Have you missed your fire pit friends? ��Ladies on a Mission, the latest installment of the Ladies of the Fire series, is getting closer. Want to see what’s happening with Sugar Bowersox?

Here’s your peek:

Sugar had just began lathering when the phone trilled. Figured. She reached her arm around the shower curtain for the phone as she stepped out. Water puddled at her feet on the linoleum floor. ���Dungar?���

���No, Mom, it���s me. I left my backpack at home.���

Lucy. ���How many times have I told you, you need to slow down.���

���Com���on, Mom. You���re not doing anything important, right?���

Sugar sighed. Lucy had a point. ���I guess not.��� She picked up her watch and checked the time. glanced at the bathroom���s wall clock. ���How soon do you need it?���

���Right now.���

Sigh. ���All right. I���ll get my shower and be out the door in thirty.���

���Thanks, Mom. Just leave it with the front office, okay?���

���Okay, Luce, but������

The line went dead.

That girl. Among their three daughters, Lucy���s temperament most closely resembled a force of nature. She���d hit the ground running the day she was born. True to form, she continued that same force at Trotter High as she barreled into her sophomore life.

Sugar set the phone back on the vanity and returned to her shower. Just as she finished, the phone rang again. She wrapped her body and head in towels, grabbed the phone, and answered before the third ring.

Full lives aren���t necessarily lives fulfilled. Watch for news on Robin Luftig's Ladies on a Mission
Share on X

���Hello?��� She cradled the receiver on her shoulder and snagged another towel to dry her arms.

���Shug, it���s me.���

After all their years together, hearing her husband���s voice still made her smile. But this morning he sounded off. ���Hey, me. You caught me just as I������

���Shug, I���m at Perry County Hospital.���

She stopped drying. ���Oh my gosh, are you hurt?���

���It���s Percy Claiborne. He���s been stabbed.���

���Oh, Dungar!���

���A couple of the offensive players found him in the weight room.��� His voice grew muffled. ���There was blood all over the place.��� He took a long breath, then went silent.

���Dungar? You still there?���

���Yeah. Sorry. Jethro just came in. He���s at the ER desk now.��� He took in another breath. ���This is unbelievable.���

Sugar looked at her reflection through the steam, then bent to dry her legs. She could imagine Dungar standing at the phone bank running his hand through his hair. ���Unbelievable is right. Poor Jethro. This is bigger than the parking violations he���s used to. I bet he���s ���bout ready to lose his mind.���

Shug, I���m at Perry County Hospital. ��She stopped drying. ���Oh my gosh, are you hurt?���
���It���s Percy Claiborne. He���s been stabbed.���

���Yeah, he looks white as a ghost standing there.���

She stood and moved the phone to her other ear. With her free hand she wiped down the mirror catching her reflection. What a sight. This would be a ponytail day for sure. She began toweling her hair. ���I���ll get dressed and be right there.���

Dungar took a beat. ���I don���t know, Shug. It���s kinda crazy right now.���

She knew what he was thinking, but she pushed on. ���This is serious stuff. Lordy, the team���s mommas are gonna be there soon. If I hurry, I can get there in twenty minutes.���

���No, you stay home. I know you got things you need to get done there anyway, and I need to focus on the players.���

She grabbed the phone from her chin. ���It���s no problem, honey. I can get dressed and be on my way in no time.���

���I���ll be fine. Don���t need you underfoot here.���

She stopped drying. ���But I can help, Dungar, I swear. That waitin��� room���s gonna be full up in no time. I can������

���Sugar, I said no. Not this time. I don���t need a scene here.��� He let out a breath. ���I only called to let you know what happened.��� A pause. ���Sorry, gotta go. Jethro���s waving me over. I���ll fill you in later. Bye.���

The receiver clicked, and he was gone.

Sugar hung her head. When would he get over her messing up?

Can a woman on the run find herself again?

Ladies of the Fire��brought us to the late 1960s as we met the newly-widowed Lily-Rose Pembrick reeling as she fled Lincoln, Nebraska, with her children. Only taking the cash from the house safe and what she could get her hands on at the family bank, she left the recently-inherited and successful Pembrick Transportation company behind.��Exhausted from driving all night, she stopped in Applegate, Ohio, and decided to start a new life on Norwood Street. There, she met Fiona Kasey, an African-American no-nonsense housekeeper/companion to an elderly white woman, and Sugar Bowersox, a Southern spitfire who has lost herself in motherhood.

Together, they enjoyed Lily-Rose���s backyard fire pit, where dreams were spoken and secrets revealed. As they embraced a kinship they never would have sought, Lily-Rose began thinking her past could finally be laid to rest���until someone ended up dead.

The post A Peek into Ladies on a Mission appeared first on Robin Luftig.