Page 45 of Call Back

“Oh, come on,” I teased. “You’re not going to let me pick any of that out? I bet they have one that’s sparkly.”

Her mouth pressed tight, but then she continued, ignoring my statement. “Roy and Belinda would insist on the top-of-the-line model, wanting to keep up appearances and all that.” She waved her hand. “What do I care if I’m buried in a pine box or a fancy, gold-plated one?”

The waitress showed up with our food just then. She gave my mother a frightened look, as if worried Momma might fast-forward her sickness a few weeks and pass away at the table, and then set our plates in front of us and scurried away.

I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “I’m not letting you be buried in a pine box, Momma.”

“I didn’t pick out a pine box, but I didn’t get the top of the line either.” She grabbed a french fry. “And I want to be buried in my catering uniform. Don’t you let Roy convince anyone otherwise.”

I grinned. “And Grandma’s secret wedding cake cookie recipe?”

“No. I’m giving that to you, not that you’ll know what to do with it.”

“I can bake cookies without burning them. Sometimes.” I picked up my fork and began to mix the dressing around my salad.

“Pick any old uniform, nothing special,” she said, focusing on assembling her burger, then looked up and pointed a finger at me. “But make sure it’s clean. I swear I’ll come back and haunt you if you bury me in dirty clothes.”

Looking at her now, I had to wonder how much time I had left with her. I’d held it together for our whole discussion, but now my chin started to quiver.

Momma’s eyes softened. “Everyone has to die sometime, Maggie Mae. I wouldn’t have planned on leaving yet, but I’ve made my peace with it.”

I picked at my salad, but I couldn’t summon much of an appetite even though my stomach was empty. “But I haven’t.”

She patted my hand. “I know. I know.”

“Can we go to Emily’s funeral together?” I asked.

She gave me a look of surprise. “Yeah.” She took a bite of her food, then said, “I think you two could have been good friends.”

“We definitely weren’t enemies anymore,” I said. “And I was torn up hearing about her death.”

“She knew how much your leaving hurt me. She asked all your friends if they knew why you’d left.”

My fork froze midair.

“Magnolia?”

Was that why she’d been chosen? Had the murderer found out about her investigation? Was it possible she’d finally dug something up?

“I’m sorry,” I said, putting my fork down and picking up my water glass. “It just makes me so sad.”

“Then let’s talk about something else for a little while. My side of the bargain was to tell you stories from your childhood. Let me tell you the story of when you were born.”

I smiled. “You’ve already told me, not that I mind hearing it again.”

“But I didn’t tell you how I almost killed you.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

She took a deep breath before launching into her tale. “I was two weeks late. I’d dragged your father to the hospital twice with false labor and vowed I wouldn’t look like a fool again. The night you were born I’d had contractions all day, and by that evening they were one minute apart. Your father was ticked that I still didn’t want to go to the hospital, so he finally picked me up and carried me to the car, not an easy task when I was as huge as a whale. But he was scared to death my stubbornness would risk my safety and yours.”

I smiled. “That sounds like Daddy.”

“I was fit to be tied, but I let him take me to the hospital. He wanted to carry me inside, but I told him that bein’ in labor didn’t make me an invalid. They wheeled me back, and by the time they got me to the labor room, I was already feeling the urge to push. But when they hooked me up to the monitor, your heartbeat started crashing with the contraction, so they rushed me off to the OR for an emergency C-section. I’ll never forget the look of pure terror on your father’s face when he thought he might lose us both.” She paused, her voice turning soft. “When I woke up, he was sitting next to my bed, his face pale as a sheet, and I was sure my stupidity had gotten you killed. I started to cry, but he leaned over and kissed me. He said, ‘I was sure I was going to lose you, Lila. Don’t you ever scare me like that again.’

“‘The baby?’ I asked.

“‘She’s fine,’ he said. ‘Perfectly healthy and a set of lungs that will rival yours. But we almost lost her too.’ Then tears filled his eyes and he said, ‘She’s a precious gift, Lila. We can’t take our responsibility lightly again. We have to do everything in our power to protect her.’” Momma looked up at me. “I don’t think I did a very good job of protecting you, Magnolia.”

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