“We’re all here, so Grandpa, would you say grace?” a man who looked a lot like Raylen asked.

Everyone bowed their heads.

Liz did the same and tried to listen to the words of thanks his grandfather delivered in a deep Texas drawl.

“Amen,” Grandpa said.

Gemma extended her hand. “You must be our new neighbor. We’ll miss Haskell. He’s been a wonderful friend to our family.”

Liz reached out and Gemma’s shake was firm. She had black hair cut in short layers that framed an oval face, deep green eyes beneath arched dark eyebrows, heavy lashes, and a wide mouth. Her red three-inch high heels on a one-inch platform made her seem taller than she was.

With a slight pressure on her back, Raylen turned her around to face more family. “This is my father, Cash O’Donnell, and my mother, Maddie. And right beside them is my grandma Frannie and grandpa Tilman O’Donnell.”

Frannie stepped forward first. “You can call me Grandma like all the other friends of this wild bunch does. I wanted to be called Granny, but Tilman told me that the grandbabies would call me Granny Frannie, and I didn’t like that so well. Welcome to our area of the world. We’re glad to have you for a neighbor.”

“Thank you, Grandma.” Liz smiled.

She shook hands with both grandparents and then Cash who was taller than Raylen. They shared the same hair color, but Raylen’s eyes were clearer blue and his face squarer cut with a stronger chin.

Maddie bypassed her hand and hugged her. “Welcome to Ringgold, honey. We’re here if you need anything. Come over if you get bored. Holler if you want company.”

“Thank you,” Liz said softly. Would the invitation still stand when they found out that she came from a long line of carnies? Or had Uncle Haskell told them about his two sisters’ lifestyles?

Maddie had a few crow’s-feet around her bright blue eyes, but there wasn’t a single gray strand in her chestnut-colored hair. She was taller than her daughters and slim as a model. Any twenty-year-old woman would have been delighted to look that good in snug jeans.

“I’ve got to get the last pan of hot rolls out of the oven, so excuse me, but remember what I said,” Maddie said.

“Thank you, I will.”

“My sister Colleen,” Raylen said.

Her hair was a strange burgundy color, and her face was slightly rounder than Gemma’s angular planes, and her lips a wee bit wider. She was a little taller than Gemma but built on the same delicate frame.

“You have gorgeous hair,” Liz said. She imagined Colleen in a costume with a long scarf tied around her forehead and all that hair flowing down her back.

Colleen nodded but didn’t offer to hug her or shake her hand. “What kind of job are you lookin’ for, or are you going to farm those twenty acres?”

“I haven’t thought that far. Are you offering me a job?” Liz asked. She’d been in catfights before, and Colleen’s eyes said that she did not approve of her brother bringing a stray into the house for Sunday dinner.