“And yours is . . .” He paused for her answer as he dried his hands. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back to his chest.

“That you’re kind and sweet and that I love living with you.” She smiled.

The pounding of two kids’ feet on the wooden stairs broke up the moment. Mack gave her a slow wink and picked up a bowl of potatoes to take to the table. Holly pulled out a chair and sat down in it. “Since Star is my goat, do I get to go feed her every evening?”

Braden pulled out his chair and took a seat. “Feeding is my job.”

“Hey, now.” Mack pulled out his own chair and sat down. “We can use all the help we can get, but for the next few weeks, Star won’t get fed except by her new mama. You can sure go out to the stall and love on her until about Sunday. Then I’ll turn her mama loose in the pasture with all the other goats and their babies.” He bowed his head and led everyone in a blessing for the meal.

“Will she forget me?” Holly’s chin quivered.

“Never. She’ll always be your special pet, and will probably come running to you when she hears your voice. Especially if you take time to pet her every day until Sunday.”

“I will,” Holly said seriously.

“No, you won’t,” Braden argued. “You’ll get tired of her in two days.” He turned to Mack. “When she does, can I have her?”

“No, I won’t,” Holly said. “And you can’t have her. Eat your supper and hush.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” Braden said.

The house phone rang, and everyone froze for a couple of seconds, and then Holly jumped up and ran to answer it. “It’s probably Faith. She said she’d call, and we’re having supper late and . . .” She grabbed the phone on the third ring. “Hello, Faith. I was going to call you in a few minutes. Oh.” She stopped. “Hi, Daddy. Guess what? I got my very own goat today, and her name is Star, and she’s going to be my special pet.”

The kids hadn’t heard a word from him since the move, so why was he calling now? Lily began to worry. Had he been thinking about the kids moving in with him? Would they leave her if he gave them the chance?