“We’ll be right here,” Sally said.

“Thanks”—Teena took a step toward the door and then turned around to get the tissues—“for everything. I’m so glad that we’re back together.”

“Me, too,” Lily said, and she meant it.

Sally slumped down in one of the chairs behind the counter. “I feel drained and so sorry for her. I wonder if Ryder and Macy will still get married, or if they’ll grow apart now when he goes back to school.”

Lily dropped into the other chair. “How long have they been dating?”

“Since they were in the ninth grade,” Sally answered.

Lily vaguely remembered Teena being concerned about Ryder getting too serious about a girl when he was a sophomore—it must’ve been Macy. That’s what happened when Lily only saw her friends for a couple of hours once a month. She heard the stories, forgot them in the midst of all her own problems, and never got the full emotional impact of being a true friend.

The last customer Sally and Lily wanted to see that morning was Ruth-Ann, but the doorbell jingled, and there she was.

Sally sighed.

Lily groaned.

“Did y’all hear that Macy Jones had a miscarriage last night?” Ruth-Ann went to the counter and frowned. “Where are the new earrings?”

“We heard.” Sally nodded.

“Of course you did. Teena and y’all two were joined at the hip in high school.” She pointed to the empty space.

“A customer bought all of them, plus all the crocheted scarves and shawls,” Lily told her. Joined at the hip?

Maybe not in the past several years, but lately they were getting that old closeness back again.

“So is Ryder still going to marry Macy?” Ruth-Ann asked.

“You’ll have to ask him about that,” Lily answered. “I heard that you collect milk glass. Have you seen these new pieces that Sally picked up at the estate sale she was at earlier this week? They’re really rare and the price is great.” She got up and moved over to the display.

“I don’t have time to look at those today. I only had a minute on my way to the post office to mail stuff for school. Ta-ta.” She waved.

“You’re brilliant,” Sally giggled. “That woman has never bought a single piece of glassware from me, but she hits all the garage sales looking for good buys.”

“Can’t change a zebra’s stripes,” Lily said. “And thinking about Granny Hayes, what can you tell me about her past? She’s always been Comfort’s odd little person, but none of us ever knew why she lived the way she did.”