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fighting the urge to ask Selma why in heaven’s name she hadn’t come running out of Gus’s to see if she, Kathleen, who was about to pass out from the fierce sun, was indeed her brother’s new wife.
    She only smiled at the heavily made-up face. “Nice to meet you. Bob’s told me all about you.” He hadn’t but what else was there to say?
    * * *
    Kathleen helped set the table. There were pork chops, turnip greens, black-eyed peas, and a sort of hot bread that Mrs. Conroy said were called biscuits. A big glass of iced tea was placed by each place. When Otis Conroy on the one side and his wife on the other reached for Kathleen’s hands, she knew her confusion showed. She bowed her head along with the others, while her father-in-law gave the longest benediction she’d ever heard. The meal began in silence. Her mother-in-law and Selma barely looked up from their plates, while Otis Conroy, with his intense eyes, seemed determined to bore holes in the very wall as he stared straight ahead, looking down only to shovel food onto his fork.
    As strange and out of place as she felt, Kathleen desperately wanted to talk. After all, she’d come all the way from England to be with her husband, and to suffer through this first meal with his family in complete silence was almost more than she could bear.
    â€œI’m looking forward so much to seeing Bob,” she began. “Do you know exactly when he’ll be coming home? I can’t wait to see him.”
    â€œI reckon he’ll be here when he gets here.” Otis Conroy spoke without looking at her, his gaze still on the wall. “That’s if he don’t take it into his head to go somewhere else. That Bobby ain’t never been all that reliable.”
    Kathleen’s fork stopped on its way to her mouth as she stared at the man. No smile had crossed his face but surely this was his idea of a joke.
    â€œNow, Daddy,” Selma said with a coy grin, “don’t you be frightenin’ Kathleen like that. She ain’t laid eyes on Bobby for months and you know she must be longin’ to see him. Ain’t that right Kathleen?”
    Kathleen nodded, then cleared her throat. “It seems like forever since I’ve seen him. Still, not much longer now. I just wish he’d warned me about the heat. I can’t ever remember a day this hot in England and it’s only early June.”
    When nobody spoke, she plodded on. “By the way, did you receive the letters my mother and I wrote to you? I ask only because when no reply came we thought they may have gone astray.”
    â€œPass the greens,” Otis said to his wife.
    â€œYeah, they came,” Selma said. “Momma, she ain’t much good at readin’ or writin’. And Daddy, well Daddy’s that busy with his church work he don’t have much time for nothin’ else. Ain’t that right, Daddy?”
    â€œThat’s right Selma, honey. Our congregation’s growin’. Jesus has been good to us, He surely has.”
    Kathleen blinked. “You mean you have a church?”
    â€œYes ma’am, I surely do.”
    Selma helped herself to more peas. “What Daddy means is his brother is the preacher at the Holiness Church of Jesus on the edge of town. Well, Daddy’s that good at preachin’. When he’s up in that pulpit the whole congregation gets all fired up. Uncle Homer, he lets him preach there a lot. Ain’t that right, Daddy?”
    â€œYes Selma, honey, that certainly is a fact. When I get them folks in the spirit, I can feel Jesus just amovin’ all around that fine old church.”
    Otis Conroy fixed his magnetic eyes on Kathleen. “And what faith are you? When we held hands to give thanks to Jesus for this food, you acted downright surprised. Is this not a custom with your family?”
    She scraped her chair a few inches to the left, distancing the space between them.
    â€œNot