She wandered halfway down the staircase to where Vera’s senior picture from high school still hung. For the first time, she realized the wisdom God had in taking Vera on to heaven to be with her sweet husband when He did. Her mother had been an easygoing woman, but when she was riled, no one, not even the devil himself, would cross her. Had Vera Miller known what Wyatt was doing, the torment that he put Lily through when she was grieving for her mother—well, Vera was a damn good shot with a pistol, and she had taught Lily to shoot when she was just a little girl. Had she been preparing Lily for the future? Had she disappointed her mother when she didn’t shoot Wyatt?

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Lily could hardly believe that it was only three days until the first of February that Tuesday afternoon when she looked at the calendar. She was still staring at it, wondering where the time had gone, and thinking about how much happier she was in Comfort, when Holly stomped into the house. She didn’t hang up her coat or drop her backpack on the chair, but stormed right up to her room. Braden hit the kitchen in a run, went right to the refrigerator, and got out a root beer.

“Holly’s being a pain in my”—he hesitated—“in my neck. She’s mad at someone, and she won’t talk. She sat in the back seat of the bus and ignored Rose and Ivy.”

“You don’t have any idea what she’s angry about?” Lily handed him a banana.

He laid it on the table and opened the cookie jar. “Kids were whispering on the bus about how she and Rose and Ivy were yelling at each other at lunch hour. Something about a quincy. What is that, Mama?”

“Where is everyone?” Mack called out from the foyer.

“In the kitchen,” Braden yelled.

Lily rushed into the foyer and met Mack coming her way. “What is a quincy, and why would Rose and Ivy argue with Holly over it?”

“I heard the twins and their friends talking about celebrating their fifteenth birthday in a couple of weeks with a quinceañera. That’s kind of like a debutante party. In the old days, it meant they were old enough for marriage, but these days, it’s changed to a time when they can date. The girls get all dressed up, and there’s something to do with a waltz,” Mack explained. “Didn’t they invite Holly to it?”

“I have no idea,” Lily replied. “I know what those events are but didn’t associate it with the word quincy. Holly’s never been to one.”

“Mama!” Holly’s tone left no doubt that she’d been crying.

“I’ll be right there,” Lily yelled up the staircase. “Thank you,” she mouthed to Mack.