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E notes She suspected this was it; she was about to get to the real core of the interview

"By the tione, so I was prettyfor a way to deal with the pain, although God knows the e was dead That’s where the fruitcake came in"

"The co were you and Larry together?" she asked

"Sixteen years It’s a shame, you know We never had kids and it was real lonely after he left"

"What happened to him?" Secretly Emma hoped he was miserable In sohed "Larry ot drunk every night It only took him a few years to drink himself to death"

"How sad," Ele for nearly ten years I thought I’d learnedman, but obviously I hadn’t"

"What about the other two husbands?"

"Morrie courted reed toeye so much as he did a weakness for the bottle" She paused "Of course, Larry had both The thing is, and you reible-bachelor crop working in a tavern"

Eiven due consideration to her words

"Morrie died of cancer a couple of years after ere married" She shook her head "I never should’ve married Paul after that"

"What happened with Paul?"

A dreamy expression came over her "Paul looked so much like Larry they could’ve been brothers Unfortunately, looks weren’t the only trait they shared We were married only a year when he suffered a irlfriend on the side but he really loved my fruitcake I think if Larry had lived, he would have, too"

"Do you have anyone to share your good neith?" Eain "Not really, but it doesn’t matter"

"Of course it matters," Emma insisted "Your recipe was one of only twelve chosen fro up your heels and celebrating"

"I ith friends, I suppose" Earleen opened her cutlery drawer for a knife and sliced through the loaf "It’s tiain," she said "This close to Christ about them"

"When do you bake your fruitcakes?"

Earleen sipped her coffee, her fingers sparkling in the light All ten of theood two ive the alcohol to work, the better Then, before Easter, I bake another version that’s similar but without the dried fruit" Earleen ht it over for Eh she wasn’t a fan of fruitcake, Emma decided it would be impolite to refuse Earleen watched and waited

Emma used her fork to break off a small piece and saw that it was chock-full of the dried fruit to which she objected lanced up at the older woman with a quick smile Then she carefully put the fruitcake in her ood it tasted The cake was flavorful, ent with the scent of liquor The blend of fruit, nuts, applesauce and alcohol was divine There was no other word to describe Earleen’s fruitcake

"You like it, don’t you?"

"I do," E not to sound shocked "It’s excellent"

"I’ht so, too," Earleen said wistfully "Even if he’s the reason I started baking it"

"You still love hih she’d ed to a man who hadn’t valued her Her mother had been the sa day Emma’s father had never appreciated what a wonderful wo more to do with him He’d been a token husband the same way he’d been a token father

When she spoke, Earleen’s voice was resigned "I’ve been over Larry for a long time," she explained "Much as I loved hi he left when he did Larry was trouble More trouble than I knehat to do with"

More trouble than Earleen deserved, E else I can tell you?" Earleen asked She seeer to finish the interview "I didn’t ure out men--but I knohole lot about fruitcake"

E I need for now"

After snapping a picture of Earleen and collecting the recipe, she asked, "Can I call you later if I have any questions?"

"Oh, sure Since I retired from The Drunken Owl, I’m here most of the time"

"Would you athered up her things "I want to call a taxi to take me back to the airport"

"You don’t need to do that" Earleen shook her head "I’ll drive you It’s not far and I have errands I need to run, anyway"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I aratitude She already knew that Walt wasn’t going to reimburse her for any taxi fare, and it was too close to the end of theon her part

Earleen backed her twenty-year-old Subaru out of the garage and Eot inside The contrast between the interior of Earleen’s vehicle and the furnace company van was noteworthy in itself

Ten minutes later, Earleen dropped Emma at the airport and after a feords of farewell, drove off

As soon as E next to the hangar, with Oscar trotting behind hi how to structure her article on Earleen Start with her childhood or her wedding or--

"How’d it go?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts

She stared at him, eyes narrowed "In case you didn’t know it, rinned "You’re going to have even ot to say"