Paige called Cash as she left the SCAD administrative building. "Hi, my meeting's over. I think I'll try to find my way home. If I need help, I'll call." She listened a few moments. "If I back out of the parking lot toward the stop sign and turn left, then go down three blocks and turn left my house will be there?" She paused. "You're sure?" She laughed. "I'll be home in a few minutes, hopefully."

After parking the car beside the house, Paige walked inside. I wonder where Cash and Billy Joe are? I thought they'd be here.

Nala met her at the door. "Mornin', Miz Paige. Mr. Cash told me to tell you they went to talk to a man about the silver-plated doorknobs."

"Thank you. That explains it. I'll be down in a few minutes. I need to change into something cooler."

*****
Once Paige put on jean shorts and a white tank top, she heard a knock on the front door. She hurried down the stairs and answered it. There stood a young woman holding four bags.

"Hello, I'm Mary Patricia Johnson, Billy Joe's wife. I'm sorry to bother you, but I was shopping a few blocks away and locked my keys in the car. I brought him to work this morning so I could use the car. Is my husband around?"

"Please come in." Paige held the door open. "The men went to talk to somebody. I'm sure they'll be back in a few minutes. It's really hot outside. I bet you could use a drink. I'll get some lemonade. Does anything in those bags need to be put in the refrigerator?"

"There's some milk, eggs, and chicken."

"I'd hate for them to spoil." Paige took the items and set them in the refrigerator. "Have a seat." She returned with two frosted glasses filled with crushed ice and slowly poured the lemonade.

As the ladies sat and sipped their drinks, Paige lifted her cell. "I'll call Cash and see how long they'll be. We may have time for lunch."

After explaining the situation, Paige smiled. "Cash said they're on their way."

Before long, Nala joined them and they set up a shopping excursion for Saturday afternoon.

*****
Paige smiled when she heard a tap on the door, then grinned when Cash and Billy Joe entered. "Hello, you two."

"I see you three hit it off." Cash removed his cap.

"We're going for lunch Saturday and then shopping. Right ladies?"

"I see where your hard earned money's going." Cash poked Billy Joe in the arm.

"Think I can work some overtime?" Billy Joe kissed his wife.

"You might talk Paige into letting you wash her car. Come to think of it, I'll let you wash my pickup if the price is right." Cash laughed.

"Let me use your keys and I'll be sure to run it through the mud. I know how much you hate mud on your truck." Billy Joe chuckled, took Cash's keys, and held the chair as his wife stood. "I'm glad we have separate keys for the car, or we'd both be locked out. Let's get your keys." He glanced at his buddy and grinned. "Dave Howell's place isn't too far away and he raises pigs. Maybe I can drive through one of the open pens."

Cash frowned and looked at Paige. "It's hard to get good help, especially when you have to stop and attend the old help's funeral."

Paige laughed and shook her head.

Nala smiled. "I'd better get to work. Nice seeing you again, Mary Pat."

"I can't wait 'til Saturday." Paige stood, removed the items from the refrigerator, and followed the three outside. She watched Cash walk over to the cast-iron fence and the pickup leave, before going inside.

*****
Paige turned when she heard Cash call her name. "I'm in the library." As his footsteps approached, she looked up from a book and smiled. "You finished for the day?"

"Yes, ma'am. Billy Joe was picked up a few minutes ago." He glanced around. "Why you in here?"

"This afternoon, Nala and I compared notes about the ghosts in this house." Paige set the book down, stood, and walked over to the first photograph hanging on the wall. "This is William Bookman. He had this house built and gave it to his wife, Irene in 1854. This photo was taken in 1859. William made money from cotton and ship building. He was the first one in this area to own a cotton gin."

"After your uncle Andrew died, what happened to the cotton fields and shipping business?"

"They're still in the family. Mr. Redman hired some managers to oversee the businesses." She pointed to the next photograph. "William's oldest and only son, Bradley."

"He looks pretty young there."

"He was only sixteen when it was taken. Bradley was killed at Chickamauga in 1863. About that time his wife, Alice, delivered James." She pointed to the next picture. "Now, James had nine children. His oldest son, Isaiah, inherited the house and business." She smiled and pointed to each photograph as she said their names. "After Isaiah, was Jonathon, George, Wesley, and then Uncle Andrew. He married my Aunt Paula, Dad's oldest sister. They had no children. That's how I got the house."

"The house has been in the family a long time."

"I'm the first non-Bookman to own the house. I want to do right by it."

"You ladies talked about more than just shopping, didn't you?"

Paige smiled. "Guilty as charged." She walked over and picked up the book she had looked at. "It seems when Major General William Tecumseh Sherman ..."

Cash took a step back and raised his arms crossing his two pointer fingers in a cross. "Don't say that name in these parts. We invited him and his troops down for a picnic and we're still trying to clean up their mess. I wish Lee had won at Gettysburg."

"Don't tell me you're still fighting the Civil War?" Paige studied him to see if he was teasing.