Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen

The evening before the funeral, Catherine Grace finds Lena Mae waiting on the porch. Lena Mae explains that she vanished 12 years earlier because she felt trapped in her domestic life and longed to pursue a singing career. Catherine Grace realizes her father’s parable of the lost sheep applied to both her and Lena Mae. The women share stories of their years apart.

Catherine Grace asks Gloria Jean to arrange for her to deliver Daddy’s eulogy. Later, she apologizes to Martha Ann for pushing her own escape plans onto her and admits she now feels she should stay in Ringgold.

The morning of the funeral, the town is covered in snow. Thinking of Miss Raines, Catherine Grace tells Martha Ann that Miss Raines and her baby should come live with them; Martha Ann agrees. Catherine Grace drives to Miss Raines’s house and finds her packed to leave town.

Catherine Grace persuades a hesitant Miss Raines to come to the church and to stay permanently in Ringgold. As the funeral service begins, Martha Ann opens the doors, and Catherine Grace and Miss Raines walk inside to join her and Lena Mae. The four women proceed down the aisle together as the congregation looks on in silence.