Sharpshooter: You missing me tonight?

Kentuckygirl: No. I’m finishing our wedding invitations. I’m worried some of the people I invited won’t be able to come by the time they receive their invitations.

Sharpshooter: Don’t mail them. Most of the ones you’re inviting go to church with you. Give the invites after church.

Kentuckygirl: I can’t do that. I don’t want anyone I don’t invite feeling left out.

Sharpshooter: Fuck them.

Kentuckygirl: Did you hear that? That’s the sound of me taking my ring off.

Sharpshooter: I don’t like it when you do that. If you keep doing it, I might need to super glue it to your finger.

Chatroom closed.

Sharpshooter: I’ll deliver the invitations myself on Monday. Will that make you happy?

Kentuckygirl: Will you be nice?

Chatroom closed

Kentuckygirl: Greer!

Kentuckygirl: Greer!!

Sharpshooter: That ring back on your finger?

Kentuckygirl: Yes.

Sharpshooter: Then I’ll be nice.

Kentuckygirl: Thank you!

Sharpshooter: Just don’t expect me to make a habit out of it.

Kentuckygirl: You being nice all the time? I don’t believe in miracles.

Sharpshooter: Believe it. I’m going to marry you, ain’t I?

Kentuckygirl12: You marrying me isn’t a miracle.

Sharpshooter: What is it then?

Kentuckygirl: Dumb luck.

* * *

“Getting nervous about the wedding tomorrow?” Sutton asked, clearing her dressing table.

Holly set her makeup case down on the cleared surface. “A little. Where can I hang my dress?”

Sutton went to her closet, opening the door. “You can hang it here. I won’t open it until you get here tomorrow to get dressed.”

“Thanks, Sutton. I appreciate you lending me your spare bedroom to get ready tomorrow.”

“No problem. I only use it as a makeup room. Tate fusses if I spend too much time in the bathroom, so it’s easier to get dressed in here.” Sutton sat down on the bed, watching her as she spread out her brushes and curling iron.

“What time did the men get home last night?”

Sutton laughed. “Greer told me to tell you one, but Tate didn’t get here until four.

“He say what they did last night?”

“No, but I’m making an apple pie for desserts. Tate will talk after he gets a couple of slices in him.”

“They can be bought with food.” Holly closed the case. “I’ve never seen men make anything of more importance than food.”

Sutton’s smile went sad. “That’s because they didn’t have that much when they were growing up. Their father didn’t have a regular job. What money they had came from their father growing weed and making moonshine. If their mom hadn’t cleaned houses, they would have probably starved.”

Holly sat down on the vanity chair. “Why didn’t their father get a regular job?”

“The only jobs available were the mines back then. Tate told me that their father finally got his union card and got a job in the mine. He went to work one day, came home, and said he’d never go back again.”

“He could have found other jobs if he had wanted to.” The Porters always talked about their parents lovingly, but Holly had heard many tales about how hard their father had been on them.

“He always complained about a bad back, but it didn’t keep him from working on that still in the barn.”

“It’s still there.”

“I know. That still will be there when we’re dead and gone.” Sutton stared out the window toward the road that led to the large barn.

“You knew their parents when they were still alive. Did you like them?”

Sutton grew thoughtful. “I loved Tate’s mother. She was a generous, kindhearted woman who loved to cook and clean, and take care of her children. She loved her children more than life itself. She taught me how to cook. I’ll have to give you some of her recipes.”

“I have her recipe box, but she didn’t really give amounts, just ingredients. I keep trying to make her biscuits and cornbread, but Greer says they don’t taste anything likes hers.”

“When she was teaching me, I wrote down the amounts on the cards I made. I’ll make copies of them and give them to you as a wedding present.”

Holly blinked back tears. She would love to surprise Greer with a honeymoon breakfast with biscuits.

“How did you like their father?”

Sutton got up from the bed to close the bedroom door. Then she went to the old-fashioned radio to turn the music on.

“I hated him. Tate nor I really talk about him often, unless he is brought up in conversation. He was the meanest man in the county when I was growing up. My father had to sign the warrant for his arrest one time for moonshining, and Dad came home locking the windows and the doors. He sat with a rifle by his side until the police had him in custody.”

“Did he go to jail a lot?”

“No, he was out after a couple of months, then he seemed to stay out of trouble. That was when I was little. When I was older, Tate told me how their dad started him and Greer on delivering the weed and moonshine.”

“That bastard used Tate and Greer to make the deliveries for him?”

“Yes.”

“They were just children!”

Sutton shook her head sadly. “No, they weren’t. They were never like other children in school. Their mother kept their clothes washed and cleaned, but their clothes were old. Most of them were hand-me-downs.”

“Greer told a story about him having sneakers that stunk the classroom out.”

Sutton’s voice dropped lower until Holly could barely hear it. “Tate told me that story. His father nearly beat Greer to death for fighting with Silas in the bathroom. He missed a week of school. Back then, I thought he was just suspended for getting in the fight, but Tate said that his nose and arm had been broken, and their mother had taken off with them. He found them before they could find a ride out of town.”

“She came back home?”

“She had four kids, and he had never laid a hand on her or Rachel. He swore never to lose his temper again.”

“Did he?”

“Not to my knowledge. But Tate only tells me bits and pieces. From my own experience, I think he just became more careful so he wouldn’t get caught by their mother.” She started to turn the radio down. “This is too depressing to talk about while we’re trying to get everything situated for your wedding.”

“Can I ask more questions?”

“Of course.”

“Greer told me something. At the time, I couldn’t ask why or understand, but I’m hoping you can tell me.”

Sutton nodded, waiting.

“Greer’s father seemed to make excuses to give him a whipping. Did Tate ever mention why?”

“If you don’t want to ask Greer, ask Rachel. She’ll explain it better than I could. Or you should ask Greer.”

“They won’t tell me, will they?”

Sutton sighed in defeat. “No.”

“Please, Sutton. The Greer I talk to on the Internet is so different from how he acts in person.”

“You talk to Greer on the Internet?”

“I’m Kentuckygirl.”

Sutton sank down on the bed then fell back, laughing hysterically.

“Shh … They’ll hear you.”

Sutton put her hand over her mouth. When she could get her laughter back under control, she lowered her hand. “When …?” She started laughing again. “When…? When did you find out it was him?”

“I always knew it was him,” she confessed, feeling embarrassed.

“Did he know it was you?”

“No.”

Sutton grabbed a pillow to howl into, taking several minutes before she raised her head, wiping tears of laughter away. “You catfished … You catfished Greer?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, my God! I’m never going to let him live it down!”

“Shh … You can’t say anything!”

“Was he mad?”

“What do you think?”

“I think he was furious.”

“You promise you won’t tell?”

Sutton eagerly shook her head.

“He was furious … Then he blackmailed me into marrying him. He said his family wouldn’t have anything to do with me if I didn’t.”

“What’d you say?”

Holly lifted her hand with her engagement ring on it.

“Oh.”

“Yes.”

“I can explain to Tate and Dustin. They’ll get over it, I think. Rachel, I’m not sure. When she left home, she refused to forgive Tate for a long time, but Greer and her made up pretty fast.”

“I didn’t tell you to help me get out of my wedding. I want to marry Greer. I love him. I have since I met him.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“I kind of thought so, but I wasn’t sure. He’s been so hard on you. I don’t understand how any woman could love him after the way he’s treated you.”

“Because I saw how he treated Logan and his family. He loves them. All of them are so close. I just want to be a part of them, not just an outsider.”

“You’re not an outsider.”

Holly tried to think of a way to explain how she felt about the Porters.

“Have you gone to many funerals in Treepoint?”

“Yes, I was raised here.”

“I went to one funeral that had a wagon wheel made out of flowers. Have you seen one when you went to one?”

“Yes, I have. Do you know what it means?”

“I didn’t at first. One of the mourners explained it to me when I commented on how beautiful it was. Each of the spokes represent a family member. The spoke that was missing was the person who had died. I want to be a spoke.”

“You are, Holly.” Sutton reached out to take her hand, and Holly clasped it back.

“I’m not, but I will be tomorrow.”

Sutton raised her free hand to swipe an emotional tear away. “I don’t know why Greer’s father was so hard on him. I can only suppose from what Tate has told me. I know their father always had to be the one in control, had to shoot the biggest deer, catch the biggest fish. He had to be smarter, and he didn’t want anyone, especially his son, outdoing him.”

“So, he was jealous of Greer?”

“I think he was jealous of all his kids. I think he used them to keep their mother trapped in their way of life. I think that’s why he didn’t want to work away from their home, so he could keep an eye on her every second. Then, as they grew older and could do things he couldn’t, he took it out on them.”

“What did they do that he couldn’t?”

She looked at her uncertainly. “You lived with them. Tate, Dustin, and Greer don’t show their gifts, but Rachel does. Surely, you know she can heal?”

“I know she and her family think she can. I heard that rumor even before I moved in with them. When she was still living at home, several people from town would come to be healed. She never let me watch. Some people are just susceptible to suggestions.”

“No, Holly. She can heal, and so can Greer. Rachel doesn’t do much anymore, because Cash won’t let her. She almost died when she healed Cash after his motorcycle crash, and then again with Cash’s grandmother.”

“I heard that, too. But Sutton, both of them received the medical treatment that saved their lives; it wasn’t Rachel. And I haven’t seen Greer do anything like that. He practically passes out if he stubs his toe. When he got a concession, I caught him smoking a joint.”

“He healed Winter’s baby. Tate told me.”

Holly didn’t believe in healing. She knew several healers who had made fortunes trying to convince others. The only thing that kept her from freaking out over them truly believing they could heal was that at least they weren’t trying to steal money from unsuspecting victims.

Holly removed her hand. “We should go see what the men are doing.” She started to stand up from her chair, but Sutton put her hand down on leg, stopping her.

“Do you think I’m crazy, Holly?”

“No … But you might have been swayed from what they told you.”

“I saw it with my eyes. It was the most miraculous thing I’ve ever seen. I spent that summer with my grandfather. One night, I had dinner with Tate’s family. After dinner, his father had gone out to the barn. We were watching television when we heard the explosion and ran outside.

“His father came running out of the fire. I hope I never live to see anything that awful again. Tate and Greer grabbed him and put the fire out on his body, while his mother ran to call an ambulance. But Jesus, Holly, he was so burnt. He couldn’t even breathe. It was horrible.

“Both Tate and Greer’s hands were blistered from the fire. Greer told us all to get back and go get the water hose to put the fire out in the barn. I couldn’t move, Holly. I tried to. Then I saw Tate and Dustin go get the water hose, while I held Rachel. She was hysterical.

“Despite his hands being blistered, Greer placed his hands on his father’s chest. At first, I thought he was doing CPR. Then I heard him talking, asking the spirits to help him. Holly, if I hadn’t witnessed it myself, never in a million years would I have believed what I saw next. It was like his body was healed from the inside out. One second, I was seeing a man dying, burnt beyond recognition. Then slowly, I saw his skin returning. By the time the ambulance got there, his father looked like he had a badly blistered sunburn. I tried to say something, but Tate begged me not to. I saw it with my own eyes, Holly.”

Still uncertain what to think, Holly tried to think of different ways to explain what Sutton believed she had seen that night. It had happened when she was in high school. Maybe in her teenage mind she had been impressed with how the men had reacted and their father’s injuries weren’t as bad.

“You don’t believe me?”

“It’s kind of unbelievable,” Holly tried to explain her doubting expression.

“Have the doctors been able to explain how Logan was so sick before he started living with the Porters?”

“They knew what to look for when they found out how Sam died.”

Sutton shook her head. “Greer healed him.”

“I’ve never seen Greer …” Her mind went back to the first months after Logan had started living with the Porters, trying to remember exactly when Logan had started acting like a normal toddler and not the sickly one who had her resorting to breaking into Diamond’s office. “No one could keep a secret like that. It’s impossible.”

“The Porters could. You said yourself how close they are. Tate made me swear not to tell anyone.”

“Why would it be a secret? That makes no sense. Why would he grow weed just to make a living if he could do what you’re saying? Greer would charge people for healing them … Dustin says he charges for baggies that he puts his weed in.”

“Tate said he can’t claim credit, or the spirits will leave him.”

“Spirits?”

“They enter his body to heal and leave once they’re done.”

“Do you happen to have any wine?” Holly asked, seriously thinking of calling off her wedding.

“Yes. You need some?”

“Please.”

Sutton stood up. “I know you don’t believe, and that’s okay, because Greer wouldn’t want you to know, anyway. Forget I said anything.”

“Sutton, I’m sorry, but it’s just too unbelievable for me. Everything you’ve described can be explained by a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

“Whenever have the Porters been reasonable? And there’s no reason to be sorry. I’m kind of glad you don’t believe me. Can you imagine the kind of life he and the rest of us would have if it got out? Everyone would watch every move he made. And us, too. Everyone would want him to heal them or family members, and he wouldn’t be able to do it. Tate said that it takes a long time to rebuild his strength. That’s why Greer doesn’t want to touch anyone. He doesn’t want to know if they’re sick, because he wants to build up his strength.”

Holly remembered when he hadn’t let Beth hug him, and when she had wrapped her arms around him last week.

“Why is he trying to build his strength?”

“All the Porters have gifts. It comes from their great-grandmother. She was a Native American, who passed her gifts down to them. Tate hears Death’s bells. He knows when someone is going to die. He doesn’t know who, only that he had come in contact with them. Rachel can heal, but not to the extent Greer can. Dustin has dreams of the future, but he doesn’t know who he’s dreaming about, only how they are going to die. Greer has been saving his strength, because Dustin has been dreaming someone in our family is going to die soon.”

Holly jumped at the knocking that came to the door, dropping her curling iron on the floor.

“He doesn’t know who?”

Sutton sadly looked back at her. “No, it could be anyone—Tate, me, Rachel, Cash, Dustin, or even Logan. You ready for that wine? I know I am. Don’t look so worried.” Sutton opened the bedroom door, letting her final words leave Holly trembling in fear. “You said you didn’t believe.”