That unpracticed and rusty grin flashed back across his face. “That’s what I do.” It sure was. My heart had been crazy for him since day one. “No more online dating, Dixie. You don’t need it. The right guy is going to come along and he will be everything you ever wanted him to be.” He bent to pick up his shirt and tossed the soggy mess over his shoulder. “I’m going to go in and check on Elma. I’m sure she has a list of chores she’s been waiting ten years to hand down to me.”

I waved him off and told him I needed to finish the flowers as well as dry off a little before heading inside. I also told him I would handle dinner if he called his dad and brother and told them we were all eating with Elma that night, and more than likely every night for the rest of the week so we could help her with all that food the neighbors had brought over. What I didn’t tell him was the right guy for me was standing right in front of me and he did have everything I wanted, but he also had a lot of things I didn’t want because that was how the world worked. No one was guaranteed anything, so you made do with the few blessings you did have and tried your best not to squander them. It was a lesson I think he was slowly starting to learn but my time to get it to sink in and make him realize what we could have if he believed, in him, in me, in us just a little bit, was running out.

DINNER WAS GREAT. The nurse that was staying with Elma didn’t look a day over nineteen and had her hands full cooing over both Elma and a battered Dalen. Watching Elma and the Churchill men reunite filled my happy heart with all the things that it longed for. Church was relaxed, well, as relaxed as he ever was, and the change was huge as he joked around with his brother and traded lighthearted jabs with his father. Elma couldn’t stop smiling and at one point she asked me to help her use the restroom, not so she could actually use the restroom but so she could sit on the closed toilet seat and cry. This was a moment too long denied and it was obviously overwhelming for her.

All I could do was pat her on the back and wait until the emotional storm passed. I helped her erase all the evidence of her sob-fest and served everyone a slice of the coconut cream pie I found in the fridge like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. After pie and a few episodes of The Blacklist, Julian ordered Dalen home to finish homework and reminded him that they had an early meeting with the principal and the kids he had ditched school with. In typical teenaged fashion Dalen played up his injuries, though his face did look like it had been smashed into a very unforgiving wall, and pleaded with his father for a sick day.

Church called him out, saying the only reason he didn’t want to go to school was because his coach was going to hand him his ass for missing class and getting hurt in the process. He softened the verbal blow by assuring his little brother that teenaged girls couldn’t resist flocking around an injured sports star. He urged him to take the punishment because the rewards on the other end would be pretty sweet.

When father and son left I quietly excused myself as well so that Church and Elma could have some alone time. When I was walking out the door he was sitting next to her on the couch, his arm around her shoulder, her head on his chest as he told her about all the places he had been and all the memories he had made in the last year. I couldn’t help but be a little touched that his voice lightened and his tone softened when he talked about Denver and all the people that had welcomed him there. I was glad to know that all the efforts put into including him, into letting him know he was one of our own even if he wasn’t ready to embrace us back, hadn’t gone unnoticed.

I walked up the block and across the street to where the Churchills called home and tapped lightly on the door before letting myself in when there was no response. No one was in the living room, so I helped myself to a quick shower and decided I needed to check on both my dog and my neighbor. I pulled Poppy up on FaceTime and waited for what felt like forever for her to answer. Her pretty face had a tad bit more color in it than it normally did as it filled the screen.

“Hey, Dixie. How’s Mississippi?” I heard Dolly bark somewhere in the background and was hit with a pang of longing. I missed my pretty blue girl and her constant companionship. She was my ray of sunshine when I was worn-out from spreading light all over everyone else.

“It’s actually pretty amazing. It’s like something from a Nicholas Sparks movie.” Ugh. Bad reference. No one in those movies ever got a happy ending without something terrible happening first. “It’s very pretty and everyone has that slow southern drawl. I kind of love it. How is my girl doing?”

Poppy whistled and suddenly the screen was filled with a happy drooling face that I missed so much. I cooed at Dolly, told her she was a good girl, and promised her I would be home soon. She danced around and barked like she understood what I was saying but then took off when Poppy tossed a ball.

“She’s good. I’ve had her with me at the clinic most days, but Wheeler asked to watch her yesterday. He took her to work with him. I think he’s lonely over there all by himself. All he does is work and sleep … oh, and order pizza. You might need to air out your place when you get back. It’s definitely getting a distinctive dude funk to it.”

I chuckled and looked up as Church opened the door. He noticed I was on the phone and half mouthed half mimed that he was going to hit the gym set up in the garage before taking a shower. I guess when you had a future hall of famer and a police officer in the family, fitness wasn’t taken lightly and I was glad he dipped out without subjecting another friend to a round of phone sex they didn’t sign up for. Especially this friend.