“Not funny,” Jorja got out before she let it go and laughed even harder than Taryn.
“Yes ... it ... is!” Anna Rose disagreed in between bouts of giggles.
Irene held up a hand and high-fived Ruby. “I’m right proud of you.”
“Did someone die?” Concern was written on Clinton’s face when he came into the shop with Zoe in his arms.
Taryn grabbed a fistful of tissues and wiped her face. “No,” she answered. “We were laughing, not crying.”
“Well, that’s good news.” Clinton crossed the room and handed Irene the baby. “I hate to leave the baby, but I’ve got a full day of work with a million government agencies,” he said.
“We’ll probably fight over who gets to play with her the longest.” Taryn smiled at him.
Clinton smiled back at Taryn. “My luck changes for the better every single day. Diana showed up at my apartment to collect a couple of dishes this morning and said the contest was done and over. I wouldn’t be getting any more food.”
“That’s some good news right there,” Ruby said.
“We might have lost those hot links and sauerkraut that Jorja loves—but why don’t we pick up some fried chicken and take it out to the farm when we close up?” Anna Rose asked. Taryn heard Jorja muffle a laugh. “We’d like to show Zoe where she’ll be spending a lot of time pretty soon.”
Taryn took the baby from Irene and settled her into the playpen. Zoe giggled and cooed at the mobile when Taryn hit the button to turn it on. “Nana Irene, are you sure you can handle all three of us living nearby?”
“It’ll be tough,” Irene teased, “but I’ll do my best, especially if Anna Rose and Jorja will put a lid on all the bickering.”
“Then I guess we’d best sell the farm or give it to Forrest,” Taryn said with a long, fake sigh. “Because that won’t happen until the devil sets up a snow cone stand in the middle of hell.”
“And gives them away for free,” Jorja added.
“You got it!” Anna Rose chimed in.
“We can argue amongst us, but if an outsider comes in to say anything to us or about us, we can and will stand together,” Taryn told her grandmother.
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear when I brought you all home this summer,” Irene said. “You are on your way to becoming a family.”
“At last,” Ruby agreed and raised a hand toward the ceiling. “Thank you, kind and loving Father, for answering our prayers. Now, if You would consider the one I just prayed a few minutes ago, I would appreciate it greatly. Amen.” She lowered her hands and started wrapping a plant in colorful foil paper.
How could so much happen in such a short time?Taryn wondered as her eyes shifted from one cousin to the other and then to Ruby and her grandmother.
Irene finished her own job and smiled. “We’ll be here in the mornings for the rest of this week, and then next Monday morning, we’ll be back full-time.”
“Did the doctor say so?” Anna Rose asked.
The whole big picture hit Taryn like a ton of bricks. “Wait for it! Wait for it!” she said.
Anna Rose drew her eyebrows down into a frown for several seconds, and then they popped straight up. “Oh, my!”
“Yep,” Taryn said with a nod.
“What?” Jorja asked.
“Nana Irene and Ruby could have come back to work a week ago or maybe earlier.Light dutyis probably what the doctor said, right?” Taryn asked.
“Busted!” Ruby’s grin and twinkling eyes told the whole story.
Irene’s giggle made Zoe smile. “But we got away with it as long as we needed to.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jorja’s eyes settled on Irene. “Did y’all know what Amos and Ora Mae were doing, too?”
“Nope,” Irene and Ruby said at the same time.
