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Mamaw served sweet tea on the back porch while Lucille passed blueberry scones froether this i in the tub It was a lovely afternoon in the shade of the black-and-white-striped awning Large, white cu view of the Cove Pots of colorful flowers set about the porch added punches of color and the air was heady with their scent

Malass to silence the chatter Carson and Harper stopped talking and Harper closed the lid on her laptop

"Where’s Dora?" asked Carson

"Still sleeping in her roolance at Harper’s thinly veiled criticisether Dora is not herself"

"I’ll say," Carson said "I’ve never seen her so low"

"The way she flew off the handle" Harper added with a shake of her head

Mamaw corrected Harper "She wasn’t upset as much as she had a breakdown There’s a difference The important point is that Dora asked for help"

"I can’t ever recall her asking for help before," Lucille mused

"Exactly We need to put our heads together and coh this difficult time Thank the Lord, she did not have a heart attack But this definitely was a warning A shot over the bow The doctor was clear that Dorahabits, exercise patterns" She sighed "Or lack thereof" She paused to glance toward the porch door to make certain it was closed She didn’t want Dora to overhear and have her feelings be hurt

"Unfortunately, instead of trying toup in her roohed draue "I thought we ht find ways to be her cheerleaders Rally around her Shoe care"

"Get her out of bed," Lucille added drily

The sisters were silent for a ood" she began, her tone hesitant

Ma Harper, for all that she didn’t gab much, was a deep, careful thinker When she offered an opinion, it was her own and reflected an intellect e has to coirl We can’t e her," Carson said "I was grateful when y’all stood byYou took every bottle out of the house I know because I looked for the hter, then continued in a e at night, I could not have resisted"

"And there’s still none in there, in case you go looking," Lucille told her pointedly