the hogs, doesn’t it? And the really awful thing is that nobody in town calls it the Dinner Bucket — theyjust call it the Bucket.” He put the car in park and looked in the direction of the doctor’s office. “So ... areyou ready to bleed?”
“Do we need an appointment?”
“Nope. That’s why you can get married in a day here. They’ve got a lab tech on staff whose onlyjob is to draw the blood of the betrothed — no appointments necessary.”
Mimi was sweaty and cranky from her nap in the car. As soon as Lily took her into the doctor’soffice, she got to work making her a juice bottle while Ben waited at the front desk to check in.
A heavy woman in a white polyester uniform emerged from behind the EMPLOYEES ONLY doorand promptly crowed, “Well, Benny Jack McGilly, as I live and breathe!”
Lily stifled the guffaw she felt rising from her belly. Benny Jack? Mr. Tommy Hilfiger-wearing,Wall Street Journal-reading, Emory University alumnus over there was named Benny Jack?
“Hi, Maybelle. We need to get blood tests today.”
Maybelle grinned. “Blood tests? Do you mean to tell me the oldest McGilly boy is finally gettingmarried? I never thought I’d live to see the day!”
Ben glared up from the form he was filling out. “Believe me, neither did I.”
“You having a big church wedding?” Maybelle asked, taking his paperwork.
“No. Actually, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t say anything about it. It’s kind of a secret.”
“A secret?”
Lily felt Maybelle’s eyes on her as the chunky woman suspiciously regarded Lily’s nose ring andthe baby on her lap. Lily gave the woman a jaunty wave, but it didn’t seem to alter her opinion.
“A secret. I understand,” Maybelle said.
Maybelle called Ben back first. Mimi was calmer now, sitting in the chair next to Lily and playingwith her toy camera. There was precious little in the waiting room to keep patients amused: ancient copiesof Field and Stream for the menfolk, equally antiquated issues of Good Housekeeping for the ladies. Thekiddies were expected to amuse themselves with the Children’s Illustrated Bible, the cover of whichdepicted an Aryan-looking Jesus talking to an equally Aryan-looking group of children.
In the lab, Lily sat down on a stool with Mimi on her lap. Although she was sure that Mimi wastoo young to comprehend what had happened to her mother, Lily had noticed that since the accident Mimihad clung to her like a baby koala bear. Tiny though she was, she seemed to sense that she had alreadylost one of her mothers and that she needed to be extra-careful not to lose this one, too.