Why oh why hadn’t she come back to take care of things? She threw herself backward onto the bed and stared at the full rack of her mother’s clothing on the far wall. Vera had known that her time was short, so she’d taken care of all the legal business with her lawyer, and even arranged her own funeral. She’d made it so easy for Lily to simply lock the doors, put the key in the hands of Teena, her friend from high school and a real estate agent, and just walk away.

“Lily, where are you?” A voice floated up the stairs.

“Speak of the devil.” Lily raised her voice. “In my old bedroom.”

Teena didn’t even knock on the closed door, but came right on in and bent to give Lily a hug. A tall brunette without an extra ounce of extra weight on her slim body, she’d changed very little since high school. Not even having a set of twins had widened her narrow hips or put another inch on her waist.

“I figured I’d given you enough time to get here,” Teena said. “Mack was just getting in his truck to leave, and he said for me to come on in. Sally is on the way. We’ve got a couple of hours to help you get unpacked.” She glanced over at the clothes rack. “Those are your mama’s things. I remember that blue dress. She wore it to your folks’ anniversary party at the church the year before your dad died. All us girls went shopping with her to pick it out. Good God, Lily! Why haven’t you taken care of some of this before now?”

Lily drew in a lungful of air and let it out slowly. “I planned to, but if I didn’t, then I could pretend she was still here. If I didn’t come back to Comfort, well, y’all understand.”

“Yes, we do, but it’s time to let your mama go.” Teena straightened. “And that starts by taking care of some of her things. I’ll put all that on the bed so you can hang up your clothes. We’ll use the boxes you brought your stuff in to pack all Vera’s stuff. Sally and I will take everything to the church clothes closet when we leave today. Someone can get some good out of it.”

“Good out of what?” Sally leaned on the doorframe, huffing. “I’d forgotten how steep those stairs were.”

“Lily hasn’t even gone through her mother’s stuff,” Teena said. “Come to think of it, she hasn’t been home in five years.”