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tried to relax and just forget about the call, but she was still feeling a little uneasy. It was the word “registered” that bothered her. She hated to call Earle at work but she dialed the number anyway, and his receptionist answered. “Dr. Poole’s office, may I help you?”
    “Hi, Sherry, it’s me. Could you get him to pick up? I need to ask him a quick question.”
    “Sure, hold on. I’ll buzz him. How’s your mother?”
    “Fine, thank you.”
    “Well, good. Hold on.”
    A few seconds later, Earle picked up. “Hi, are you okay?”
    “I’m fine. I just need to ask you something.”
    “Honey, I’m right in the middle of a root canal.”
    “Okay, I’ll make it fast. A man from Texas just called and said hewas sending Lenore a registered letter tomorrow. Should I be worried? He said he wasn’t a lawyer.”
    “Well, then, no.”
    “What do you think it’s about?”
    “Oh, I don’t know. It’s probably just some come-on, trying to sell something or get her to join something.”
    “Then I shouldn’t worry?”
    “No, just forget about it.”
    “But it’s registered.”
    “Well, honey. Just don’t sign for it.”
    “Isn’t that against the law?”
    “
No
. Just tell Pete you don’t want it. That’s all. Sweetie pie, I’ve really got to go. I’ll see you at home, okay?”
    “Earle, maybe … I just won’t go to the door.”
    “Fine.”
    “But won’t he leave a note and try and redeliver it?”
    “Honey, do whatever you want. Don’t go to the door or just sign for it and throw it away. It’s probably just junk. Okay?”
    “Then I shouldn’t worry?”
    “No.”
    “And I don’t have to accept it.”
    “No. Forget about it. I gotta go. Love you.”
    Sookie hung up and smiled. Earle always knew how to make her feel better. Even her ankle felt better.

WEDNESDAY

    J UNE 8, 2005
    S OOKIE WOKE UP AND PLANNED HER DAY . S HE DECIDED THAT THIS morning she would try a slight variation on yesterday’s bird plan and put sunflower seeds into every other feeder. She hoped the little birds would figure it out and eat a little while the blue jays were still at the sunflower seeds. Then after she fed the birds, she was going downtown to the travel agency and check out trips and cruises. A second honeymoon—what fun! Her brother, Buck, and his wife were always going on cruises, so yesterday afternoon she had called Bunny in North Carolina and asked her advice. Bunny said that Prague was “the new Paris,” but Sookie hadn’t seen the old Paris, yet. She hadn’t really been anywhere, except to college and to the store and back, so anywhere Earle wanted to go would be fine with her.
    At 8:10, Sookie had filled all the feeders and was out in the backyard in the pink tennis shoes, hiding behind a tree with her binoculars, when suddenly someone walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She nearly jumped five feet in the air. It was Pete, the mailman. “Oh, my God, Pete,” she said. “You nearly scared me to death!”
    Pete, a tall skinny man in gray shorts, said, “I’m sorry. I knockedon the front door, but you didn’t answer.” He then reached into his bag and said, “I have a certified letter for you, but first I have to ask you, ‘Are you Mrs. Earle Poole, Jr.?’ ”
    Sookie sighed. Pete had only been her mailman for the past thirty years. “No, Pete, I’m the queen of Romania. Of course, it’s me. You know who I am.”
    Pete took his job very seriously. “Oh, I know who you are, but it’s an official letter, and I have to ask. Do you have power of attorney to sign for Mrs. Krackenberry?”
    “Yes. What I want to know,” Sookie said, “is
why
you are here so early? Don’t you usually start your deliveries on the other side of the pier?”
    “Yes, but I thought the letter might be important, so I came here first. I just need for you to sign right here on this line.”
    “Oh, Pete, I’m sorry you came all this way, but I don’t want to sign for it.”
    He was