Carla sucked in a lungful of air and let it out in a whoosh. “I felt like I’d lost two kids when Melanie died and Tucker didn’t come around anymore. I didn’t think he’d ever get over it, and I’m not so sure he would have without you in his life. I know it’s a crazy thing to ask under the circumstances, but I’d like for us to be friends. We, my sons and I, want Tucker back in our lives, and this is going to sound insane,” Carla whispered. “I had a dream last night. You’d think it would be about Luke, but it was about Melanie. I could see her sitting on her tombstone, wearing her wedding dress, of all things, and she told me that she had a new friend named Jolene that was going to help Tucker. Luke told me that you see things different when you’re lookin’ at death. I thought he was bat-crap crazy, but I’ve changed my mind since that dream. The last thing she said as she faded away, leaving just the tombstone, was that I’d like her new friend, too.” She took several sips of her tea.

A cold shiver chased down Jolene’s spine. Those two songs that were so unlike funeral music, hearing Tucker say that he was in love with her and saying it back to him, the way she’d felt when she awoke in the middle of the night to find him still in bed with her—it was all surreal, but not as much as Carla telling her about that dream. But then, looking back over the past month, not much hadn’t been slightly weird.

Carla went on. “I won’t smother you, I promise, but I do miss having a . . . well, maybe I should just say having a younger woman to go shopping with sometimes or out to lunch or maybe even just to talk to on the phone.”

Jolene flashed her brightest smile, and it was sincere. “I’d like that.”

“Let’s just sit here a few more minutes. I need the time,” Carla said with a weak smile.

“When you’re ready,” Jolene said. “Give me a call when things settle down.”

A gentle knock on the door was followed by Tucker’s face as he peeked inside the office. “I’m not rushin’ you, but we probably should be getting home.”

Jolene stood and then bent to hug Carla. “You don’t have to call before you come see me. Just drop in anytime.”

Tucker escorted her out of the house and into his truck, where he promptly removed his tie and tossed it over the seat. “Are you okay? What happened in there?”

She told him what had happened, and he leaned over the console and kissed her. It started out slow and sweet, but before long, his tongue was teasing her lips open. When he finally broke away, he was breathing hard. “You never cease to amaze me, woman.”

“Because I told your mother-in-law we could be friends? That’s as much to my benefit as to hers. I liked her honesty and the way she handled that funeral. We’ll be good friends. I can feel it in my heart,” Jolene said. “And you need a family, too, Tucker.”

Jolene slung the door open the day after the funeral. “Aunt Sugar, are you sure you want to climb up into that attic today? It’s going to be chilly.”

“And dusty, but there shouldn’t be any mice scampering around. Me and Jasper put out a fresh batch of poison before we left last month.” Sugar started up to the second floor. “I wore my oldest work coat, so it won’t matter if it gets dusty and dirty.”

Jolene followed along behind her. “Why are we doing this today, Aunt Sugar?”

“Because I want to take some of the old picture albums to my new house, and there used to be a little library stand up there that I could use in the corner of the living room. I’ve about got all the big pieces of furniture in the house. I thought I wanted all new things, but I need a few old comfortable pieces. A house isn’t a real home without some past, present, and future in it.”

As they made their way, single file, up the narrow steps at the end of the hallway, Jolene asked, “And how are you going to put future in the house?”

When they reached the top, Jolene was amazed at all the stuff that had been stored. She’d known for years that the door led to the attic, but she’d always been afraid of mice and thought that there could be one hiding up there.

Sugar pulled a rocking chair over to a roll-top trunk. “I need some doilies, and I know there’s a box of them in this trunk because I put them here years ago.”

“You didn’t answer me,” Jolene pressed. “That’s the past. The present is the new things. What about the future?”

“See that baby bed over there? I’ll send Jasper out here tomorrow for it. Tucker can help get it down the stairs. I slept in that crib, your mother did, and so did you when she brought you to visit as a small baby. That is the future, because your children are going to sleep in it when I babysit them,” she answered as she brought out a thick picture album. “I’m going to pick out several of these of you and have them framed to go in the nursery.”

“Gettin’ the cart before the horse, aren’t you?” Jolene blushed. “Did Reuben ever sleep in that crib?”

“No, he didn’t come stay with us until he was about seven. That’s when his mama started letting him out of her sight for more than an hour for what you kids today call playdates,” Sugar answered. “And I’m not gettin’ the cart before the horse, either.”

“Tucker and I’ve known each other less than two months,” Jolene argued.

“I knew Jasper fifteen minutes when he proposed to me. He was the shyest boy I’d ever known. I was so surprised when he blurted out that he fell in love with me at first sight. I told him he was crazy, but he proposed again six weeks later and meant it. I’m just gettin’ ready.” Sugar pointed at the album. “I hope the first baby is a girl and she looks just like you. Jasper and I are so ready to be grandparents.”

Jolene blushed again. “Aunt Sugar!”

“Oh, stop that blushing. I know y’all are sleeping together. I figure you’re on the pill,” Sugar said. “But me and the girls have been praying ever since I got home that they fail. We need a baby to spoil. We ain’t had one in more than thirty years, and that’s too long. Dotty is already knitting blankets. Lucy is keeping an eye out for one of those rocking cradles for her house, and Flossie is stockpiling diapers when she finds them on sale.”

Jolene’s hands went to her cheeks.

“And that’s the picture of the future,” Sugar said with a lilt in her voice. “I’m taking this album and going home.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Jolene said.

“Not necessary. You stay up here and stare at that baby bed. Maybe it’ll put ideas in your head.” Sugar left Jolene speechless.

Tucker waited until Sugar had left before he went up to the attic. “It’s cold up here. Why didn’t you come down with Sugar?”

“Because she shocked the hell out of me, and I’m trying to get my bearings,” Jolene answered. “She’s talking about babies, and the girls are already getting ready to babysit, and I don’t even know where we are in this relationship, but it’s sure not to the point where we discuss babies.” She stopped to catch her breath.

He sat down beside her. “I’d ask you to marry me and have my children. But if it’s too soon, I can ask later on. And babies sound pretty good to me.”

“We’ve only known each other . . . ,” she started.

He scooted over closer to her and took her hand in his. “I’m not in a hurry. Like I said, I can do this another time. This is not the most romantic place in the world, is it?”

Past.

Present.

Future.

The three words raced through her mind. They were sitting in the attic with the past all around them. They were living in the present and talking about the future.

“Why come back another time? We’re right here, right now.”

“Okay then.” He moved around until he was on one knee. “Jolene Broussard, I don’t even have a ring, and I can’t say I loved you from the time we met. But I can say that I intend to love you until we are both old and gray and lots of babies have used that crib over there. So will you marry me?”

“Yes!” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Want to go start one of those babies right now?”

“Now that sounds like a plan.” He took her by the hand and led her down to the bedroom.

Epilogue

Eighteen months later

Jolene dressed in a pretty, lacy dress. She swept her hair up into a bundle of curls and tucked some baby’s breath in the side. Aunt Sugar and Uncle Jasper were repeating their vows that day in the wedding/dining room of the Magnolia. Jolene had the urge to pinch herself just to see if this was all real or if she was dreaming. Her life had changed so much, and all of it was for the better.

Tucker knocked on the door of what they’d dubbed the rose room and poked his head inside. “Well, hello, gorgeous.”

“Hello, sexy cowboy.” She crossed the room, slipped her arms under his suit coat, and laid her head on his chest. After more than a year, that steady heartbeat still calmed her soul.

He’d been wrong when he said he wasn’t romantic, but then, their definition of the word wasn’t the same as other folks’. Bringing in the first daffodil of the spring meant more than a dozen red roses on Valentine’s Day. Sneaking out of bed early in the morning to have the coffee ready or, better yet, giving her a whole hour with no interruptions for a long, hot bath after she’d had a rough night. What were those things, if not romantic?

“This is a milestone that goes on the calendar,” she said.

He tipped her chin up with his thumbs and kissed her. “The day I bought half ownership in this place changed my life for the better.”

“Oh, yeah.” She pressed closer to him and tiptoed for another kiss.

“Hey, now.” Sugar came from the bathroom.

Jolene stepped away from Tucker. “You and Uncle Jasper repeating your wedding vows is so special, and I’m glad you’re doing it here rather than at the church.”