Patricia Davids - Prodigal Daughter  

Y all be careful up there, sugar. The elderly womans rich Tennessee drawl slid off each word the way warm honey slips off a spoon.

Richard McNeil glanced down at his great-aunt. At eighty-eight, Lettie was still a spry lady who faced life with wit, humor and an abiding love for her family. Today, she wore her favorite pale blue cotton print dress and a thin blue sweater tied over her slightly stooped shoulders. Her snow-white hair was styled into old-fashioned waves, and she had a death grip on the side of the rickety folding ladder he stood on.

Ill be fine, Aunt Lettie, but maybe you should move awayjust in case.

She scurried to the other side of the camel back sofa with amazing speed for a woman her age.

If you fall, youre likely to lie on this floor until the cows come home cause theres no way I can be picking up a man your size.

Richard replaced the burned-out light in the high ceiling fan and stepped down with a sigh of relief. He had lost a good twenty pounds after his doctor took him to task, but his six-foot-two-inch frame still carried plenty of muscle. The antique stepladder his great-aunt had pulled from the depths of her hall closet for the occasion had creaked and groaned, but heldthis time. He would see that she had it replaced with a sturdy new one before the next bulb died.

And the Lord said, Let there be light, and there was. Thank you, my boy. That surely will help these old eyes to see the Good Book again.

My pleasure, Aunt Lettie. Is there anything else I can do while Im here? He resisted the urge to glance at his watch. He enjoyed Wednesday afternoons with Aunt Lettie, but each time he came to visit, she would find excuse after excuse to keep him from leaving. She was lonely, he understood that. More than once over the years, he had tried to convince her to move into a retirement home where she would have the company of folks her own age.

Lettie stubbornly refused to budge from the apartment over the shop in downtown Hickory Mills, Tennessee, that had once belonged to her and her husband. Their furniture store had long since closed and the space downstairs had been sold and converted into a shoe store, but Lettie wouldnt budge from her home. She always said that she had lived here for seventy years and the only way she was leaving was in a pine box. When it came to stubbornness, the good Lord had broken the mold after He fashioned Lettie Corbet McNeil.

Glancing around, Richard had to admit her home was cozy. The high, molded plaster ceilings made the place feel spacious while the tall arched windows with white lace curtains let in plenty of sunshine. Their gleaming panes were reflected in the polished surface of the cherrywood sideboard with its brass candlesticks and artful arrangement of old china plates and figurines. All of her antique furnishings shone with loving care, from the gilt-and-black-lacquer Regency writing desk in the corner to the massive oak pedestal dinning table with its ball-and-claw feet.

His great-aunt was, he realized, very like the things she owneda beautifully preserved part of a bygone era.

The tiny woman laid a hand on her cheek and tapped gently as she considered what needed repairs. Let me see. The front door gets to squeaking something awful when the humidity is high.

I oiled it when I first came today.

Oh, thats right, you did. Well, I reckon thats all there is, but you dont have to run off, do you?

I need to get back to the office.

Dont you work half days on Wednesday?

Things have been a bit hectic lately. I have some paperwork to catch up on.

Your papa would be so proud to see you in that fancy place over in Davis Landing. You might have come from humble beginnings in Hickory Mills, but youve made your mark in the world. And that house of yours! My, my! Its big enough to hold a dozen younguns.

It feels crowded these days.

How is your sister getting along? Such a sad thing, her house catching fire like that. Twas a blessing from the Lord that no one got hurt.

Angela and Dave are doing okay. The girls are adjusting, but its been hard on them. The renovations on their house should be done in another two months. I was glad to give them a place to stay, but I do miss my peace and quiet. Angela said to tell you that she and the girls will be over to visit on Saturday, as usual. He picked up his suit jacket from where it lay folded over the arm of the sofa and slipped it on.

Ill be glad for their company, thats for sure. I reckon having those two little girls living with you is making you wish you had a family of your own. Its long past time you settled down and got married. Youre not getting any younger, you know.

Im thirty-four. You make it sound like Ive got one foot in the grave.

She set her hands on her hips and leaned back to look up at him. Like I saidlong past time.

He leaned down and kissed her wrinkled cheek. Ill get married when I find a girl who can bake a pecan pie as good as yours and not before.

Oh, go on! Flattery will get you nowhere.

I was hoping it would get me one more piece of pie.

You take the rest of it home with you for those girls. And mind you dont go eatin more than your share on the way.

Ten minutes later, Richard sat behind the wheel of his black Mercedes in downtown Hickory Mills and switched on his windshield wipers as drizzle began to fall from the leaden sky. If only he could have left Letties fifteen minutes earlier, he would have missed the jam of traffic that accompanied the local dockworkers getting off shift and the arrival of the afternoon bus. Visiting with Lettie was always a high point in his week, but he hated wasting time in traffic.