"I'd say, if she continues to do as well as she's been doing, probably in the morning after the doctor sees her."

"Well, listen, I just want to say thanks, I mean thank you sincerely for all you've done for Aunt Daisy. She's, well, she's the most important person in our whole family."

"It was my pleasure," Nurse Tolli Rosol said and I wondered if she could yodel.

I told Ella before we left that she should call us and we'd swing by to get her. She said she would.

The rain had slowed to an intermittent drizzle. The storm seemed to be moving north, toward McClellanville and Georgetown. There was some sunlight breaking through the clouds, sending radiant streams of light across the sky.

"Looks Biblical, doesn't it?" I said.

"Maybe it is," Patti said.

"What's the matter with you? Did you have some religious rebirth you haven't told me about?"

"h.e.l.l, no. But every time I come back here I'm reminded how this place is closer to G.o.d than the congested, freezing-cold, super-compet.i.tive rat race I run," she said loudly enough to alarm anyone nearby.

"Inside voice," I said.

"We're in a parking lot," she said.

"Whatever. Had enough of New Jersey?"

"Yes. As soon as I get home and kill Mark for not telling me about Heather Wh.o.r.e, I'm putting the house on the market. I can make wedding cakes here and don't people down here get bunions and ingrown toenails? We're moving because there's just no point in being there without my family. I don't want to go back. Isn't that awful?"

"No. I know exactly what you mean. I feel alive here. I feel young here. And my reasons are a lot different from yours, but I don't ever want to feel like I did when Addison was alive. Not for another minute."

"It's a lot to think about," she said.

"Yeah, well, in my case, the thinking got done for me. Still hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Where's the closest Best Buy or Staples? You've got a new life to start living."

By late that afternoon I had my new computer set up in the bedroom downstairs, the one with the tiny desk. If that was the desk DuBose and Dorothy used to write Mamba's Daughters it was surely good enough for me. In fact, maybe it would bring me luck.

Patti was in the kitchen making dinner. My job was to make the salad, set the table, and be alluring. Clearly, she didn't trust my culinary gifts beyond poultry and I didn't care if she had to be the alpha chef. I called Russ, who said he'd be glad to collect Ella and bring her home and he reported that Alice's doctor was upset because she'd already gained eleven pounds.

"How far along is she?" I said.

"Seven weeks," he said. "That's a lot, huh?"

"Russ? You want to know the secret of how to get through this pregnancy?"

"The flower aisle at the Piggly Wiggly?"

"My genius son. Yes. We're going to get you on Jeopardy!"

"You know, you were right about bringing her flowers and telling her she was beautiful."

"Well, son? Think about it. She needs to hear it. Her entire body is working so hard to produce and support another life. Every hormone she's got is like a whirling dervish. So until she gets to about her seventh month, she's going to be a little extra touchy."

"You mean, I've got five more months of this?"

"No, my precious heart, if you're lucky you've got another fifty years."

"Oh, man."

"Listen to me, sweetheart, your life is about to change for the better in so many ways you can't even imagine. You're going to have a child! Your very own child to love and cherish and believe me, there is nothing in this world that can happen to you that will bring you greater happiness. Nothing."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really."

"Yeah, I know. I guess. It's what everyone tells me. But it's a little scary, you know?"

"I'm right here for you, son, anytime you need me. I'm not going anywhere. You'd be a moron if you weren't a little nervous but don't let the changes in Alice throw you. This is the time for you to be the man, Russ. You know, the protector? If you think about it, she's going through this for you and for all of us. What more important contribution can a woman make to a family than a life? Try to be extra understanding and realize however quirky she might seem right now, it isn't you and it isn't her, it's her body sending her all kinds of messages she's never heard before."

"Like to start eating like a wolf?"

"Yes."

"Like to fall asleep all the time?"

"Yes, like the only time she's not talking about being tired is when she's asleep?"

"Exactly. What causes that?"

"I have no earthly idea. Ask the doctor. I'm sure there's a new study that says it's a vitamin deficiency or something. Anyway . . ."

I thanked him for seeing about Ella and I promised him I would take Alice out to lunch or for a manicure or for a walk on the beach and that I'd talk to her and more important, I'd listen to her.

"I love you, Mom."

"And, my darling boy? You're going to realize for the first time how much I love you when you hold your own child."

I could almost feel him blush, just thinking about his own little baby.

We hung up and John called just a few minutes later.

"Hey," he said. "How was your day?"

"Good!"

"How's Miss Daisy?"

"She's doing just great, thanks. Probably coming home tomorrow. How about you? How was your day?"

"Well, I got a really disturbing phone call from Camp Lisa. I don't want to . . . but well, the truth is I need to tell someone."

Camp Lisa was how he referred to the inst.i.tution where his estranged insane wife resided.

"You tell me, John. It's fine to tell me anything. You know that." I thought, given Lisa's history, she probably tried to stab someone again.

"Turns out she's got Stage Four pancreatic cancer."

"Oh John. That's awful." It was about the last thing in the world I expected him to say.

"Yeah, she's going. I mean, you know, it's not as if I've had a thought, not a single thought of ever getting back together with her, because I knew there were absolutely no drugs or therapies out there that could cure her. And besides, I was all done with her the last time she laced my juice. How can you love someone who wants to kill you?"

"No, I know. I know all that. But still. What a shock."

"They wanted to know if I wanted to see her one last time and if not, what did I want them to do with her remains? Her remains. Gee, G.o.d. What a question. Anyway, she's only expected to live for a few weeks. At most."

"Jesus, John. That's a h.e.l.luva phone call to get."

"Yeah, it was. I was sitting at my desk grading papers. Hopefully we don't get many of those calls in our lifetime."

"Hopefully you never get another one! What are you going to do? I mean, what do you think? Is she asking for you?"

"No. The doctor I spoke to said she's pretty out of it, conscious one day and then she sleeps for three. But I'm still in the records as next of kin so I got the call. So strange. I never thought it would end this way."

"I'm sure. Oh, I'm so sorry, darling. I mean, I'm sorry for her, too, you know?"

"Yeah, her life is a very sad story. Tragic, really."

"It is. Listen, speaking of shockers . . ." I told him the story of Heather Parke and he was aghast.

"See? People and their sense of ent.i.tlement! It's just incredible. The brazen thing."

"Yeah, so I think I need a lawyer to tell her to back off or else we're going to call the police or something."

"You know what? I know someone. Got a pencil? Here it is. Jennet Alterman. She runs the Center for Women downtown. No doubt she knows a lawyer who'll write a letter for you gratis. Here's her number . . ."

I copied it down and wrote her name next to it.

"But don't you love Aunt Daisy trying to get involved, not telling me and trying to fix it?"

"Your aunt Daisy is a G-flawless diamond, Cate. So, are you ladies still on for tonight?"

Diamonds. Humph. I hadn't told him the diamond story yet. I was saving that one.

"Yes! Absolutely."

He said he'd come by at six thirty. It was c.o.c.ktail night. Did I have ice? He was bringing his shaker and we were making martinis and playing all the music from Porgy and Bess we could find in the house. And he was bringing me a stage play format to follow to write my first draft. Maybe he'd have two martinis, he said and was it all right to sleep on the couch?

"Of course! But I forgot to buy liquor!" I said.

"An insignificant oversight. You've had plenty to worry about and I have enough vodka in this house to share with everyone. My students actually give it to me for the holidays and when they graduate and so forth. Isn't that crazy? I probably shouldn't take it but I do. Anyway, don't worry. And I've got olives and vermouth. By the way, what are y'all cooking?"

"Lasagna. Garlic bread. Salad. Pound cake."

There was a pause.

"G.o.d, I'm a lucky man. I might get there on the early side if that's okay?"

"Of course it is!"

Patti stuck her head in the bedroom.

"Did I overhear favorable news?"

"Oh, Patti, come on. The poor woman is on her deathbed."

"Yeah, I know, it's disrespectful. Sorry. Is he upset?"

"I think he's more surprised than upset. There's no love lost between him and her."

"Well, let's be honest here. If she goes, you two could make it legal any time you want."

"I am not ready to even think about something like that. If I marry John it will be when everyone thinks we should have done it a long time ago. Besides, I don't need to get married again, do I?"

"No, you really don't. You've got a family and children and I suspect you're not going to starve. But I wouldn't string him along forever."

"Don't worry. I won't. But you know what? I don't think he's going anywhere. I think we are so groovy together that maybe this summer we'll take up surfing."

"I think you need to get your head examined."

"You're probably right. By the way, the lasagna smells really good, doesn't it?"

"Thanks. You know, sometimes I wonder if women ever do anything else besides grocery-shop, cook, eat, and clean up the kitchen. I swear it seems to take up way too much time."

John arrived at six with a cooler of ice and all the makings of a little bit of wickedness, including a manila envelope for me.

"Your homework's in there," he said.

"Ah! When's it due?"

"ASAP. There's a deadline for submissions. Thirty days."

"Yikes."

"Just write and don't worry about deadlines. It's content that matters."

"Right. Okay."

In his cooler, resting on plenty of ice, were several brands of vodka, two kinds of olives, olive juice for those who liked it dirty, and a shaker that looked like a penguin.

"Aunt Daisy has the same shaker!" I said. "What is it with this penguin?"