“Do we really need that much of a salary? If we took out less, we could get it paid back quicker and then share the profits at the end of each year.” He put the last slice of something she called hummingbird cake on a paper plate.

“Go ahead and finish that off. I had ice cream for my break,” she said without looking up.

He got a glass of sweet tea and carried it and the plate to the table. Finally, they were talking about something, and her expression had changed from disappointment to excitement. “So do we need an office? Anything we buy for it is a tax deduction.”

She closed the ledger. “I hadn’t even thought of it being a write-off—we’d have to really think about where we could shave a few feet off to set one up. Maybe the dining room?”

Tucker shook his head. “If we want to promote weddings here at the Magnolia Inn, that room needs to stay as big as possible.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if she figured he was about to disagree with her. “We need a website first. It’s the way to do business in our day and age. Ledgers and newspaper ads are so outdated. We need a professional to set it up, but then I can manage it.”

“What would it cost to have it done?”

“Depends on how fancy we want it,” she answered.

He pulled his wallet out and laid a credit card on the table. “I’ll be working on bedding and taping all afternoon. That’s something that you can’t help with, so could you get this started? Charge whatever you think you need to this.”

“We can let folks know that we’re taking reservations starting in March. You want to advertise that we’ll be ready for weddings the first of May?” she asked.

“Do you have a bead on a photographer and a wedding caterer?” He was glad to have something to talk about with her, even if it was business. At least there was a little of that old sparkle in her blue eyes.

“I could probably ask Dotty and the girls about who’s available for that kind of thing,” she said.

“Are we okay?” he asked.

“As partners, yes.”

“Friends?”

“The jury is still out.”

“Got any idea how long that jury is going to deliberate?”

Her eyes met his. “How long are you going to keep riding this guilt trip?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” he said through clenched teeth.

“It’s got to do with everything in our lives. Tell me, if Melanie was the amazing person everyone says she was, do you really think she’d want you to be doing this to yourself? To sit around feeling sorry for yourself?”

“I’ll see you at noon.” There were times when he thought he liked Jolene, maybe too much. Everything she said made sense, but he still didn’t want to hear it. So he turned and left the room without a backward glance.

Jolene had just pulled up the website guru she’d used to design the site for the Twisted Rope when someone rapped on the door. Before she could push back her chair and stand up, Flossie’s voice floated across the foyer.

“Where are y’all? We were going stir-crazy.”

“And we brought a cake. I made it for the bake sale that got canceled.” Lucy carried it into the kitchen. “Chocolate with chocolate icing. I call it ‘sin in a pan.’”

Dotty hung her coat on the back of a chair and whispered, “Sugar called us. Where’s Tucker? Did y’all make up? Was there sex involved?”

Jolene’s eyes rolled toward the ceiling, and she shook her head. “Not hardly. Didn’t you feel the chill when you walked in?”

“Pay up.” Lucy held out her hand.

Dotty fished a dollar bill from her bra and gave it to Lucy.

“Y’all are bettin’ on me?” Jolene frowned.

“Honey, those two will bet on which mosquito flittin’ around will land on bare skin first. Don’t take offense. I’ll get the plates and make a fresh pot of coffee. You can fill us in on what’s happening while we eat. Is that pot roast I smell cookin’?”

“Yes, it is. And there’s plenty. Y’all might as well stay to dinner. I’ve got a raisin’ of Aunt Sugar’s hot rolls in a bowl to go with it, and you’ve brought cake for dessert.” Company would be nice to buffer the tension between her and Tucker.

Dotty held up a hand. “Yes, we’d love to stay. Flossie, put away those plates. We’ll ruin our dinner if we have chocolate cake now. Let’s just visit.”

Flossie nodded, crossed the floor, and peeked around the doorjamb into the foyer. “I think the coast is clear.”

“He works with earbuds. He probably didn’t even hear you come in,” Jolene said. “And I’m not sure this journey y’all talked about with us being more than partners . . .”

Lucy held up both hands. “Whoa now, sister. Tell us about that time right after your dad died.”

What did that have to do with today? Jolene frowned but said, “I was sixteen and planning to go to college, but that dream went down the drain because there was no money. Mama was in a downward spiral. Drinking. Pills. Most days she did make it to work, but Sundays were awful, and I was constantly afraid that she’d get fired. I didn’t know how I could support us both on what I made,” Jolene answered.