Risa抯 chin quivered, and Haley laid a hand on her shoulder. 揈verything will be all right. Those girls love you, and they抎 never leave you.?
揑 hope not,?Risa said. 揟hey抳e been the only bright spot in my life, but they should be allowed to make their own decision. Martha was strict and overbearing, but the girls loved their cousins, and they had to leave their friends and the school they had attended all their lives.?
揟hey should know that he抯 going to call,?Haley said as she refilled all the tea glasses. 揟hat way, they抣l have time to talk about it and make a decision ahead of time.?
揂nd not get blindsided,?Mary Nell said and grabbed a paper napkin from the middle of the table to wipe her eyes. 揟hat抯 tough, and I抦 speaking from experience.?
揥ant to talk about it??Haley asked.
揘o . . . yes . . . ,?Mary Nell stammered. 揑 don抰 know. It抯 been almost a month, and I kind of put the whole experience in a box and taped it shut. But here lately it seems like the tape is letting go, and I get so angry. One of the ladies I worked with called me a couple of days ago. She said that Kevin was flying high about getting a record contract, running up credit card debts and doing lots of partying, but something fell through with it, and he抯 back playing whatever gigs he can get.?
揔arma is a bitch,?Jessica said. 揌e抣l probably show up on your doorstep, begging you to come back to Nashville with him, so you can be his meal ticket again.?
揟hey won抰 ever find his body if Daddy gets ahold of him, so he抎 do good to stay out of Texas,?Mary Nell said with a long sigh. 揌e would probably be real smart not to even try to get in touch with me.?
揥ould you go back if he offered??Jessica抯 chest tightened. They all four needed each other for mental support.
揘o, that ship has sailed,?Mary Nell said with a weak smile. 揑 loved him at one time, though, and I believed that someday he would get a break. He promised me that we would start a family as soon as that happened.?
Haley抯 mouth went dry at the mention of starting a family. This was the perfect time to jump right in and tell them she was pregnant, but her throat had tightened.
The haunting sound of a fiddle floated in from somewhere close by, and then a banjo joined.
揑s that 慣he Devil Went Down to Georgia??Jessica asked. 揑t seems like a strange song for the girls to be practicing their cheerleader moves to.?
揟imes have changed, but not that much.?Haley smiled.
揟hey aren抰 practicing for cheerleading,?Risa said and then laid a hand on Mary Nell抯。 揑 loved Paul when I married him, but after we抎 been in Kentucky a few months, I hardly recognized him as the same guy I抎 eloped with. You抮e not too old to have a family if you want one.?
Haley opened her mouth to say that she was pregnant, but Jessica got ahead of her.
揥ould you have another baby if you remarried??Jessica asked Risa.
揘o, I would not.?Risa shook her head. 揑抳e got my girls, and right now I don抰 think I抣l ever want to get married again. Someday in the far distant future, I might date, but I抦 never living with a man again.?
揘ot even if he抯 not a mama抯 boy??Jessica asked.
揑 wouldn抰 trust myself to take that kind of chance,?Risa answered.
揥ho says I抳e got to be married and have a husband to have a family??Mary Nell said. 揑抦 thirty-eight, for God抯 sake. If I want a baby, I can talk someone into helping me the natural way or I can go to a sperm bank.?
揟hank God that we live in these days and not back fifty years ago,?Jessica said.
揂men to that,?Haley said. All the doubts that her friends would think she was stupid for letting herself get pregnant by an engaged man disappeared. 揥e are independent women who can make our own decisions.?
The music out in the yard changed to a snappy Irish song.
揑 recognize that tune coming from the backyard,?Jessica said. 揑 heard it, or something like it, when I was on R & R in Ireland a few years ago. A young lady with long black hair was playing that song in an Irish pub when I went with my team several nights in a row.?
The fiddling and banjo playing changed to an old hymn, 揑抣l Fly Away.?
揥hat are the girls practicing out there??Jessica asked.
揟heir fiddle and banjo,?Risa said, 搉ot their moves for the tryouts. When they do that, I watch them and give them pointers. Martha insisted that all the granddaughters take music lessons on the instrument of their grandmother抯 choice so they could play in church. Lily plays the fiddle. Daisy is on the banjo. One of their cousins played the piano.?
揘o boys??Jessica asked.
揝ure, but they only played if they wanted to,?Risa answered. 揋irls played when they were told to get their instruments out. Like I抳e said before, boys and girls have different sets of rules in Martha抯 culture. The drummer was one of the male cousins, and another one played steel guitar. On Sunday afternoons, we all had dinner and the kids played for us. I imagine the girls miss those times.?