“Pfft.” She flicked her fingers. “Dignity is—oh, my God, Maggie!”
“What?” She panicked, tapped the brakes and looked around for a truck headed directly at them. “What?”
“Basil! I never brought him inside!”
Adrenaline dumped. “Aplant?”
“I just remembered because I asked Oscar if Basil would travel well—he said no—so I left him out to get the last of the sun and forgot to bring him in.” She made a face. “Maybe he tumbled into a corner and survived.”
“He is a plant. Oscar is a…software. And you?” Maggie smiled at her. “Are an absolute nutcase.”
“But I’m your nutcase.” Jo Ellen squeezed her hand. “And…we…are…family!”
“Do not sing that song. It won’t leave my head for a week.”
Smirking, Jo hummed it until they reached the outskirts of Destin.
They cameup the long curve of Gulf Shore Drive an hour later and the Summer House appeared like Tara inGone with the Wind. Still standing after the war.
First, Maggie saw the roofline—maybe a few tiles missing, but nothing serious—then the snow-white stucco—which would probably benefit from a pressure wash to get the dirt and leaves off—and the teal shutters around boarded windows.
Yes, they’d received the texts that there hadn’t been damage, but after the one from Tessa that Jo Ellen read a little while ago, she’d been tense.
The relief came up under her ribs and surprised her. The driveway had already been cleared of branches and her favorite parking spot in the shade was waiting for Scarlett to rest after a long drive.
“Oh, the palm trees!” Jo Ellen exclaimed, pointing at the two tall enough for the fronds to brush their windows. “They look sad and naked.”
“But standing,” Maggie said, for once the optimist of the two.
The driveway began to fill with family as they pulled in, coming in and out of the garage.
Eli walked closer to greet them, and behind him, Jonah and Connor dragged a branch the size of a car toward a pile of debris by the road.
Kate, holding Atlas, was chatting with Tessa, who had Olive on her hip, the two of them looking like mothers sharing tales about their children. Vivien stood on the front patio with Peter, who was on the phone. Meredith and Emma looked like they were taking a break from cleanup, perched on the steps.
Refusing to admit it even to herself, love for every one of them swelled up in Maggie’s heart. One family, indeed.
Maggie pulled the T-bird up the drive and Jo Ellen was out of the car before it had completely stopped.
“I’m going to check on Basil,” she said, hopping out of the car and waving to everyone.
Eli snagged her and said something while Maggie turned off the engine and gathered her wits before climbing out.
“Welcome home, Mom,” Eli said as he greeted her with a hug.
“Hello, son.” She squeezed him back, a fleeting thought that he might smell pot in her hair, since the shower had been coldand the soap wassonot scented. She’d die if Eli found out. She’d die if any of them found out, but to Eli, it would surely be a sin.
“She’s in a big hurry,” he said, laughing in Jo Ellen’s direction. “But it’s fine. There was minimal damage.”
“Thank goodness.” She took a few steps into the driveway as Vivien headed over, arms outstretched.
“You made it, Mom. We missed you. Did you have fun?”
Maggie swallowed and mustered a guilty smile. “Oh, you know. A dive bar in a redneck town. How much fun could I have?”
Kate joined them, holding Atlas out. “Say hello to the great-grandmother who loves you more than her plants. My own mother barely said hello.”
Maggie kissed Atlas’s head. “She left her basil plant on the balcony and is deeply worried?—”
