Page 67 of Refuge for Flora

“It’s just Martina. Good to meet you too. I brought some things. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course!” She hadn’t noticed that Bud was carrying a basket, and he held it out to her. “Does any of this need to be refrigerated?”

“No. It’s brownies and some cookies, and a cake, and… and… I can’t remember.” Martina looked a little confused.

“There are some of those crispy cereal bars in there, sweetie, remember? You made them with the little chocolate candies in them?”

“Oh, yes. I remember now. And I made something else too. Bread?”

“No. Rolls. Your dinner rolls.”

“I made dinner rolls?”

“Yes, baby, you did.” Bud smiled. “I’ll just set it down over here, if that’s okay.”

“Sure! Would either of you like something to drink. Beth made some tea.”

“That would be wonderful. Honey, I think I need to sit down.” Martina’s voice had started out strong, but it faded by the time she was finished.

“Of course, babe.” Bud took her hand and Flora watched as they headed toward the living room, Martina wobbling just a little as they went.

“I’ll bring your tea.” She glanced over at Barrett.

He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “She was shot.”

Flora was stunned. “Oh, god!”

“Yeah. I’ll explain later, but she has some residual problems. Nothing horrible, just memory and balance, and she’s blind in one eye.”

Flora grabbed a glass, threw some ice cubes in it, and poured it full of tea. “Martina, do you want sugar and lemon?”

“Sugar, yes, please.”

“I’m going in there to sit with her and keep her company,” Flora whispered to Barrett.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” As she stepped away, he slapped her on the butt, and she giggled.

“I saw that,” Beth said, play-growling.

“Me too,” Landee added with a giggle.

“Y’all need to mind ya own bizzzzness,” Barrett mocked, and Flora laughed at them as she carried the tea to the living room.

Seven hours later, there was a mess in the kitchen, everyone was gone, and it had been a wonderful day. Flora felt like a part of the group, like they’d adopted her and drawn her in. It was amazing, really, since her own family had just cut her loose. In truth, it hadn’t felt like much of a family since her parents had divorced, and marrying Darryl had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Barrett didn’t look up at her, just kept cleaning, as he asked, “So?”

Flora kept rinsing dishes and stowing them in the dishwasher. “So, what?”

“So how do you think it went?”

“It went fine. I liked everybody, and they at least pretended to like me.”

“Like you? Babe, Landee and Zyan want to adopt you, but my mother said she and Dad would fight them for custody. Kirby told me he’s looking for a girl like you. And I think Bud thanked me three or four times for how nice you were being to Martina.”

“She’s so sweet. You said she was shot?”

“Yeah. You’ve heard me talk about the woman who was missing in GravesCounty, the one Conor found in the tree. Her body, I mean.”

“Yeah?”