“Annajane, too?”

“Me, too,” Annajane said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

And then they were wheeling her into surgery.

When they got back to the waiting area, Pokey was there. She’d changed out of her wedding attire and was wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a T-shirt. “The nurse told me they’re gonna operate?”

Mason nodded tersely. “Did you go by the club? How’s Celia?”

“Fine, I guess,” Pokey reported. “Pete took Letha to help out with the boys. She made me promise to call her as soon as we know something. I talked to him a little while ago. He said people were a little shocked at first, just kinda standing around, staring at each other, but then Mama took charge, got the waiters passing appetizers and the bar up and running, and the band warmed up. Everybody’s dancing and having a high old time.”

She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket. “Mama has ordered me to make sure you call her with an update on Sophie.”

He exhaled loudly. “I can’t deal with her right now.” He looked at Annajane. “Could you?”

Annajane was in no mood for a long conversation with Sallie Bayless either, but she took the phone, made the call, and reassured her former mother-in-law that Dr. Kaufman had things firmly in hand. She heard the sound of music in the background, the clink of glasses and ice, and voices.

“Thank you for calling, Annajane dear,” Sallie said finally. “I know this can’t be easy for you.”

“Sophie is a little trouper,” Annajane said. “But yes, I’ll feel better once she’s out of surgery.”

“I meant the wedding,” Sallie said.

Annajane allowed herself a wry smile. “I’m happy for Mason. And Celia,” she added.

“Of course,” Sallie said. Her tone said otherwise.

When she rejoined the others, Mason was thumbing through e-mails on his BlackBerry, and his sister was staring at the television with a blank expression on her face.

“Hey,” Pokey said, standing up quickly. “C’mon, let’s go raid the vending machines. I’m starved. Mase? Can we bring you anything?”

“Nothing,” he said without looking up.

Annajane trailed along after Pokey. They found a bank of vending machines outside the hospital’s cafeteria, which was closed.

Pokey dug in the pocket of her jeans and came up with a handful of coins. She studied the candy machine. “Hmm. Almond Joy or Butterfinger?”

“Nothing for me,” Annajane said. “Maybe a bottle of water or something.” She looked at the other machines. “Although I could use some aspirin or ibuprofen or something for this headache.”

“Hangover?” Pokey gave her a surprised look. Annajane was almost never sick, and almost never drank to excess.

Her friend sighed. “I dosed myself with bourbon before leaving for the church this afternoon. Should have known it would come back later and bite me in the butt.”

Pokey fed coins into the soda machine and bought bottled water for both of them, then, moving over to the next machine, bought a packet of Aleve for Annajane.

“Let’s sit in here,” she said, gesturing to the half-darkened cafeteria.

They found a table near the door, and Annajane gratefully swallowed the pain medicine with a swig of water.

“Something I need to ask you,” Pokey said, leaning across the table. “And don’t bullshit me, okay? We’ve known each other too long for that.”

“Oh God,” Annajane said warily. “What is it now?”

“I saw the look on your face in church today, when Celia came down the aisle. I saw the look on Mason’s face, too. And I know him just as well as I know you.”

“And?” Annajane wished she had not followed her friend out of the waiting room. She’d walked right into Pokey’s trap.

“And I got the distinct feeling, right before Sophie got sick, that you were about to make a big move.”

“That’s crazy,” Annajane said, laughing uneasily. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you do,” Pokey said. “You shoved me into the aisle. I don’t care what you say. I know you, Annajane Hudgens. And I know you are not over him. You are still in love with my brother.”

“Absolutely not,” Annajane said automatically. “I’m in love with Shane. I’ve moved on.”

“You are so not over Mason. And I’ve got a news flash for you. He’s not over you, either.”

“You’re delusional,” Annajane said, taking another swig of water. “Either that, or smoking crack. Hey. What were you drinking before the wedding?”

“Skim milk. Straight up. Iron supplement chaser.” Pokey said. “I’m pregnant.”

Annajane nearly spit out her water. “Again! Oh my God, Pokey, are you sure?”

Pokey took a big bite of her Butterfinger and chewed for a moment. “The fourth time around, you tend to know these things. And the EPT test I took Monday confirmed it. Yup. Just call me Fertile Myrtle. Knocked up again.”

Annajane grasped both her friend’s hands in hers. “Oh honey, that’s great. I mean, I know Clayton isn’t even two, but you really were born for motherhood. Are you okay with it? What does Pete say?”

Pokey laughed. “I’m fine with popping ’em out one, two, three. And four. As for Pete, he did allow that he wouldn’t mind having a girl this time around. I pointed out to him that he’s the one shooting all the blue bullets so far. Anyway, don’t try to change the subject. We were talking about how you and my brother are still stupid in love with each other.”

Annajane sighed. “I’ll admit it was hard today, being in church, facing the reality of, well, everything. Mason truly was my first love. Yeah, I dated around in college, but nobody else ever came close. I guess I just had the world’s biggest, longest crush on him. But marriage is different. It’s real life, not a fairy tale. You can’t sustain a crush when bad things happen, when people hurt each other. When they cheat on each other and won’t even be honest enough to admit what they’ve done. If Mason had just apologized, if he’d just acknowledged what had happened, maybe things would have been different. But I’m not going to dwell on that anymore. I’ve found a man I can love as well as trust. Shane would never cheat on me. He just wouldn’t.”

“Stop!” Pokey exclaimed. “I will never believe Mason ever loved anybody but you. So maybe he screwed up, maybe he slipped up. He’s a man, and gawd knows none of ’em are perfect. Especially the Bayless men.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Annajane asked.

Pokey shrugged. “What it sounds like. Look at Davis. What a man whore! He sleeps with any and every girl that comes along, single or married, and he gets away with it because he’s Davis. He behaves like a goat in rut and we all just roll our eyes and laugh. And my daddy? Annajane, you know there was never a bigger daddy’s girl than me. I loved my daddy and I miss him every day, but I’m not dumb, and I’m not blind. I know he … fooled around on Mama.”

Annajane had heard rumors about her former father-in-law’s conquests over the years. After all, even in his sixties, Glenn Bayless was a startlingly handsome man, with a full head of hair that had turned silver in his early forties, piercing blue eyes, and a lean athlete’s build honed from hours in the gym he’d set up in the basement of Cherry Hill, not to mention twice-weekly games of cutthroat tennis with partners half his age.

Still, this was not a topic she had ever discussed with anybody in the family. “You really believe all those old stories?”

“I just know, okay?” Pokey said. “The crazy thing is, I don’t think it affected their marriage. Daddy worshipped the ground Mama walked on. I think he just, you know, liked the ladies. And they liked him back. But I am here to tell you that Mason isn’t like that.”

“And what makes Mason so different?” Annajane said flippantly.

“Because he knew Daddy screwed around on Mama,” Pokey said flatly. “And it wasn’t just a rumor. If you must know, Mason and I caught him at it. Red-handed. And Mason never forgave him for it.”