Hometown Favorite: A Novel by BILL BARTON, HENRY O ARNOLD Page B

found him
or any mention of the disquieted feelings he was still trying
to process. Given the late hour, Cherie had not pried, so after the exchange of "good nights," Rosella was the first to climb
into bed and turn out the light in Cherie's room. Dewayne
came out of the bathroom and saw his mother spreading her
blankets across the sofa. He looked under Cherie's bedroom
door to be sure it was dark before speaking.

    "What do you think?" he whispered, nodding his head in
Rosella's direction.
    "I believe you wouldn't have brought her home if you thought
she would not have met my approval;' Cherie said.
    "You approve then?"
    "What I approve of is your heart and your mind and your
God-given ability to make a good decision. I trust your judgment, just like I trusted mine when it came time to decide
about your father"
    "But I want your blessing too. Rosella just might be ... just
might be your daughter-in-law."
    "Son, my blessing is freely given."
    Cherie approached Dewayne and wrapped her arms around
him. When she pulled away, she invited him to sit down in the
recliner, and she took her place on the sofa.
    "In your letters you've been talking about being in love with
this girl, and you said that Rosella comes from money. It's all
right she comes from money cause from what you've said and
from what I see, money hasn't corrupted her. I can tell when
folks are condescending. I got the intuition to know when
people can't see beyond the end of their nose. She's not trying
to hide any airs, and I got no sense she was just doing the time
so she could impress the boyfriend's mother. She's real."
    Dewayne released a sigh of relief. Cherie's appraisal of Rosella was vital, and in this case, welcome, because it matched
his own.
    "Now as for her daddy, don't let him get you riled. You keep on loving his daughter like the gentleman you are, and you'll
win him over. You want her parents' blessing. You want that
spiritual covering when you start your own life together. That's
God's way of handing down blessing from one generation to
the next. You must not take that for granted. Are you hearing
me?"

    "Yes, ma'am"
    "So have you broached the subject yet?"
    "We've talked about it, but I haven't asked her. I think she's
ready, but I wanted to talk to you first, and I was thinking
once I got your blessing, I might ask her here, where I grew
up, where I'm most comfortable.'
    "I approve, and I got one more thing to add. Have you got
something to offer her?"
    "What do you mean?" Dewayne asked, eyeing her with playful misgiving.
    Cherie pulled a black jewelry box out of the pocket of her
bathrobe and waved for him to move closer. Dewayne slipped
out of the recliner and knelt beside his mother.
    "You've never seen this until now," she said, opening the lid
to reveal an engagement ring encircled with diamond chips.
"It's not fancy or pricey by today's standards, though it set us
back a couple of house payments back in the day, but if a man
is going to ask a lady to marry him, he should offer a token
of his love"
    "Mama, this is beautiful! But why don't you ever wear it?"
    "I wear the band, and that's enough. I figured when this day
arrived, I would make a bequest along with my blessing. That
is, if you like it and think Rosella might."
    "I love it, and I believe she will"
    Cherie dropped the box into his open palm. He looked at
the ring as if he'd been handed Solomon's treasure.

    "I held her hand tonight as we said the blessing and felt her
ring finger ... should be a perfect fit:'
    Dewayne's jaw dropped with a short guffaw. "Mama, I should
start calling you `Sly."'
    "Conniving for a good cause is the way I look at it."
    They had to hush each other so as not to wake Rosella with
their laughter and be caught in their conspiracy. Then Cherie
took her son's face into her hands. Her laughter had subsided,
replaced with an earnestness that silenced the last of Dewayne's
laughter.
    "Son, one last thing. I too think