from Appalachian Crafts, arrived together the next day before noon. They brought a chicken and rice casserole and blueberry cornbread cobbler.

They wouldn’t stay more than a minute, but both hugged Lucy hard.

“If you need anything, a trip to the market, laundry done, a shoulder to lean on.”

“I can call on you.” Lucy hugged Leeanne again. “I’ve always been able to call on you. Both of you.” And hugged Abby.

Leeanne, tall and thin like Will, looked at the children. “My number’s in your grammie’s book, so you use it if you need to. The three of us all went to school together, and we’ve been friends all these years. Old friends? That’s next thing to kin, so y’all call if we can help with anything.”

Her eyes, more golden than brown like Will’s, went shiny with tears. And Thea saw the two women clutch hands as they walked to the car.

“You went to school together?”

“That we did, honeypot.”

“But…” Thea trailed off.

“But what?”

“Well, Will’s only seventeen.”

“Leeanne and Tate got started on family a little later than I did. Will’s got two older brothers, and they’ve got a girl younger than Will, about your age. She was what we call a happy surprise.”

“Didn’t she know she was having a baby? Because, you know.” Rem held out his hands. “You get really big in the belly.”

“Of course she knew, but she and Tate didn’t expect to be expecting again. Then they had Madrigal. She’s a caution, that girl. Maybe later this summer, Miss Leeanne can bring her over so you can meet her.”

“How old were you when you had Mom?”

“Sixteen.” Lucy laughed when Thea’s mouth dropped open. “Zachariah and me? We just couldn’t wait to get started. And we were lucky. We never stopped loving each other as some do when they can’t wait.”

More came, just as Lucy had predicted. They brought casseroles and pies and summer salads. They brought comfort.

A man with bright red hair and a red beard brought three fish in a big bucket of ice.

Rem made excited noises when Lucy got out her fish fillet knife and scaler. “You’re going to cut them up!”

“Watch and learn. We got us some nice largemouth bass. First I have to scale them. And these scales fly all over, so we’re doing it outside. Then I’m going to fillet them.”