She took the snowball from him. “It’s beautiful. Thank you. I’m going to put it in the freezer and keep it.”

“For real?”

“For absolute real,” she said. “This could be the most romantic present anyone’s ever given me.”

“Aww, shucks, ma’am”—Mack pretended to kick at imaginary dirt—“that’s just a snowball. I can do better.”

“We’ll see about that,” she told him as she took the snowball to the kitchen, put it in a plastic bag, and stuck it in the freezer. “Roses and candlelight dinners can’t compare to a million perfect snowflakes.”

He followed her and sat down at the table. “I’m glad that you like it.”

“Mama, I’m freezing.” Holly rushed into the kitchen. “Will you please, please make us some hot chocolate, and then can we read more in the journal?”

“Sure thing.” Lily got out a pan.

“So tell me more about this journal. I know you and Holly have been reading it for a school project?” Mack opened the refrigerator and handed her the milk, then brought out the sugar bin and cocoa from the pantry.

“I’ll show it to you while they have their chocolate,” Lily said.

She’d just poured up two mugs of hot chocolate when Braden came through the back door. “Now that’s good timin’,” he said as he removed his coat and hat.

“Y’all help yourselves to more if you want it,” Lily said. “I made extra. Mack and I are going upstairs to see the journal.”

“What’s that?” Braden asked.

“I’ll explain to him,” Holly offered.

Lily told Mack about it as she climbed the stairs with him right behind her. “I found it in the secretary. It’s all handwritten and the first pages are really brittle. It probably belongs in a museum somewhere. At first I couldn’t understand why Mama had the thing. I sure didn’t recognize the first person who wrote in it—name of Ophelia Smith. She started writing in it during the Civil War.” She took it out and laid it on the bed.

“Good grief, Lily!” He stepped back and stared at the leather-bound book. “That thing really should be in a museum.”

“Maybe, but Holly should have it next, so it’ll kind of be up to her what to do with it when I’m gone.” She carefully closed the journal.

“That’s really impressive that you’ve got something like that,” Mack said.

“Mama, are you ready to read yet?” Holly yelled from the foyer.

“Yes, I am,” Lily hollered, and then looked at Mack. “We’re reading an entry at a time for her history paper. Her assignment is to write about someone in her family.”

“Well, it’s amazing,” Mack said. “I should go now and let y’all get on with the lesson. We wouldn’t want our daughter to get bad grades on a history assignment.”