Ada let out a long-suffering sigh and took another bite of cookie, and then she looked at it as if it wasn’t doing the job, making Scarlet’s lips twitch again.
“Mama always says when days are really bad it’s best to go straight to the ice cream.”
“Who do you think taught your mama that? Have a cookie now, and we’ll have ice cream for dessert after dinner. You’ve got to learn to pace yourself.”
“Hmm,” Ada said, and pressed her lips together.
Scarlet grabbed a couple more cookies for herself and settled back, listening to the swing creak and the fans whir lazily overhead.
“So,” Scarlet said. “How was school? Learn anything new?”
“Not really,” Ada said, letting out a very adult sigh. “I knew it all already. I don’t think school is going to work out. We should look for alternatives.”
Scarlet’s brows rose in surprise. “That would probably surprise your parents when they get back from their trip. I’m not sure there’s a lot of alternatives for five-year-olds in this area. Back in my day you’d be working in the fields or sewing until your little fingers bled.”
“I’m more management material,” Ada said.
Scarlet barked out a laugh and then she nodded at Ada solemnly, giving her a conspirator’s wink. “It’s lonely at the top. My parents didn’t much know what to do with me either.”
“I don’t think Mama and Daddy are going to be too happy with me,” Ada said. “I told Ms. Perkins not to bother calling them because they’re trying to have a getaway before the baby comes, but I could tell she wasn’t listening. The old busybody.”
Scarlet stifled a snort as Ada mimicked her thoughts about the driver earlier, and then she tried to make her face stern. “That’s not a very respectful thing to say about your teacher.”
“No, I suppose not,” Ada said heaving another sigh. “But the way I see it, a school like Primrose Academy is never going to help me relate to the common man. I need to be in the trenches.”
“Well, from the looks of it, you spent the day in the trenches. Are you going to tell me what happened, or am I going to get a phone call from someone later?” Scarlet asked.
If possible, Ada’s lips tightened even more, and she got that stubborn line between her eyes that Scarlet had seen in her own reflection on more than one occasion.
“It was just a difference of political opinion,” Ada said. “I tried to handle it with my words like you said, but Paris Wheeler took offense at being told she had as much empty space between her ears as her daddy for backing that bill in the senate. I guess she didn’t get the memo that we’re supposed to settle disputes with our words because before I could say anything else she had me by the hair and was sitting on my chest. She’s put on a pound or two over the summer.”
“I’m guessing you told her that too,” Scarlet asked, not sure whether to scold her or ask what happened next.
“It wasn’t one of my finer moments,” Ada said. “She just got me so mad talking about Daddy that way. She said he was any empty-headed dunderhead.
Scarlet nodded in agreement. “It’s important to defend your family and the people you love. It’s how you go about defending them that’s important. You’ve got to keep a cool head in times like these.”
“Did you always keep a cool head when defending your family?” Ada asked.
“Lord no,” Scarlet said. “And it got me into some real fixes. But I never really had to defend my family growing up. You should be glad you have parents and people in your life who love you like they do. My daddy couldn’t wait to boot me out the door.”
“Granny says it’s because you couldn’t keep your legs together,” Ada said, and then her face squinched up with a quizzical expression. “What does that mean?”
“It means your granny needs to stop drinking the cooking sherry from the cupboard and mind her own beeswax,” Scarlet said, eyes narrowed.
“So did your daddy boot you out?” Ada asked. “Daddy would never do that to me. He says me and Mama are his favorite people in the whole world.”
“No, he’d never do that,” Scarlet agreed. “We Holmeses are made of sturdy stock, and we don’t pay much mind to the rules, but my daddy got a wild hair one day and decided to make our name more respectable. But the bayou isn’t known for being respectable. My daddy could fight and drink with the best of them, but he had a real keen business mind.”
Ada nodded her head with the wisdom of someone far past her years.
“He had a partner named James Walker, and during prohibition they used the solitude of the bayou to hide their distillery.”
“What’s prohibition?” Ada asked. “Is it scandalous?”
“It sure was,” Scarlet said. “The government told everyone that alcohol was bad and banned anyone from making or selling it.”
“I bet Granny hated that,” Ada said, pursing her lips.
Scarlet’s lips twitched. “I know Granny and I look like we’re the same age, but she wasn’t born then.”
“Does that mean that your daddy broke the law?”
“Oh, yes,” Scarlet said. “He and James made whiskey because the bayou had all the ingredients needed. And then they sold it all over Georgia and eventually to a bunch of other states. They made a fortune. My daddy even got shot once.”
“Wow,” Ada said, her eyes wide. “Did he die?”
“Nope,” she said. “Holmeses are too mean to die. He just kept doing what he was doing.”
“What about your mama? What did she do?”
Scarlet cleared her throat. Addison would wring her neck if she told Ada too much. Scarlet’s mother had enjoyed the time her husband was away by spending his money and making sure his side of the bed stayed warm with anyone who caught her fancy.
“My mama was what you might call a socialite,” Scarlet finally said. “She was beautiful, and she was real good
