“Sorry. I should have introduced you two.” Royal smiled for the first time since they’d climbed back in the car.
They drove the rest of the way in silence, finally turning onto a narrow, rutted path that could barely be called a road. The deepest darkness surrounded the small glowing circles cast in front of them by the headlights. A small house began to take shape in the distance. A warm glow coming from small squares at the front of the narrow, unpainted house hinted at its existence in the dark grove that surrounded it. Royal pulled up close to the raised porch at the front of the house. A hound dog barked and made a halfhearted attempt to get up, but when someone yelled from inside, the dog quickly resumed its prone position.
Lovey climbed out first, pulling the seat forward to allow Grace to exit. What Lovey could see of the yard in the dark was mostly dirt, a pile of wood stacked haphazardly near the end of the porch, an axe sunk into a stump, and various small wooden boxes filled with what looked like bottles. She turned just in time to see Royal pull Grace into a hug. Grace threw her arms around Royal’s neck and whispered something in her ear that Lovey couldn’t make out. She felt a twinge of jealousy that Grace had so easily embraced Royal. They clearly knew each other well. This was one more part of Royal’s personal history that Lovey had yet to uncover. The hug ended just as an older woman stepped onto the porch.
“Royal, is that you?” the matronly woman yelled from the top step.
“Yes, ma’am.” Royal smiled and moved into the lights from the car near the bottom porch step. She had retrieved the parcel from the car and handed the bag to Grace. “I was just giving Grace a ride home.”
“Well, then come in here. I just took a fruit pie out of the oven. It needs to get ate while it’s hot.”
“You know I love your pie more than air itself, but I have a friend with me and I should probably get going.”
The woman that Lovey assumed was Grace’s mother leaned down to see who was in the car, but the glare of the headlights no doubt made it impossible to get a clear view.
“Y’all both come in. There’s plenty. Now I won’t take no for an answer.” Grace walked past the woman and into the house. Royal stepped back and leaned into the window of the car.
“What do you say? Do you want to stay for a minute and have some dessert?” Royal’s handsome face seemed to have lost the weight of tension it carried just twenty minutes earlier, as she smiled through the open window at Lovey.
“It’s hard to say no to dessert.”
“Come on then.” Royal opened the door and extended her hand for Lovey to slide over and take. When their fingers touched, Lovey felt it all the way to her toes. A surge of warmth. Her world had been expanding since the first night she’d met Royal, hanging upside down in her overturned car. It seemed tonight was to be no different.
As they stepped on the porch, the older woman wiped her hands on a white apron before greeting them with genuine friendliness. “I’m Ella Watkins, Grace’s mother. Any friend of Royal’s is surely welcome at my table any time.”
“Hi, Mrs. Watkins, I’m Lovey Porter. Thank you for your hospitality.”
Ella, who Lovey’s father might have described as pleasingly plump, put an arm around each of them and ushered them inside. The cozy, lantern-lit kitchen smelled of a wood stove and baked goods. Lovey quickly noted the worn and threadbare furniture and fixtures in the main living space, which opened into an eat-in kitchen. But whatever the house may have been lacking in décor, the rich, sweet aroma of baked dessert more than made up for.
Grace smiled at them both as they each took a seat at the large square table in the center of the room. In the lantern light Lovey could now see more details of Grace’s features. She was pretty, with caramel-colored skin and high cheekbones, her hair neatly pulled back into a curled knot at her neck. Two plates, heaped with what looked like blackberry pie, were settled in front of them along with a cup of coffee for each.
“Cream?” Grace motioned toward Lovey’s cup with a glass jug of frothy milk.
“No, thanks. Black is good.” As soon as she’d said the words, Lovey was struck by what she’d said. Royal quickly came to her rescue.
“Yes, it is.” Royal took a huge bite of pie and everyone laughed. Lovey felt herself relax too. She took a smaller bite than Royal’s, but her senses immediately reacted to the flavor explosion of the sweet fruit pie filling the moment it hit her tongue.
“This pie is amazing.” Lovey looked in Mrs. Watkins’s direction with genuine admiration.
“My momma has the magic touch for baking.” Grace smiled and sipped her coffee as she held it lightly in both hands with her elbows resting on the table. The shadow of what had happened earlier was still visible in the sadness at the edges of her eyes, but she thought Grace hid it well. She seemed to study Lovey across the rim of her coffee cup, and Lovey wondered what Grace thought of her. She wondered what Grace thought she’d been doing out with Royal. From the way Grace studied her, Lovey assumed she knew exactly what was going on between them. The realization that her attraction to Royal had been uncovered made Lovey’s cheeks flame hotly.
“Hush now, Grace. Y’all know if you just add enough sugar to anything you can turn it into pie filling. Even the sourest grape desires to be sweetened.” Ella patted her daughter’s arm good-naturedly. “Now, Lovey, tell us about yourself. Who are your people? You said your last name was Porter? I don’t
