As a result, the three of them, plus Munro, had endured almost six hours of structure and confinement, and were now hot, tired and cranky.With a pounding head, Marilee felt great relief to see the outskirts of Valentine up ahead. She also saw a bunch of vehicles parked off the road and a group of people clustered around the Welcome to Valentine sign.“There is Aunt Vel-la.” Willie Lee, disobeying the rule by being out of his seat belt, was on his toes and peering over the front seat.“It’s the Rose Club,” Corrine put in.Marilee, slowing down, saw Reggie taking pictures. And there was Tammy with her notebook, talking with Winston for the article in the paper.She pulled off the road, and she and the children, and Munro, who’d had to wait in the car at the detention center, tumbled out of the Cherokee with great relief to move after the long drive. Munro was apparently doubly glad; he went directly to hike his leg on a tree.“Hello, Mis-ter Win-ston,” Willie Lee said, approaching the elderly gentleman who was directing the work of his younger fellow Rose Club members, frequently pointing with his cane, from a lawn chair in the shade of a big elm.“Hi there, Mister Willie Lee.”The two shook hands.Marilee bid Winston hello, as well as his two lady boarders, Mildred and Ruthanne, who sat on either side of him.
