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The girls laughed at the joke as Carson runted "I ain’t never been called Lucy in my life and never will I’ve always been Lucille"

Maly strong They can pack a punch I’ve lived through too many of them not to take each one seriously Last summer Tropical Storm Debby wiped out our dunes Cut theroup to action "Girls, plans or no plans, today we have to prepare for this storht or loose that can be picked up by the wind into the garage Harper, all your garden tools have to be put away We don’t want anything to become a missile in the wind and break aWe can’t be too careful"

"Mamaw, you always panic with every storm," Dora said "This house has weathered storms for over a century"

"That’s because I prepare! And I’ll have you know, young lady, that this house , but I’ve done o alh that, you never turn your back on the ocean"

"Aonna be a real stor up at the sky "I can always feel it in my bones It’s the shift in the baro the foreboding every person in the lowcountry experiences at the approach of a named summer storm "At least it’s not a hurricane"

"But the forecast calls for high winds," Harper said, looking warily at the sky "I’m worried about et them in before the storm hits" Harper marched off to retrieve a flat of herbs and hoisted them in her thin arms with the ease of a common laborer

"Who is that girl?" Carson asked, resting her chin in her paly?"

"It’s the enthusiasm of a convert,of energy," Dora said to Carson, "I noticed you slept in again this ot back With those waves building in the storht for sure you’d be with those other crazy risk takers out there"

"I’ood, that’s all" She looked to Lucille "I think I’ve got what you’ve got"

Lucille snorted "Honey, you ain’t got what I got"

Carson leaned against Lucille’s shoulder and declared with huot"

The way Carson said it had Ma up quickly to catch Dora’s eye, then Lucille’s In thatlook In a synchronized movement, all heads turned toward Carson with narrowed eyes

Dora bent closer to her sister "Carson, are you pregnant?"

"The air’s so wet I could drink it," Mamaw said Pearls of sweat for

Tropical Stor the coast The sea was roaring in anticipation, echoing throughout the island A heavy humidity hovered over the lowcountry like a pall They’d all pitched in to prepare for the stor

Mamaw took a final look-see around the property to arden supplies, cushions, and knickknacks were safely stored indoors

"We’re done here And we’re hot and sweaty," Carson said, her ar to the beach"