“I’m not one bit interested in him.” Lily went on to tell her about Adam flirting with her.

“Just more proof that he’s an asshole,” Sally declared. “When we were sophomores and he was a senior, he sweet-talked me under the bleachers after a football game one Friday night. I was all excited. I mean, after all, I was a chubby sixteen-year-old, and the quarterback of the football team was interested in me. Right up until he told me that we were going to have sex. I told him no, and he called me every name he could think of. He stormed off, and I half expected him to tell all his friends that I’d put out, but he didn’t.”

“Probably because he didn’t want to admit someone had told him no,” Lily said. “If a person could buy him for what he’s worth and sell him for what he thinks he’s worth, they’d make a fortune.”

Sally almost choked on a sip of soda. “Amen, sister.”

Lily went on. “Are you aware that he broke up Mack and his almost-fiancée, married her, and then turned around and did the same thing a few years later?”

“I heard something about that at the time. Granny Hayes told me that Mack brought a girl home to meet his folks, and Adam took the woman away from him. She didn’t mention it happening a second time, but hey, if those women really loved Mack, a pompous fool like Adam . . .” Sally ripped the paper from her candy bar, took a bite, and groaned, “Well, crap! Here comes Ruth-Ann Winkler. She’s still the biggest gossip in town. Be careful what you say.”

“I think I may just go to the next room and straighten the clothes racks,” Lily whispered.

Sally laid the rest of her candy bar to the side and stood up when the bell above the door jingled. “Well, hello, Ruth-Ann. What brings you to town on a school day?”

“I’m taking a late lunch. I saw Holly Anderson wearing the cutest pair of earrings. She said she got them here, so I thought I’d come take a look.” Ruth-Ann looked around as if she were trying to find the jewelry.

“Over at the end of the counter.” Sally pointed.

“They are pretty.” Ruth-Ann picked up a pair and held them up to her ears. “Handmade?”

Lily peeked around the corner. Ruth-Ann’s back was to her, but she could see Sally very well.

“Yes, they are.” Sally nodded and slid a sly wink toward Lily when Ruth-Ann wasn’t looking at her.

“I heard that Lily Anderson is going to work for you,” Ruth-Ann said.

Rumors in small towns always ran rampant, but Ruth-Ann was baiting her hook to go fishing for the really good stuff. Evidently it was true that a leopard couldn’t change its spots, or a gossip her daily need for something to spread.

“Starting today.” Another nod from Sally, but no wink this time.

“I also heard that she and Mack have had a thing going for years, even in high school. Think that’s true?” Ruth-Ann lowered her voice like she was telling a secret and laid two pairs of earrings on the counter. “I’ll take both of these.”

Lily almost marched out there and told the woman to mind her own business, but she held her peace and just listened.

“I wouldn’t know,” Sally answered. “You’d have to ask her.”

Great answer, Lily thought. And when you get up the nerve to ask me, I’ll tell you that what goes on in my house stays in my house.

“Oh, I couldn’t.” Ruth-Ann threw a hand over her mouth. “That would be like gossip, and I never do that. It’s unprofessional. I always thought she might have had a little side fling with Adam. He used to look at her like he knew something the rest of us didn’t.”

Great balls of fire! She was really fishing now. Lily had never given Adam Cooper the time of day.

“Oh, yeah? I never noticed.” Sally rang up the earrings and said, “Thirteen ninety-five.”

Ruth-Ann handed over her credit card. “In my professional opinion, I think that they’re two consenting adults. In my parenting opinion, I would hope they aren’t sleeping together when the kids are in the house.”

Lily knotted her hands into fists. If something like that got out, Mack could lose his job.

“Good God!” Sally ran the card and handed her a receipt to sign. “She’s only been home a short while. Do you really think she and Mack would get a relationship going that included sex that fast?”

“One never knows this day and age,” Ruth-Ann said. “Got to be going. See you later. Maybe I’ll stop in next week when Lily is here.”

“I’m sure she’ll be so tickled to see you,” Sally said.

As soon as the woman had closed the door, Lily came back to the checkout counter. She sank down in a folding chair and sighed. “I shouldn’t have moved in with Mack. I should have given him notice to move out of the house before I came back. If he loses his job, it’ll be my fault.”

“He’s not going to lose his job. He’s got tenure, for one thing, and it’s not 1895, girl. For a third thing”—Sally held up three fingers—“he’s a damn good vo-ag teacher, and he’s really built up the program. I’m surprised that you didn’t march out here and tell her to go to hell.”

“I wanted to, but”—Lily finally grinned—“why spoil a good source of what people are saying or thinking about me with one little temper fit. A gossip is a good way to find out things. I may hide every time she comes into the shop. Now, how about showing me how to run that cash register?”

“Soon as I finish my candy bar.” Sally picked up her candy bar and took another bite.

Lily didn’t leave until almost four that afternoon. She had just walked in the door when the school bus pulled up and let Holly and Braden out. They rushed into the house, both of them talking at once about going to the feed store again—this time for more than goat feed.

“Do I need to change clothes?” Holly asked.

It had been so long since Holly had asked for her mother’s opinion that Lily was taken aback for several seconds.

“No, I think you look just fine,” Lily answered.

“When is Mack coming home? He’ll be here before the store closes, right?” Braden tossed his backpack on the chair and headed for the kitchen. “Do I have time for cookies and chocolate milk? I don’t even care if they’re bought cookies. I’m hungry. They had spaghetti at school today, and believe me, Mama, their spaghetti does not taste like yours.”

“I had the salad bar, and it was fine,” Holly said.

“I’m not a rabbit,” Braden said.

“Well, you look like one when you make that face,” Holly told him. “I hear a truck. You better scarf them cookies down if you want to go get boots and a coat.”

“I’ll eat later,” Braden said.

“Hey, everyone is home!” Mack said as he came through the kitchen door. “Y’all ready to go get some shopping done? I thought maybe we would have burgers for supper. We could all go in my truck. There’s plenty of room. Would that be okay, Lily?”

“Sounds fine to me.” She thought of what Ruth-Ann had said about her sleeping with Mack, and her cheeks burned. She’d blushed more since coming back to Comfort than she had in five years.