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ISBN-13: 9781542015370

ISBN-10: 1542015375

Cover design and photography by Laura Klynstra

Dedication

To my aunt Mildred Chapman Edwards

and my cousin Doris Chapman Mead.

You are both more like sisters to me than an aunt and a cousin.

I appreciate all the love and support you lavish upon me.

Contents

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dear Readers

About the Author

Chapter One

Chapter One

When you come to the end of the rope, it’s time to tie a knot and hang on. Lily Anderson had reached the place where there wasn’t even enough rope left to tie a knot. She’d thought about her problem for a whole day, made a few phone calls, and now her mind was made up. She was moving her kids out of the city of Austin and to her hometown of Comfort, Texas—population a little more than three thousand.

She hated to always be the bad person, but since the divorce five years ago, she’d had no choice. A kid could find a dozen friends on every street corner, but they only had one mother. And in her kids’ case, only one parent—thanks to no help whatsoever from her two children’s father. Knowing all that didn’t make anything easier for Lily on Friday morning. Her hands were clammy and her pulse raced. She felt like gravity was pulling her heart right out of her chest. At least she owned a house in Comfort, and the move wouldn’t be difficult.

She had almost changed her mind and decided to stay, but then her daughter, Holly, gave her one of those go-to-hell looks that was meant to fry her on the spot.

“You’ve got less than twenty-four hours to pack your clothing and whatever else you want to take to Comfort.” Lily’s voice landed somewhere between a whisper and an icicle. “The movers will be here at seven in the morning. Until then, I’ll be taking your cell phone, laptop, tablet, and all the games you play on the television.”

“You can’t do that!” Fourteen-year-old Holly jumped up from the sofa and screamed at her mother. “I won’t leave my friends! You can’t make me! We’ve got parties planned this weekend, and I’m not going to miss them. I’ll go live with Daddy!”

“You should have thought of that before you took a marijuana joint into the library bathroom on Wednesday afternoon.” Lily’s finger shot out like a pistol at her daughter. “Sit down and lower your voice.”