arkansastraveler Read Online Free Page A

like a little girl again.
    “You don’t get migraines,” I accused a grinning Isaac. Then I looked back at Uncle WW. “And what’s your excuse?”
    “I reckon he needed a sympathetic friend to fetch him water for his medication,” he said, his face sober as a state trooper’s, his pale blue eyes twinkling.
    “You are bad boys,” I said, wagging a finger at them. “God’s gonna smite you good for lying.”
    “I didn’t lie to Dove,” Isaac said. “Only Garnet. Do I get partial credit?”
    “That’s between you and the Lord,” I said, laughing.
    After helping us unload our suitcases, we all settled down on the front porch with the requisite Southern drink, iced tea.
    “Garnet’s got a big spread fixed for y’all,” Uncle WW said. “But you know how she likes to do things herself, sowe’d best be waitin’ till church is over and she can dish it up.”
    “That’s okay,” I said. “We ate as soon as we got off the plane.”
    Elvia glanced at me and rolled her eyes.
    “Had yourself a Waffle House feast, did you?” Uncle WW said, winking at Elvia. “This girl’s plumb crazy for Waffle House.” He circled his temple with a forefinger.
    “So I gathered,” Elvia said, smiling in spite of herself.
    “Just so you know, not all of us here are that nuts over the place. I prefer McDonald’s or Shoney’s myself.”
    She laughed, and I finally relaxed, leaning my head back against the padded back of the porch swing I shared with Isaac. Elvia took a place next to Uncle WW on one of the four cane-seat pine rockers. My family would make her feel at home, I was sure of it.
    By the time Dove and Garnet drove up an hour later in Garnet’s huge green Buick sedan, we’d already heard about every squabble they’d been in during the last week and about Uncle WW’s fountain garden in the backyard.
    “It’s best to see it in the daytime,” he said. “I’ve been talking with a buddy of mine about hooking up some lights so’s we can enjoy it at night, but Garnet’s done closed the purse strings.” The amount of money he’d been spending on decorative fountains since he’d retired a year ago had been a source of much-discussed conflict between him and my great-aunt.
    “Honeybun, Elvia!” Dove cried, coming up the stairs and pulling me to her in a hug. “How was the airplane ride, girls? Are you hungry?”
    “Just fine,” I said. “We got here about an hour or so ago. I ate at a Waffle House the minute we landed, but I could eat again.”
    “A Waffle House? Lord, then Elvia must be starved,” she said, letting go of me and hugging her.
    “Just a little,” Elvia said.
    I crossed the porch to greet my aunt. “Hey, Aunt Garnet, how are you?” When I hugged her, her scent brought back memories, too. Jean Naté cologne and a slight whiff of lavender talcum powder always made me think of my austere and proper great-aunt. Taller than her older sister Dove’s five-foot, one inch by three much-touted inches, she was the opposite of Dove in every way you could imagine except one. Her family was her life, and she was truly glad to have us here.
    “Benni, dear, you’re finally looking well,” she said, touching my cheek with her thin, cool hand. “You’ve been at the top of my prayer list for the last couple of years.”
    “Thanks,” I said, wondering if I should take that as a loving gesture or an admonishment. Trouble had seemed to dog me since I’d lost my first husband, Jack, in a car accident almost three years ago. But joy had found me, too, and he was due to arrive day after tomorrow. “Uncle WW says you’ve fixed us some supper.”
    “Yes, yes, come in out of the evening air,” she said, pulling her short lacy jacket close around her. “It feels like we’re to have an early fall.”
    After a “light supper” of baked chicken and dressing, three-bean salad, corn bread, homemade pickles, fresh tomatoes, lime Jell-O with pineapple chunks, and tangy-sweet coleslaw, we retired to the