Page 37 of Lemon Pound Cake Club

"I suppose they do."

"No."

She looked toward my house in the distance.

"I'm talking about that one."

A breeze moved the branches above us.

"It remembers."

I frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Miss Evelyn smiled into her tea.

"I'm just an old woman who talks too much."

Before I could ask another question, Nia's voice came across the lawn.

"Maci! Save us! Simone's trying to convince everybody that truffle fries count as a vegetable!"

I laughed.

"I should probably go."

Miss Evelyn reached over and gently squeezed my hand.

"You should."

Then she added softly, almost as if it was an afterthought,

"Some people spend their whole lives running from the past."

Her warm brown eyes met mine.

"Others move right back into it."

A chill ran down my neck.

I looked at her, trying to see if she meant more. But she just smiled, the same sweet smile she’d had since I first met her.

"Go on," she said. "Your friends are waiting."

As I walked away, I couldn’t help but feel that Miss Evelyn wasn’t talking about the neighborhood. She was talking about me.

I made my way back to the picnic tables just as Nia was dramatically waving both arms over her head.

"There she is!" she called. "Y'all, she abandoned us."

"I was talking to Miss Evelyn."

"That woman will keep you for an hour if you let her," Tasha laughed.

"And you'll enjoy every minute of it," Camille added.

I slid into the empty seat beside Simone.