“No, he was working at the Starlight. Mom, are you okay? I mean, you seem kind of tired. You and Dad disappeared for another day again. Where’d you go?”
“We told you. To see friends of Dad’s. And anytime I’m near you, I’m having fun.”
“He has friends in JacksonvilleandGainesville?” For that trip, they left before dawn and arrived home well after dinner. “Why don’t you take me with you?”
Mom gave her a weak smile. “You want to be in the car with your Dad and me when you could be on the beach with that boy?”
Mom had trumped with that line before. “He’s really nice, Mom.”
“I can tell.”
“Burgers are up.” Dad set the plate on the island. Delilah came in behind him with a cake. “Delilah offered me cake in exchange for a burger.”
“You’re playing his tune, Delilah,” Mom said, shoving off the settee. “Emery, put on some music. Oldies, like Samson Delilah.”
“Rosie, please, you don’t have to play my music.”
“I would, but you told me no electronics,” Emery said, clicking on the old radio. “Sorry, Delilah.”
“I like the oldies station on that radio just fine. Now, what do we have for the burgers?”
Emery helped set out the burger fixings and dumped a bag of chips into a bowl but kept one eye on Mom.
“Hey, Dad, is Mom okay?”
“Of course.” But he didn’t look at her. “Why do you ask?”
“She seems really tired. And I think she’s lost weight.”
“Her stomach has been bothering her. She’ll be all right. You know her job is stressful. You focus on having fun.”
“We’re supposed to make memories together. You keep driving away, leaving me here.”
“Well, no more driving away. How about we go roller-skating tomorrow night? Delilah has some friends visiting this weekend. She wants to have something called a guitar circle. We’ll sit around the fire and listen to music.”
Okay, that sounded a bit more normal.
While they ate, Delilah told them stories of her music heydays and how she and Samson toured with the Beach Boys. “We made a lot of music and a lot of money.”
“So why’d you leave the business?” Emery reached for another handful of chips.
“I met Jesus in ’72. He changed my life.”
“Did your life need changing?” Mom said.
“More than I knew.”
Emery crunched softly on a chip, waiting for more, but all Delilah said was, “Doug, that was a delicious burger.”
“Caleb’s dad gave me a few pointers.” He glanced at Mom, who smiled and suggested a game of cards after dinner.
Emery volunteered to clean up, then partnered with Dad for a game of euchre, winning over Mom and Delilah. She was about to curl up in bed after her shower when Dad peeked in her room.
“Caleb Ransom is here to see you.”
When she entered the living room, he jumped up from the lumpy cushion where he chatted with Mom and Delilah. “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go for some ice cream.”
“Now?” She looked at Dad, who nodded. “Um, sure. I’ll be right back.” She dashed into her room, tripping over her own jitters. What should she wear? Yanking her wet hair out of a tie, she shook out her waves with an eye on her favorite shorts and T-shirt.
