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pack.”
    “Do you want to stop somewhere for lunch before we go back?” I asked as I nosed my car onto I-240. “It’s your turn to pick a place.”
    “Showboat Barbecue. I love their barbecue sauce and their fried okra.”
    I headed for the Mt. Moriah exit. Once we were sitting at a table in the barbecue place, me with a huge pulled pork sandwich with slaw and delicious sauce and Bitty with a plate of pulled pork, sauce, beans and fried okra, we didn’t talk much about anything for a few minutes. Photographs plaster the walls behind tables, mementoes of trips the owners took to places all over the United States. A huge showboat is painted on the outside window, a reminder that Memphis is a town founded on the Mississippi with a long history of riverfront commerce.
    By the time I finished my sandwich I had barbecue sauce on my chin and blouse. Bitty sighed and handed me a napkin. “You’re wearing your food again.”
    “I know. I can’t help myself. Besides, who eats barbecue without getting messy?”
    “I do. That’s why I get the plate. This blouse is dupioni silk, and I don’t want to ruin it.”
    “I’m assuming that means it’s expensive.”
    “Not really. But it is one of my favorites.”
    “Not expensive to you and not expensive to me are two terms worlds apart,” I said. “You wear shoes that cost more than my car.”
    “Oh Trinket, you always exaggerate.”
    “Just a little. Your cars cost more than the last house I bought, though.”
    “That’s understandable. The last house you bought was twenty years ago. How did you stand all that moving around so much?”
    “It wasn’t like I had a choice. Perry would quit one job and have another before I knew anything about it. In retrospect, buying that house wasn’t the smartest thing I ever did, but I was trying to keep him in one place for a while.”
    Bitty shook her head. “You can’t change someone who doesn’t want to change. I learned that in my first marriage.”
    “Which does nothing to explain your next three marriages.”
    “I’m an optimist. You’re a pessimist. Have you ever thought about remarrying?”
    “No. Not seriously. Why mess up a perfectly good relationship with community property issues?”
    “But you could have a lovely wedding if you and Kit got married. And I’d pick out your dress for you. Think of the fun we’d have trying on satin dresses down to the floor. And veils sheer enough to be a mist around your head. How lovely.”
    “Perish the thought. Besides, I think you just like wearing wedding dresses. You could start your own resale shop just with the ones you’ve worn.”
    “If you’re trying to annoy me, Trinket, you’ve succeeded.”
    “Good. Stop trying to marry me off. Kit and I are perfectly happy with the way things are now, thank you very much. And I don’t see you and Jackson Lee rushing to the altar.”
    “We’ve decided to take things slowly, is all. He works so much. Which reminds me—his new partner in the Ashland office is single. I wonder if Dixie Lee is seeing anyone since her last divorce.”
    I was flabbergasted. “You’d set her up on a date? I thought you don’t like her.”
    “I don’t. Jackson Lee’s new partner is one of the dullest men I’ve ever met in my life. He’d be perfect for her.”
    “Honestly, Bitty. You’ll do anything to infuriate Dixie Lee, won’t you?”
    “Just about. What I won’t do is spend one minute of my time worrying about someone sending her death threats. It’s all a crock, and I don’t believe it for a second.”
    “I hope you’re right,” I said. “If not, the next month or so is going to be very interesting.”
    Have I mentioned how prophetic I can be?
    FAST FORWARD THREE days. I had just finished feeding the furry flocks when my cell phone rang. It’s not a device I care much about, since it too frequently connects me to people I’m trying to avoid. This time, however, it was Kit on the other end of the pesky thing. Kit