“Probably no one has even opened the drawer in all this time.” Sally pushed an empty box over to her. “We could give the nightgowns and underwear to Granny Hayes if you don’t mind. She’d be glad to get them.”

“That’s fine,” Lily agreed.

It was common knowledge in Comfort that Granny Hayes only came to town on Sunday morning. She lived five miles west, way out in the sticks, and rode Dusty, her trusty old mule, to church. She sat in the back pew and was usually the first one to shake the preacher’s hand and leave. Sometimes she stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items, but usually she just rode back to her shack out west of town. She hitched the mule to a wagon about twice a year to come into Comfort for supplies, but other than that, she remained a hermit.

“I’d forgotten about her. She’s about the same size Mama was. Are you sure that she’d want such personal things?” Lily carefully took them out of the drawer and packed them into a box. “Does she still have that ‘No Trespassing’ sign up on her fence? She might shoot first and ask questions later if you enter her property without permission.”

“She likes me,” Sally said. “I’ll take them out to her this evening.”

“Well, she sure don’t like me.” Teena started stacking shoes under the clothes rack.

“She’s just a lonely old woman,” Lily said. “I wonder what her story is. We always thought her place was haunted and she kept ghosts in that old log cabin.”

“That’s why she doesn’t like me,” Teena said. “I asked her about the ghosts when I was a little girl. She glared at me and told me to leave her alone.”

“Y’all ever known anyone to go inside her place?” Lily asked.

“She lets me come up on her porch, but not inside the cabin,” Sally said. “That’s probably because I buy some of her craft items for the store.”

“I can’t imagine living like that.” Teena opened the last box, saw that it was underwear, and slid it across the floor toward Lily. “You’re on your own with this stuff, and now I’ve got to get going. I’ve got a two o’clock appointment to show a house.”

“And my long lunch hour is over, so I’m going, too.” Sally stepped out into the hallway. “Hey, you two beautiful kids. Come out of your rooms and give me a hug.”

Holly’s door cracked a little and then flew open. “I thought I heard voices,” she said as she wrapped her arms around Sally.

“When did y’all get here?” Braden asked as he came out of his room with a smile on his face.