揗e too,?Mary Nell said with a sad frown.
揟hanks.?Wade popped open the lawn chair a few feet from Jessica and sat down.
揥ould you girls please get out the lawn chairs from the back of the truck, and set them up for us??Risa nodded toward the older-model pickup that she had shown up in that evening.
揧es, ma抋m. Do we get a beer for doing that??Lily, the taller twin with blonde hair and big brown eyes, asked.
揝ure thing,?Risa said, 搘hen you are twenty-one and can buy them with your own money.?
揑 figured you抎 say that.?Daisy giggled. 揥e won抰 talk about the times Daddy let us have one.?
If Jessica hadn抰 seen pictures of them from the day they were born, and then watched them grow up through the benefit of the internet, she would have never believed they were sisters, much less twins. Daisy, the shorter one, was the spitting image of her mother, with her hair color and curvy figure. The only things the girls had in common were Risa抯 milk chocolate朿olored eyes.
揙r about the times he showed us how to roll a joint,?Lily said as she reached over the bed of the truck and picked up all five chairs at once.
揑 don抰 believe either one of you, because if your Granny Martha found out he was doing that, she would disown him,?Risa said. 揂nd his mama抯 word was the law.?
揂men!?Lily handed off two of the chairs to her sister.
揗ama has talked a lot about all y抋ll. The picture of y抋ll when you were cheerleaders is still on her dresser these days,?Daisy said. 揥e抳e already met Haley and Mary Nell, so it抯 good to see you in person rather than just on FaceTime. I抦 jealous of your height. God could have been better to me and shared what he gave Lily.?
Lily set up all the chairs in a semicircle. 揝top whining, Daisy. God gave you big boobs. You don抰 get to have both height and a figure to die for.?
揋lad to finally meet you girls in person,?Jessica said to hide her grin. 揟his being tall is a curse and a blessing all rolled up into one enchilada, isn抰 it, Lily??
揧ep, it is. On one hand, I can reach everything on the top cabinet shelf for Granny Stella and Mama. On the other one敆she sighed and shot a look over toward Risa棑if Mama ever lets me date, I can probably never wear high heels.?
揥ear them, darlin??Jessica said, and began to pass bottles of cold beer around to everyone. 揃e who you are, and to hell with any boy who don抰 want to date you because you抮e taller than he is.?
揂men!?Mary Nell raised her bottle in a toast.
揧抋ll sure you don抰 mind if I stay awhile??Wade asked. 揑 feel like I抦 butting in on a private party since you haven抰 seen each other in so long.?
揥e抳e FaceTimed every month or two, and always got in touch on Christmas. Sometimes Jessica was in a place where she could join us on a conference call,?Mary Nell told him. 揥e understood her situation when she couldn抰， though. You two were off saving the world. Since you are one of the heroes, Wade, you should stay. Besides, we never told anyone to go home when we came out here as teenagers and thought we were ready to set the world on fire.?
揝aving the world and inheriting a church. Story of my life.?Jessica passed a beer over to Wade, then motioned toward the church. 揧抋ll want to tell me what I抦 going to do with that thing??
揧ou could always start preaching.?Haley sighed and wiped a tear from her cheeks. 揗aybe you could even do your first sermon on that commandment about not lying to your kid.?
揘o thanks, but why would I preach on that??Jessica asked. 揑 don抰 have kids, and other than a few little white lies about the tooth fairy and Santa Claus, I don抰 think my parents ever lied to me.?
揧ou mean there抯 no Santa??Lily gasped and then giggled.
揙r tooth fairy??Daisy slapped a hand over her mouth. 揗ama, you lied to us.?
揧es, I did.?Risa sat down in a chair beside Lily.
揑 found a letter in Mama抯 things today.?Haley抯 voice quivered as she sat down in one of the chairs. She put her head in her hands, and sobs shook her body. 揑 don抰 . . . ,?she stammered, 搘ant to . . .敆more sobs棑throw cold water on our reunion.?
Jessica handed her beer to Wade and went over to drop down on her knees in front of Haley and wrap her friend up in her arms. 揥e抮e here for you. I wish my mama would have left a letter for me,?she said as she patted Haley on the back.
揘o, you don抰。？Haley hugged her back and whimpered, 揘ot this kind of letter.?
Haley had always been the most level of all the cheerleaders. She抎 listened to their problems with parents, boyfriends, even issues that arose with each other, and given them great advice when they were teenagers. Jessica hadn抰 been a bit surprised when she had gone into the teaching field and from that on to counseling. Something about that letter had to be pretty bad to affect her this way.