They’d been a chain, each sibling leaning back to support the others. Will had worked his ass off to send Lila to college, and Lila had done the same for her younger sisters. They’d slowly climbed their way out of the poverty of their childhood. Noelle wasn’t poor, but she had so much potential. There wasn’t anything wrong with staying in her hometown if that’s what she wanted, but Lila suspected there were other reasons Noelle was staying in Papillon.

“How do I talk to Armie about this?” It had been bugging her for days.

Lisa thought for a moment. “You’re really starting to care about him, aren’t you?”

“I am. I know it’s weird and that we don’t seem like we would fit together. He’s not my usual guy, but I feel different around him, like I don’t have to put on a front with him.” One of the things she’d figured out was that her usual guy had kind of sucked. Her usual guy had basically been a prop, an accessory she selected to go with the life she thought she’d wanted. Armie was real. A relationship with him would be difficult, and he could truly break her heart if he wanted to. And she was still going to try.

Lisa reached out and put a hand on her arm. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m so proud of how you’re opening up.”

It was odd because she’d always been the older sister, but in this Lisa was the leader. “So help me figure out how to deal with this, because Noelle is becoming important to me, too.”

Lisa nodded and settled back in her chair. “Armie is pretty protective of Noelle. I think he feels guilty. Divorce is always rough, but then he had to leave New Orleans and he saw less of Noelle.”

“Are we talking about how Armie coddles that girl?” Marcelle was back, Seraphina behind her. “Because he does. I worry about her. She needs a momma. Daddies are too soft on their daughters, and she needs some tough love or she’s going to end up living in her daddy’s house for the rest of her life.”

“There’s nothing wrong with living with your parents,” Sera said with a frown. “Just until you can save enough money for a place of your own.” She sighed. “Except it’s got to be close to my momma or I won’t have a babysitter for Luc. I’m a little worried about that, though. I think Momma might be planning on training Luc to help her with short cons.”