Chapter 9

Zoey absent-mindedly twirled her hair between her fingers while she ate her pie, enjoying the sharp taste of cheese mixed with apple and listening to the sound of the television drifting into the kitchen. Celeste had taken her dessert into the living room to watch her favorite show with Lancelot.

"There's cheddar cheese in the fridge if you want some with your pie," Aunt Flory said, eyeing her warily.

"Zoey prefers invisible cheese," Ruby teased.

Her patience worn bare, Zoey reached under the table and pinched Ruby as hard as she could. The taste of pineapple flooded her mouth as Ruby yelped, kicking Zoey in the shin with her tap shoe. It was Zoey's turn to howl as the metal struck bone.

"For heaven's sake, girls, where are your manners?" Aunt Flory scolded. "John came for a pleasant cup of coffee, not to put up with your shenanigans. Ruby take those darn shoes off at the table. I swear I rue the day I let you talk me into buying them."

Unfazed, Dr. Tanner pushed the tablecloth aside to examine Ruby's feet. "It's nice to see you are enjoying them," Dr. Tanner said with a wink. "But try not to use them as weapons. I hear Norma Birke is no fan of them either."

"Norma Birke," Aunt Flory scoffed, rolling her eyes. "She called me to complain that they scratch her classroom floor. How can she tell? That school is five times older than I am. The linoleum's been washed so many times that the pattern's worn off. Still, I forbade Ruby from wearing them to school anymore. Enough is enough. My plate is full enough without Norma Birke complaining to everyone who will listen."

"I barely touched her floors," Ruby complained. "She just doesn't appreciate the arts."

"Maybe because you sound like a horse clomping down the hallway," Zoey said, still rubbing her leg. "No one can hear themselves think. I even caught her wearing them in bed," Zoey told Dr. Tanner, spite hijacking her tongue.

"Those filthy things?" Aunt Flory wailed. "In my clean sheets? What were you thinking?"

"She took them off before she fell asleep," Zoey mumbled, trying to retract her statement.

Dr. Tanner chuckled into his cup.

"They're not filthy," Ruby said. "I polish them every night. Look." She put one foot up on the table, catching the sunlight in the patent leather.

Aunt Flory's face turned the color of a ripe cherry. "Ruby Starling, get your foot off the table this instant. I've taught you better than that."

"Ew," Zoey said, pushing her half-eaten pie into the center of the table.

"Now look what you did," Aunt Flory scolded. "You spoiled your sister's appetite."

"She's being dramatic," Ruby pouted.

"Yes, I'm the dramatic one," Zoey countered.

"I don't know what the big deal is about a pair of shoes," Ruby complained as she stood to clear the table.

"She has a point," Dr. Tanner said. "She could be smoking behind the barn the way my friends and I used to do at her age."

"Don't give her any ideas, for heaven's sake," Aunt Flory cried, plucking the leftover pie off Zoey's plate as Ruby passed it over her head.

Ruby had never taken dancing lessons. Aunt Flory didn't have the money for that kind of extravagance. She really couldn't even afford the tap shoes, but when Ruby saw them in the bin at the Goodwill store, her eyes lit up. She'd pleaded until Aunt Flory eventually gave in.

"I don't know why, but those shoes remind me of those pictures of that old church in your National Geographic, Aunt Flory," Zoey said. "You know, the one with all the crutches and leg braces tacked up on the walls. There must be thousands of them." She could almost smell the stale mix of dried leather and sweat. "It's interesting but kind of creepy at the same time." Zoey thought of Rita Porter again, the girl at school with leg braces who their neighbor, Evelyn, loved to bully.

"I bet you wouldn't think it was so creepy if you were one of the people praying to be healed."

Zoey shrugged.

"Never rule out the possibility of a miracle," Aunt Flory interjected. "I've seen some in my time. But don't go telling Verna I said that. She thinks it's all nonsense. She says she doesn't believe anything except what she sees, plain as day, with her own eyes."

"It must give her great comfort to be so certain about things," Dr. Tanner said, finishing his pie. "I can't say I share her confidence either. I've also seen many things over the years that defy all reason."

Aunt Flory shook her head emphatically. "Like my Daddy used to say, the truth is a skittish critter. It's best not to corner it." She chuckled as if enjoying a private joke with herself.

"I think Verna is one of those people who prefers giving her opinion rather than listening to others," Dr. Tanner laughed.

"You're right about that," Ruby smirked.

Aunt Flory bristled. "All right, let's not pick on Verna too much. None of us are perfect. She's been a good friend to me all these years. That matters much more to me than whether she believes in miracles or not."

Once the kitchen was empty, Zoey filled the sink with water to wash the dishes. She was still thinking about truth and decided that she agreed with Aunt Flory and Dr. Tanner. She'd seen enough to know that a person's reality often depended on perspective. She was living proof of that. Few people would believe that for her, cats and lemons went together. The slightest feel of cat fur made her mouth pucker and water. She couldn't think of one without the other. The only real problem was that there were often so many versions of the truth that it was impossible to consider all the possibilities.

"Here," Ruby said, dropping her plate into the dishwater. "You wash, I'll dry. Call me when you're ready." She disappeared upstairs, the sound of her shoes stomping up the stairs over Zoey's head. Dr. Tanner and Aunt Flory walked the garden outside the kitchen window, noting the flowers that had poked their heads up that week. If she listened closely, Zoey could hear most of their conversation over the sound of Celeste's television show.

"I'm glad to hear your heartburn has improved, but I still think it would be wise to investigate the cause of it," Dr. Tanner chided. Although all of his patients were children, he felt free to fuss over Aunt Flory's health. He'd worried aloud more than once that her weight was putting too much strain on her heart. "And your morning walks are going well?" he asked, sounding more hopeful than confident.

"When I can squeeze them in," Aunt Flory said lightly. "Time has a way of getting the better of me around here." Aunt Flory had been overweight for as long as Zoey could remember, her fleshy arms fluttering as she pinned the laundry on the clothesline, her ankles rising over the tops of her shoes like rising dough in a baking pan.

"I hope you're making it a priority," Dr. Tanner gently scolded. "Remember your goal was to lose twenty pounds by this summer." There was an uncharacteristic sternness in his voice. "Your blood pressure is still on the high side, and I'm worried about your heart. Why not come into the office and let me check you out? It's been a while."

"Don't start that again," Aunt Flory warned him. "You know there aren't enough hours in the day for me to take a trip into town right now. I promise I'll get to it. Meanwhile, don't worry about me. You're busy enough. That reminds me. Don't forget the pot roast I gave you for dinner."

"I already put it in the car," he said. "Don't try to distract me. You can't let it go too long. You have a good heart, Flory. We have to make sure it stays healthy."

Zoey smiled. Dr. Tanner always joked that the only thing bigger than Aunt Flory's heart was her hair.

"Seriously," he said. "These girls would be lost without you."

"I'm not going anywhere," she assured him. "I take my medicine like clockwork." She lowered her voice again, making it difficult for Zoey to hear.

There was silence for a moment before Dr. Tanner spoke again. "Well, you know how your condition affects your heart, and your weight doesn't help. If you keep eating the way you do, it won't hold out." He coughed lightly and lowered his voice again. Zoey studied the pattern on the dish she was holding under the running water. "But now that you've brought it up...are you well?" he asked evenly. "The medication is keeping things in balance?"

Zoey couldn't make out the next few sentences but quickly picked up the conversation again.

"Metabolically, the drugs will keep you in check, but with all the advances in medicine, it might be worth having yourself re-evaluated," Dr. Tanner said.

"You know my feelings on that subject. I'll stick with how nature made me," she said.

"That sounds like fear talking, and that's not the Florence Starling I know," Dr. Tanner said, his tone blunt. "Or is it just plain stubbornness?"

"Probably a little of both," Aunt Flory admitted.

"More on the stubborn side, if you ask me." Dr. Tanner laughed.

"Who am I to question the good Lord's wisdom?" She laughed too, the familiar warmth between them returning. "I guess I'm no different than the girls. We're each unique in our way."

"I won't argue with that," Dr. Tanner said. "Without doubt, you're the most interesting family I know."

"Interesting is not the word most people use," Aunt Flory said. "Believe me, I've heard them all."

"Ignorance is no excuse for stupidity, but my advice, as always, is to ignore them," Dr. Tanner said.