Braden ran to her side and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you, Mama. Can we go get them right after school, and can Mack go with us?”

“Be glad to,” Mack offered.

“Don’t see why not,” Lily said at the same time.

“See why not what?” Holly poked her head around the door.

“I get to go to the feed store and get boots and a coat,” Braden sing-songed.

“If he gets to do that, can I go to Sally’s store again?” Holly asked.

“Why don’t you and I go to Sally’s, and these two guys can go to the feed store?” Lily asked.

“Fine by me,” Braden said. “A girl don’t belong in a feed store, anyway.”

“Hey, now, they have all kinds of western clothes for girls in there,” Mack said.

“Then I want to go there instead of to Sally’s. Rose and Ivy have western belts that they wear with their jeans. Can I have one of those?” Holly asked.

“We can look at them.” Not long ago, Lily had been arguing with these two about moving to Comfort, and now they argued about rubber boots and a western belt. She almost pinched herself to see if she was dreaming.

Later that evening, after Lily had taken a bath and washed her hair, she went to her room and got the journal. She adjusted the lamp so she could see better, then like a kid with a dollar in a candy store, she couldn’t help herself from peeking at the next entry in the journal. She knew that she probably shouldn’t keep reading the journal without sharing it with Holly, but she was drawn to it that evening.

December 1870: My precious son was stillborn a month ago. He was a month early and so very small. He was a perfect baby, but he never took a breath. I don’t know if I will ever get over the feeling that it’s my fault. What did I do wrong? Rayford doesn’t seem to care that we buried our baby, or maybe he doesn’t know how to show it. I’d like to think that’s the reason he’s so indifferent, but in my heart, I’m sure it’s because he has a new woman. I refuse to be like Henry’s wife, so I put on a front and keep going.

Lily tore a page off a notepad on the nightstand to use as a bookmark, closed the journal, and let what she’d read sink deep into her soul. She’d had to put on a brave front when Wyatt left. She hadn’t lost a baby, but she had just lost her mother—and a marriage. Grief was the same, no matter what caused it. She could relate to the way that Matilda held on to her dignity through it all, and wondered if Rayford had ever changed. She was tempted to keep reading, but if she did, she knew she wouldn’t stop until she’d read the whole journal, and she needed to get some sleep.

“Wyatt and Rayford should be thrown in a tow sack with a few big rocks and shoved off into the Guadalupe River. They were born more than a century apart, but they prove that men have always been the same,” she muttered.

Is Mack Cooper like those two men? The question stabbed her in the heart.

“No,” she declared. “He’s not, and any woman would be lucky to have him in their life. If he falls in love a third time, I’ll take on Adam single-handedly, so he can’t come between Mack and his new lady.”

A shot of jealousy went through Lily at the very thought of Mack with another woman. She tried to brush it off as caring for him like she would a brother, but down deep she knew better.

Chapter Nine

For the past fourteen years, Lily hadn’t paid much attention to what was hanging in her closet. She worked in black slacks, a white shirt, and a black jacket when she was a counselor. If she didn’t have clients that day, she wore pajama pants and an oversize T-shirt. She had church clothes, a couple of basic dresses for funerals, and a few fancy things that she’d worn to the church Christmas parties.

It seemed fitting to start to work on a Monday. Begin the new week with a new job. So, what to wear when you work in a vintage shop? She finally decided on jeans and a bright red sweater. She swept her hair back up into a ponytail and put on a pair of gold hoop earrings. Maybe, she thought, she’d buy a pair of Granny Hayes’s special earrings to wear next week when she got her first paycheck. She and Holly could share them—unless her daughter decided over the weekend that she needed horseshoes or fancy cowboy boots dangling from her ears. Teenagers so easily swayed from one thing to the other, but Lily had faith that her daughter would find her own style—whatever it might be.

It was just after nine when she walked into the store, and the place was crawling with customers. Sally was at the cash register ringing up sales, so Lily stashed her coat and purse under the counter. She went to the nearest lady and asked if she could help her.

“I’m just admiring all the gorgeous glassware,” the lady said. “I collect it and have it sitting everywhere—one of those swan dishes is in my bathroom right now with little guest soaps in it.”

“I’m sure it’s lovely,” Lily said. “What brings you to the store?”

“We’re on a little road trip,” the elderly lady said. “Our Sunday-school class does this every January.”

A different lady held up a hobnail milk glass vase. “Look at this, Nadine. Isn’t it pretty?”

“It would look real sweet sitting on your piano with a little bouquet of flowers in it,” Nadine said.

Lily made the rounds, but it was a slow process. Every one of them wanted to talk. When Nadine finally said, “If we’re going to make all the stores in Comfort by noon, we’d better be paying for our purchases and getting—” She sucked in a lungful of air. “Oh. My. Goodness! I must have one of these shawls. Virgie, come look at this. You should get the yellow one for Easter.”

By ten thirty they’d nearly all trickled out. Sally dropped into a chair behind the counter and said, “Thank God you came in when you did. I couldn’t keep up with the lot of them. I don’t think a senior citizens’ Sunday-school class would rob me blind, but if they did, I wouldn’t have known until inventory time.”

“Want something to drink? I can go across the street and get us something,” Lily offered.

“No need.” Sally shook her head. “That old Philco refrigerator in the back room still runs beautifully. It’s stocked with drinks and stuff to make sandwiches. I’ll take a diet root beer if you’re going that way. Oh, and there’s candy bars in the basket on top of the fridge.”

“Snickers?” Lily asked.

“Is there any other kind?” Sally chuckled.

Lily got two candy bars, a diet root beer, and a bottle of sweet tea from the fridge and carried it all to the front. “How often does that happen?”

“In the summer, it’s a daily thing. In the spring, maybe three times a month, yet not so much this time of year.” Sally pulled the tab from her can of soda and took a long drink. “I sold two thousand dollars’ worth of stuff this morning, so I’m not complaining, and now you can see how bad I need help. Sit down.” She pointed to the other chair. “Tell me about life with Mack so far.”

“How well do you know Adam?” Lily asked.

“Good God, please tell me you aren’t interested in him,” Sally said. “He’s trouble in a thousand-dollar suit.”