Summary

Part 4, Chapter 33 – Lexie's jaw has been wired shut, and she has lost sixty pounds,. She and Novalee are scouring yard sales for skinny jeans. Lexie’s children, Brummet and Pauline, are still recovering, and Lexie is told they need a strong male role model in their lives. Suddenly, they smell smoke. The library is on fire. Forney’s sister is killed. He goes to stay at the old, rundown Majestic Hotel on the day of the funeral. That night, Novalee goes to see Forney. He relates how, when their father didn’t come to pick him up at school on a rainy day, Mary Elizabeth came. She sang and danced to make Forney smile. That was the last time he remembers her smiling. He couldn’t bring himself to go to the funeral, he explains. He had four white roses...