“Every year.” Dotty’s green eyes twinkled. “Mary says she don’t give a damn if Jerry has to eat Viagra like M&M’S, or if gravity has got her boobs, she will have sex in the bathtub like they did on their wedding night.”

Jolene giggled. “Tucker was just sayin’ last night that he hoped he didn’t need them when he was past sixty.”

“Oh?” Dotty cocked her head to one side. “Just what brought that conversation on?”

“What happens in the Magnolia Inn is like Las Vegas, remember? But we were talking about Mary and Jerry—sound travels along those pipes.” Jolene blushed.

“If you didn’t at least think about having bathtub sex with Tucker when all that was goin’ on, then you’re crazy,” Dotty said. “I’m thinkin’ about all the times Bruce and I did and I didn’t even hear the noise.”

The blush deepened. “Okay, so I dreamed about it last night and woke up kind of angry that it wasn’t real.”

“Then at least you’ve thought about having sex with him or you wouldn’t dream about it.” Dotty put a palm on her cheek. “Don’t blush, darlin’. We’re grown women with needs of our own.”

“But . . .” Jolene started.

“Tell me all about the ‘but,’” Dotty said.

“Until he gets over Melanie, what’s the use in even thinking about such things?”

“It’s tough to let go of someone you love, chère. You ever think that fate put him here . . .”

“Fate put who where?” Lucy arrived through the back door.

“What are you doing here?” Dotty asked. “And how did you get in?”

“You’re gettin’ dementia. You gave me a key when Bruce died so in case you passed away, the cops wouldn’t break down the door. Remember?” Lucy asked.

“Of course I remember, but I didn’t even hear the door open,” Dotty told her.

“We came to get you to go to the store with us.” Flossie hung her coat on the back of a chair. “You can’t live on what’s up there on that shelf.” She pointed to the liquor behind the bar.

“Now what was that about fate?” Lucy removed her coat and tossed it on a nearby table.

“I was telling Dotty that Tucker is having a terrible time moving on,” Jolene said.

“And before I was so rudely interrupted, I was about to say that fate might have brought him here so that Jolene could help him move on,” Dotty said.

Flossie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Way I see it is this: he’s got to get on with life and quit this weekend drinkin’ for good. I’m with Dotty on this one. Fate brought him to the Magnolia Inn so that y’all could be friends and you could help him.”

“Fate didn’t have anything to do with it,” Lucy said. “Honey, you know there ain’t a single clock in heaven, don’t you? That’s because nobody gets in a hurry up there. God has been working out a plan for years that would eventually bring you and Tucker together so you both could go on a healing journey. Tucker will help you and you’ll help him. Now start at the beginning and tell us all about everything.”

Jolene told them about Tucker saying he needed a drink but going to the cemetery instead. “Lucy, you say I’m on some kind of spiritual journey that’s been working on a higher plane for years.” She turned to Flossie. “You think Tucker and I are destined to be friends.” Her eyes went to Dotty. “What does fate say?”

“It says that you might help Tucker the most by just listening to him. But I believe he was sent to the inn to help you. His journey and yours are interlocked. He’s forgiven his father-in-law and accepted his apology. Have you forgiven your father for dying so early? Or your mother for all the misery that she put you through?” Dotty asked.

Jolene shook her head. “I thought I had when I took their ashes to the beach, but when Tucker talks about his pain, mine surfaces right along with his.”

Dotty patted her on the knee. “This forgiving business is not a sprint but a marathon, chère.”

“But what happens at the end? If God or fate has predestined this whole thing, what is the endgame?” she asked.

“That, darlin’”—Flossie smiled—“is up to you. You get the final say-so. Whatever the universe did to put you where you are, including sitting here in the Tipsy Gator with three meddling old women, its job is finished. Now you make the choice.”

“Run beside him for a while in this marathon,” Dotty said. “If you don’t like his speed, get ahead of him or fall back. The ball is in your hands now.”

Jolene was glad that she’d wound up at the Gator, because she felt better. “Are you all speaking from experience?”

“We are,” Dotty said. “For me, it’s the life I had with Bruce. We were best friends all through our growing-up years. And, chère, it was not exactly the thing in those days. Girls’ best friends were girls. Boys’ were boys. I cried on his shoulder when my first boyfriend broke up with me. He did the same when his best friend died. We went down that path for many years, and then when we were in our twenties, we realized that somewhere back there we’d fallen in love.”

“And for me, well, I’m still hunting for my Bruce. I saw what Dotty had and I won’t settle for anything less,” Lucy said.