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Sue wiggled her eyebrows in an attempt to look devilish. It looked more as if she’d developed a debilitating tic.
    Rebecca was disappointed. “Well, love affairs kind of go with the territory, don’t they?”
    “ And, ” added Peggy Sue, holding her hand up to stop Rebecca. “One of us is an ex-con.” Here she looked directly, but unsteadily, at Flo. A hiccupping giggle escaped her, which she soon swallowed when she heard the deafening silence from her friends and saw the satisfied smile on Rebecca’s face.
    “Ex-con?” asked Rebecca in a sweetly surprised voice. “I never would have guessed. What were you locked up for, Flo?” When she got no response, she said, “I see. Banding together with your vow of silence, right? That’s okay. Peggy Sue helped me supply the tad bit of seasoning I needed for my quirky Memphis barbeque story.”
    Flo’s face splotched with red as she bent to get her pocketbook off the floor and wordlessly rushed from the hotel bar. Like four anxious ladies in waiting, the other Graces dashed after her. “Hey,” called Tony, “do you need a ride home?”
    Evelyn turned around. “I’m all right to drive, so I’ll take everybody.”
    “Actually,” said Cherry, “I’m going to walk home. It’s only a few blocks to Harbortown. Thanks, though.” She strapped on her helmet, figuring there was a high probability of a head-injuring stumble on her walk home.
     
     
    Flo remembered Derrick fifteen minutes after returning home. And when she did remember, she gasped. In their hurry to escape the clutches of the wicked Rebecca Adrian, the Graces forgot they’d left Sara’s nephew Derrick behind. He was visiting the men’s room when they rushed out, a fact no one remembered as they scampered out through the glass doors of the Peabody, hollering at Flo to wait up. Flo cussed, picked up her cell phone (which had a very handsome Elvis skin covering it), and called Lulu. She decided she wouldn’t bother calling Sara—that filly had a temper on her like you wouldn’t believe. Lulu should best be able to break the news to Sara, anyway. Since she was Lulu’s daughter-in-law and all.
    When Lulu picked up the phone, Flo cut right to the chase. “I forgot him.”
    “Who?”
    “Derrick. It was my fault entirely. Rebecca Adrian got me mad, and I stormed out and left Derrick behind with that woman. Want to string me up by my toenails?”
    Lulu considered this proposal. “Maybe. What was he still doing there? He promised me he’d just hang out for a few minutes with y’all and then he’d head over to Youth Group.”
    “Well, he didn’t make it to church, Lulu, and I am so sorry. Want me to run by there and make him drive home? And I’ll pinkie-swear not to take seventeen-year-olds again?”
    Lulu softened at her anxious tone. “Don’t worry about it. I can see how Miss Adrian could get anybody steamed. That girl likes looking for trouble, I’m sure of it. She’d better keep an eye on her back, though. Trouble has a way of catching up with you.”
     
     
    Sara Taylor was thinking about throwing some trouble in Rebecca Adrian’s direction. Sara had a heckuva temper, which most people fortunately witnessed only short flashes of. Wisely, nobody made mention of the red hair and temper connection.
    Sara stormed into the Peabody after getting Lulu’s phone call. She realized after several minutes in the quiet lobby that Derrick and Rebecca Adrian weren’t there. And, considering the bright lights of Beale Street just around the corner, Sara had a great idea where they might be. And it wasn’t going to be at church.
    Sara had just stridden around the barricades on Beale when she was nearly run down by her errant nephew. If she hadn’t nearly been plowed over by him, she’d never have seen him at all—he was dressed in black as usual.
    “Youth Group, huh?” Sara bellowed. “You will need to find God once I’m done with you.” But a closer look at Derrick stopped her in her