“Soon. And you’ll never guess what we just heard.” Heidi’s teddy bear earrings bobbled. “Sugar Beth’s back.”

“No kidding. When?”

“This afternoon. Leeann just got the news.”

Phil stared at them for a moment, then shook his head and disappeared to pass the word to the other men.

The women set to work, and for a few minutes silence reigned as each fell victim to her own thoughts. Winnie’s were bitter. When they were growing up, Sugar Beth Carey had possessed everything Winnie wanted: beauty, popularity, self-confidence, and Ryan Galantine. Winnie, on the other hand, had only one thing Sugar Beth wanted. Still, it was a big thing, and in the end, it had been all that mattered.

Amy pulled a ham from one oven, along with a dish of her mother’s famous Drambuie yams. From the other oven, Leeann removed garlic cheese grits and a spinach-artichoke casserole. Winnie’s roomy kitchen, with its warm cherry cabinets and vast center island, made her house the most convenient place to gather for their potlucks. Tonight they’d parked the kids with Amy’s niece. Winnie had asked her own daughter to baby-sit, but she’d turned difficult lately and refused.

As born and bred Southerners, the Seawillows dressed up for one another, which meant they spent the first part of every get-together discussing what they were wearing. This was the heritage passed on to them by mothers who’d donned nylons and high heels to walk to the mailbox. But Winnie wasn’t a Seawillow, and despite her mother’s nagging, it had taken her longer than the rest to figure out how to pull herself together.

Leeann licked a dab of cheese grits from her index finger. “I wonder if Colin knows.”

“Did you get hold of him, Winnie?” Amy asked. “We got so distracted by the news, nobody asked.”

Winnie nodded. “Yes, but he’s working.”

“He’s always working.” Merylinn reached for a paper towel. “You’d think he was a Yankee.”