“Mama, Daddy, this is Knox Callahan. Knox, my mother, Darlene, and Daddy, Zeke.”
“I’m pleased to meet y’all,” Knox said and extended a hand toward Zeke and then to Darlene.
“Well, we’ve just been dying to get to know you, and now that we will be living close, you’ll have to spend some time here at Swan Song Estates with our Lottie,” Darlene said.
“I’ll look forward to it,” Knox agreed.
Bless your heart,Lottie thought.This is going beyond what I expected of you.
“But for tonight, we’re going to steal Lottie away to have supper with us in a little café we found between here and our hotel,” Darlene said. “Jack and Mandy raved about their chicken-fried steak.”
Lottie dreaded having to spend a couple of hours with them. Keeping a secret from her father was easy when they were several hours apart, but to lie to his face was a far different matter. “But we have pizza. You could eat right here.”
“Not when I can have chicken-fried steak,” Zeke said. “Nice meeting you, Knox. We’ll see you in the morning on our way down to Dallas. We’ll check out the first housethat’s got the walls up then and have a doughnut and a cup of coffee with all y’all.”
Thomas opened the door for them, and Knox’s rooster walked inside like it was his own private barn. “Well, well, Darlene.” Zeke chuckled. “Does that look like a swan to you?”
“It’s mine,” Knox spoke up. “His name is Cheeto, and I’ll be taking him home when this project is finished.”
“He’s our alarm clock,” Thomas added.
“Whether we like it or not,” Micah said from the back of the room.
Lottie’s mind was on a fast-moving merry-go-round. Knox’s quick peck on the cheek before she left with her parents did not even ground her. Her mother was chatting on and on about how wonderful it was going to be to live closer to all her children. Her father interjected a comment every now and then, but the only thing Lottie could think about was that she would be lying to her father about Knox.
“You’ve been pretty quiet back there. Is there trouble with your new boyfriend? Is he a controlling type like that last feller you brought home?” Zeke said when he parked the SUV in front of the café.
“Not at all,” Lottie answered.
Her father opened the door and unfastened his seat belt. “Didn’t seem to me like you wanted to leave him behind. I figured if you wanted him to join us,youwould have asked him.”
“Wasn’t my place to invite him,” Lottie said with a sigh. “This is y’all’s party.”
Darlene got out of the vehicle and opened the back door for Lottie. “Ain’t no reason to get your feathers ruffled. We don’t often get one-on-one time with you. Now, let’s go inside this place and have a nice family dinner.”
“Y’all have a seat anywhere you like,” a lady called out when the three of them were inside the small café. “I’ll be right with you.”
The place was booming, but Zeke led the way to an empty booth toward the back of the place. “Must be good food to be this crowded.”
Lottie slid into the fake leather seat and pasted on a smile. “Something smells good, and I’m starving. Do y’all really think you’ll be happy living so close to your relatives that you won’t even need a phone to call them? All you have to do is step out on your porch and holler.”
“Honey, we each have two acres. Not even my voice reaches that far to yell at Mandy and Jack,” Darlene replied with half a giggle. “Much less whoever lives in the last cabin. But it will be nice to be able to visit more and for you kids to come home for the holidays. After we get settled, I will expect every one of you to be at Swan Song Estates for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and at least one day close to Christmas.”
A middle-aged woman with dyed red hair appeared with three menus and set a glass of water in front of each of them. “I’m Billy June, and I’ll be your waitress this evening. I’ll have the biscuits and whipped honey out here in a minute. What else can I get y’all to drink?”
“Sweet tea,” Zeke said without looking up from the menu.
“Same here,” Darlene added, “and some fried green tomatoes for the appetizer.”
“Raspberry tea,” Lottie answered.
“I’ll get right on that while y’all decide what you want to eat,” Billy June said and disappeared.
“You won’t disappoint me, will you?” Darlene asked.
“Don’t y’all have a cruise planned in May?” Lottie sidestepped the issue.
“Yes, but we’ll be settled in very well by Christmas, so that’s when I’m starting on the holidays. We’ll have a big meal in the rec hall for the folks who live here and all their kids that can come for the day.”
