She adjusted the water, got it just to the right warmth, and then dropped all her clothes on the floor. Her phone pinged with a text from Sally. Her boss wouldn’t be in the shop until after ten the next morning. Then there was one from Mack saying that his meeting was running longer than he’d thought.

She sent a smiley-face emoji back to Sally and a message to Mack telling him that they’d taken care of the chores. She immediately got a heart emoji back from him. She laid the phone on the ladder-back chair beside her towel, added some scented oil to the bath, and sank down into the warm water.

When the water had gone lukewarm, she got out and wrapped a towel around her body, made sure the coast was clear, and padded down the hall to her bedroom. Once she was there, she dressed in flannel pajama pants and a faded T-shirt left over from Christmas several years before.

Both kids had finished their homework, and everything was quiet downstairs, which meant that the controversial scene in the movie had not played yet. After all the bickering that usually went on, Lily appreciated the moment. She took out the journal, peeked inside the velvet pouch with all the money, and sighed. She’d have to figure out where to go on a cruise when summer arrived. The Caribbean? Or maybe Alaska?

She tucked the money back into the secretary and was about to go over to Holly’s room when her daughter came in with her two notebooks. “The movie is boring, but I was right about that scene. Can we read some more about Jenny now?” She crawled up in the middle of Lily’s bed and opened her notebook.

“Sure, we can.” Lily joined her on the bed, opened the journal, and began to read: