Doe Hollow

Family

May rolled into Doe Hollow with impossibly blue skies, cotton candy clouds, and a gentle breeze that sent tingles across Abby's scalp.

"We'd better enjoy this while we can," she told James, turning her face toward the open car window as they drove across town. "They're calling for severe thunderstorms all next week. And it's tornado season, so..." she trailed off with a sigh, inhaling the fragrance of honeysuckle and freshly cut grass. James took Abby's hand and squeezed it.

"Don't worry about it now," he said, glancing at her as he drove. "Just have fun today." Abby turned to him and smiled.

"What would I do without you?" She mused, brushing her hair back as the wind whipped it across her eyes. James chuckled.

As they approached Grace Baptist Church, Abby grinned at the scene in the field beside the little brick building. White tents were set up in a semi-circle, the bottom edges of them swaying in the breeze. A group of kids were bouncing around in an inflatable castle, and two huge grills filled the air with the smell of barbecue. Facing the half circle was a small platform holding the church's PA system and musical gear. Most of Abby's family and friends were already there, talking amongst themselves in small groups by the tents. As James pulled into the church parking lot, Abby spotted her mother and aunts Susan and Karen setting up a table of sweets in the central tent.

"Can you help me with these?" Abby asked James as they got out of the car. She opened the back door and pulled out a large banana pudding, which she handed to her grinning fiance. "And that better make it to the tent!" She called after him, laughing, as he made his way toward Virginia's table. Abby quickly removed two buttermilk pies from the car, closed the door with her hip, and carefully picked her way across the field with a pie balanced on each hand.

"Right on time," Virginia smiled, taking the pudding from James and quickly kissing his cheek. Abby set the pies on the table and rounded it to hug her mother. "Those look great," Virginia said, eyeing the pies from behind Abby's back.

"I used Mammy's recipe," Abby replied, stepping back from the embrace. Susan and Karen each slipped an arm around Abby.

"You take after your Mammy more than you'll ever know," Susan observed, kissing Abby's temple. James smiled at Abby warmly as she slipped away from her aunts.

"Is Hayley here yet?" Abby asked Karen, Hayley's mother.

"She's over at the craft table," Karen replied, gesturing down the field. Abby nodded and headed that way, taking James' hand to pull him along behind her.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," Hayley groaned, struggling to untangle a mound of brightly colored chevron scarves as Abby and James approached.

"Hayley!" Abby exclaimed. "You're at church!" Hayley looked up at her cousin and laughed.

"Did you bring the banana pudding?" She asked, tossing the scarves on the table and hugging Abby. "Ricky's been yammering about it all morning." Abby laughed.

"Yeah, I just took it to mama," she replied. "Where's Ricky and AJ?" Hayley scanned the field, then pointed across to the back of the church, where her husband and Abby's brother stood, apparently pondering the open hood of an old truck.

"Trying to figure out what's wrong with Uncle Mike's truck," she sighed. Their eldest uncle, Michael Sparks, was the pastor of Grace Baptist, and had towed the old truck behind the church the week before, waiting for a chance to work on it.

"I'm going to go see if they need help," James said, kissing Abby's cheek before taking off toward the other two men. Hayley nudged Abby as they watched him leave.

"Does he know anything about trucks?" She asked, giggling.

"I doubt it, but he'll do whatever they tell him to," Abby replied with a wide grin.