The dinner lasted two hours. Angie ordered soup to avoid making a mistake about which fork to use first. The rest of the party dined on filet mignon while laughing at Charley’s jokes.

“Angie.” Steve put her in the spotlight after the laughter died down. “Where do you like to volunteer?”

She set her water glass on the table. “I don’t volunteer. I mean, I would like to, but I don’t have much free time between raising my son, caring for my grandmother, and working.”

“You have a little boy?” Donna appeared interested. All eyes were on Angie. Max sipped merlot.

“I do. He’s seven.” She waited to see how the older couples would process the information. It wasn’t the most traditional thing in the world for an unmarried twenty-four year-old to have a child.

“Our grandson just turned seven last month,” Donna remarked. “I’d show you his picture, but I left my phone in the hotel room.”

“I’m sure he’s adorable.”

“Where do you work, Angie?” asked Phyllis.

“I’m a mechanic.” She peeked at Max. He took another bite of filet mignon.

Steve chortled. “A woman who can fix cars. No wonder you didn’t let this one get away, Max.”

“She is very special, no doubt.” He poured on the charm for his dinner companions.

The waiter came to the table with the check fifteen minutes later. Max gave the man his credit card. “This has been fun.” He put down his napkin. “We should do it again soon.”

“How about tomorrow night?” Charley suggested. “Would you two like to take a trip to Atlanta to see Hamilton with us?”

“We like Broadway. Angie used to be in our high school drama club.”

Angie was surprised he knew.

Donna clapped her hands. “This is exciting. I always wanted to see a live musical.”

“Well, now’s your chance to see one tomorrow,” her husband said. “We’ll go after Charley and I take Max to visit the land on Teak Ridge Drive.”

The waiter returned with Max’s credit card and then everyone stood. Angie remembered her manners. “I enjoyed talking with you. See you tomorrow.”

Max said gracious parting words before he walked with her to the limo outside. She was surprised when he climbed inside after her. “You’re not staying at the hotel?”

“What kind of fiancé would I be if I let you ride home by yourself?”

“You’re good at playing the southern gentleman.”

“You did a good job, too, tonight. I think they like you.”

“It’s about time I put those high school acting lessons to use.” She played with a pleat in her skirt. “I was so nervous.”

“This is how business is handled. You’ll get used to it.”

“I’m not sure. Deceiving people isn’t a natural gift for me.”

“Whoa, where’d that come from?”

Angie winced, realizing how harsh her words sounded. Max interpreted it like she was judging him. “That came out of nowhere. Forget what I said. I’m a little tired.”

“No, you’ve been on edge since I’ve been in town. I want to hear what’s bothering you.”

She realized something actually was on her mind. Did he really want to hear about it? She may as well clear the air. “Tomorrow is one year since my brother got killed in Afghanistan. Before he deployed, Detrick told me you both planned to hang out one last time. It never happened.”

Max sighed and looked down at his hands. He raked one hand through his hair. “You’re right for being angry at me. I couldn’t make it because there was a lot going with my family at the time.”

Angie had a hard time believing him. Max moved on to big city life and left her brother in a small town thinking he could count on a visit from his old friend before he got shipped off to a war zone.

They rode in the limo in silence. “How’s your grandmother?” Max asked after a couple minutes.

“She’s getting better from surgery.”

The limo stopped in front of her house. “There’s an ice cream parlor off Main Street. I can have the driver go back for a pint. Didn’t Detrick say everyone in your family liked rocky road?”

Angie’s annoyance reached another level. What made him think he could butter everyone up with sweets or steak? He sounded shallow. “She’s cutting down on sugar. See you tomorrow night.” She got out of the limo without waiting for him to open the door or walk her to the front porch.

Max exhaled as he drove to the rural outskirts of town the next morning. He wished he could tell Angie why he was unable to say goodbye to Detrick before her brother deployed. Instead, what he said to her sounded like a weak excuse for not showing up.

Raindrops fell on his shoulder. He pressed a button to put the top on the convertible. The weather mirrored his mood. He took a gulp of Cheerwine soda from the cupholder and checked the other can of soda next to the flowers on the passenger seat.

The gates to the Harper Cemetery were open. A car drove out. Max moved his Jag closer to the shoulder of the road to give the other vehicle more room. As the vehicle passed, he recognized Angie in the driver’s seat. An elderly woman sat in the passenger’s seat. Max gazed out his rear window and saw the outline of a small child in the back of the Chevy Cruze.

A tiny pain pricked his chest when he thought of Angie. One year ago today, he lost his good friend, but Angie lost a brother. He couldn’t imagine how she dealt with the grief while also caring for her grandmother and little boy.

He drove to the gravesite marked on the map he printed out at the hotel. Max parked the car. His hands shook as he grabbed the flowers from the passenger’s seat and the second can of Cheerwine, a favorite of Detrick’s when they were teens.

No one else was present in this section of the cemetery. He approached the headstone and placed the flowers and soda beside it. Angie and her family left a floral wreath and an American flag on Detrick’s headstone. He stood, silent, while he read the engravings and saw the military honors carved into the headstone.

The town of Harper may know him as a hometown football hero, but Detrick Franklin made the true sacrifice. Angie was right to be irritated with him for not paying the respect and honor her brother deserved. He wanted to do something about it one day. He hoped Angie would be there with him when he did.

Angie took her son and grandmother home after the cemetery visit. She thought she recognized the car she passed on the way out the gate, but she was so focused on the visit and what the day meant, she didn’t pay attention to the driver.

“Mommy, can I go play with Lou and his brothers across the street?” Raymond asked.

“After lunch, honey.” Angie helped him and her grandmother out of the car. Raymond ran inside the house once she opened the door. “What did I say about no running?”

“Sorry.” He slowed down to walk up the stairs and go to his room.

Grandma gripped her arm as they went into the kitchen. “Poor baby. He’s had a tough morning.”

Angie agreed, recalling his sad face when he viewed his uncle’s grave. “We all did. I’m going to make Raymond’s favorite soup for lunch. You sit down and rest.” She pulled out a chair from the kitchen table.

“I’ll chop carrots while you get the water boiling.”

Angie got a knife and took ingredients from the fridge. She put them on the table for her grandmother.

“Little Baby Ray has the right idea, Angie.” Grandma started chopping. “We could all use a little playtime today. You should go out tonight with friends and see a movie.”

Angie almost chuckled. Sometimes her grandmother talked as though she were still a shy teenager in need of coaxing to go out and socialize. “Actually, I’m seeing an off-Broadway play in Atlanta tonight with friends. I already scheduled a sitter to come watch Raymond.”

Grandma nodded her approval. “I invited two girlfriends from the senior rec center to come over for a little game of poker tonight. Just popcorn and chips. Potato chips, not the gambling kind.”

“I wouldn’t judge you if you won a hand, Grandma.”

“Don’t fuss over me, either. Go out and make friends. You’ve been working so hard. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

She hugged her grandmother. She crossed her fingers and hoped Grandma wouldn’t notice her new arrangement with Max Kelly. At least not yet.

Evening arrived. Angie received a text. Max was a block away from the house. She handed the babysitter a couple twenties and hugged her son. “Mommy’s going to watch a play tonight, but she’ll spend all day with you tomorrow.”

“Can we go to the new playground?”

“Sure can. Bye, sweetie. Be good for the sitter and G.G.” She used Raymond’s nickname for his great-grandmother.

She waved to her grandmother on her way out the house. Grandma’s friends were already in the kitchen. They chatted at the table as they opened bags of potato chips and shuffled cards.

She straightened her dress on the way outside. She bought it a couple years ago after her grandmother convinced her every woman needed a go-to little black dress in her closet for nights out. Angie had to admit the dress didn’t get any wear. She just cut the tags off this afternoon, but thankfully, it still fit. She walked across the driveway in flats. Her toes were still crying after being shoved in those heels last night.

Max parked his Jag in front of the driveway. The top was up, thank goodness, Angie opened the passenger door before he could get it for her. “I was going to get out and ring the doorbell.”

“No. My grandmother has company tonight.”

“You don’t want her to see your company. I see how it is.” He gave her a joking smile before driving up the street.

“I haven’t told her about our engagement. I’m going to. I just need to find the right time.”

“You need to do it soon. The Landers and the Prestons know. It won’t be long before they tell their friends and other business partners.”

Angie recalled the men’s plans to visit the hospital site. “How’d your afternoon with them go?”

Max moved his head in the negative. “No real business talk. Just a visit to the field and listening to them share golf stories.” He drove to the highway.

She could tell he was frustrated with the business partners’ old-fashioned way of doing things. “Are you going golfing with them?”

“If I have to. I learned to play because it’s practically a requirement in the corporate world, but you know my favorite sport.”

Angie knew he received a football scholarship to UGA. “Why did you give up football?”

“I injured my leg on a bike ride sophomore year of college. It required surgery. Doctors said I wouldn’t be able to play at a professional level, so I was cut from the team.”

“That has to be tough.”

“At the time, but my dad talked me into going to business school.” He shrugged. “Things worked out well another way. I don’t have a right to complain.”

He shut down the conversation by turning on music. Angie stared at the cars on the highway. Something about the pretty pink-orange sunset and the wide road ahead lifted her spirits. Even if this was all part of Max’s plan to get his land deal, she could still enjoy herself at the theater. She wondered what the evening would bring.