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to help him out of the situation. I had my own parental issues to deal with.
    As I stepped out into the warm night air to speak with my mother, I overheard Lou ask Reed what had happened to the truck. That tension between them was still hanging around. Something was definitely going on between them. But I could tell they were just a like. They were stubborn and it would be like pulling teeth to get any info out of them.
    As soon as I answered , my mother Sylvia’s voice bellowed from the other end of the line.
    “ Baby, why didn’t you call me when you got there?”
    “ Mama, it’s been a long day. We had truck troubles.”
    “ How is his family? Were they nice to you? They’d better be or I just might have to come to Georgia and explain to them how they’d better treat my baby.”
    “ They were fine.”
    “ What about his uncle? Is he as handsome as Reed?”
    “ As a matter of fact, yes, he is.”
    “ You’ve got a good catch with Reed. Don’t you mess it up.”
    “ I’ll try not to. Listen, Mama, I’m really tired. I promise to call you in the morning.”
    “ Bama, I need to tell you something…”
    It was too late. My finger had already been on the button to hang up when I heard her. Whatever she had to say I was sure could wait until tomorrow.
    Reed came out the door in a hurry. I rushed my mother off the pho ne and walked over to where he stood.
    “ Are you ready to get some rest?” he asked.
    “ Yeah, but are you okay?”
    “ I’m fine. Just tired.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on. Let’s go to the cabin.”
    We walked the short distance around the lake to the cottage. Gravel crunching under our feet as we moved along the path and crickets chirping in the darkness were the only sounds. Reed didn’t mention the conversation he’d had with his uncle.
    I still wasn’t sure why we weren’ t staying with his uncle in the main house. It was like we were banished outside. The place was quaint and cozy but I was surprised his uncle didn’t want us in the house with him. My mother would have been trying to sleep in between us in the same bed. The cottage had just one bedroom, but had a living and dining area with a small kitchen.
    While Reed took a shower , I slipped off outside to get a look at the lake and the moonlight. The glow from the moon highlighted the tops of the tall pines and shimmered across water like a thin layer of ice. But the night was thick and sticky. Fireflies danced in the trees. Beneath the immense canopy of tiny silver lights, I felt small and insignificant—cut off from everything in this quiet corner of the world.
    Would I be able to handle the house? I figured I could be in and out in a couple of months, even if the other fixer-upper project I’d done before had taken a lot longer. This time, it would be different because I had experience. I’d learned how to do plaster with the other home and Reed had taught me to tile a floor, and they weren’t stick on tiles either. The one thing that was missing right now was my best friend, Lacey. I missed our time together though. There was nothing like talking over a cup of coffee with your best friend. One thing was for certain, I wouldn’t give any money to a contractor this time before they even did any work. I’d learned the hard way last time and lost money in the process.
    I looked off into the distance. It wasn’t terribly far from here to the plantation. I wondered if the man in the woods could make it this far. The last thing I needed was to run into an escaped mental patient roaming the woods. I shuddered at the thought and hurried back inside. When I entered the cabin, everything was quiet. The water from the shower had been shut off and Reed was nowhere in sight. I tiptoed over to the bedroom and found Reed passed out on the bed asleep. Was I outside that long? He must have been tired.
    I watched him sleep peacefully for a few seconds, then eased back out of the bedroom to call to my best friend back in Kentucky.