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name means Kind Opossum. I hope you got the vegetarian enchiladas.”
    “Fine, mister,” I said in a haughty tone. “Suit yourself. I’ll give your share to Muffy.”
    Hearing her name, Muffy shot toward me, shaking her tail so hard her back end swayed.
    “See?” I said. “Muffy’s not so particular.”
    A stench filled the room, and I gagged, waving my hand in front of my face. Traitor .
    Mason burst out laughing. “I suspect Muffy’s already had my share, and she’s taken a bullet for me.” He bent down to pet her head, then stood up, choking. “That dog deserves a medal of honor.”
    I stomped off to the kitchen, and Mason followed on my heels.
    “Rose, I was teasing. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
    “You didn’t,” I sighed, pulling the pan out of the oven and setting it down on the stove top with a plop. “I’m just frustrated that I can’t go grocery shopping.” I shut the oven door and put my hands on my hips, still wearing the oven mitt. “It’s embarrassing, Mason.”
    “I’m sorry. I’ll put more effort into getting your Piggly Wiggly privileges reinstated. In the meantime, why don’t you go to Peach Orchard Grocery?”
    My mouth hung open. “Are you serious? That place fails the health department inspection on a regular basis. At least Buenaza Zarigüeya rated a ninety-two on their inspection.” I lifted my eyebrows in an I-told-you-so look. “Yes, I checked.”
    He wrapped his arms around my back and tugged me to his chest. “God, I love you.”
    “Why?” I asked, my voice muffled from being buried in his shirt. “Because I’m serving you food that may or may not contain road kill?”
    He chuckled, his chest rumbling against my cheek. “No, because I would never in a million years have expected to have this conversation with anyone, and I love every minute of it.”
    I leaned my head back to look up at him with narrowed eyes. “Don’t think you can sweet talk your way into getting some enchiladas.”
    “You’re a harsh woman, Rose Gardner.”
    “Yeah,” I teased. “Remember that the next time you insult a woman’s dinner, whether she cooks it or not.”
    “I have so much to learn.”
    “You’ve got that right.”
    Mason helped me set the kitchen table. We sat down to eat, and Maeve and Mason told me stories about their family home, which had played a part in many of their beloved memories. Maeve got a little teary-eyed, but took one look at my worried face and shook her head. “Nothing stays the same, Rose. Sometimes you have to recognize when it’s time to move on. I’m good with selling the house. These are happy tears.”
    I kept a close eye on Mason. He seemed impartial to his mother selling his childhood home, but I knew it had to affect him in some way. Later, Maeve went up to take a shower, and while Mason and I cleaned up the kitchen, I asked him about it.
    “I’m fine with it.”
    I studied him, and he gave me a soft smile.
    “Believe it or not, I am. I think I said goodbye to that house after my father died. I came home for the summer after my junior year at Duke, and I didn’t feel like I belonged there anymore. That’s why I got my own apartment when I came back to Little Rock for law school instead of moving in with Mom to save money.”
    I thought about my own childhood home. I’d lived there until a couple of months ago. Now I could hardly stand to walk through the door when I went there to visit Violet. But Mason had grown up in a totally different environment.
    He noticed my struggle to understand. “With Dad gone, everything changed. The three of us no longer knew our parts. Mom and Savannah figured theirs out while I was at school. When I got home, I didn’t feel a sense of belonging anymore. It was like there wasn’t a place for me there.” He looked down at the bowl he was drying. “It wasn’t intentional, and they were the ones stuck there with the memories. I understood.”
    “So what did feel like home?”
    He didn’t