With three giggling girls in the house, and even more important, with those girls being right across the hall from his room, Braden opted to go outside that Monday afternoon and help Mack round up three goats that had gotten out of the fence. Lily was glad to hear Holly laughing and having such a good time with her two new friends and hoped to God neither Rose nor Ivy were pot smokers.

She was roaming around the house, trying to decide what would go and what would stay if she didn’t go back to Austin in the fall. She was about to pour herself a glass of sweet tea when the back door swung open and Sally called out, “Anybody home?”

“In the kitchen,” Lily called, raising her voice. “Want a glass of tea?”

“Love one.” Sally came into the room, taking off her scarf and coat. She tossed them on a chair, and then opened the cookie jar. “I skipped lunch, so I can have chocolate cookies.”

“Want a plate of leftovers?” Lily asked. “There’s lasagna on the stove.”

“Yes, and thank you.” Sally put the lid back on the cookie jar and got down a plate. “Does it ever seem like Vera is just gone to town or off to get her hair done? Everything in this house is still the same as it was five years ago when she was still bustling around in here.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lily nodded. “I’ve been trying to decide what to sell, what to give away, and how to make the place mine if I decide to stay past the end of summer. It seems like I’m throwing Mama away when I think of changing things.” She started to tell Sally about the journal, but she couldn’t. It had touched her so much that she couldn’t share it.

Sally heaped her plate and heated the lasagna in the microwave. Lily poured two glasses of tea, set them on the table, and then put a dozen chocolate cookies in a bowl. “There’s also ice cream if you want dessert,” she said.

“This is probably enough fat calories for the whole week.” Sally brought her plate to the table. “Is this Vera’s recipe?”

“Yep, that’s just the way Mama made it.” Lily sat down across the table from Sally. “What brings you out here in the middle of the day?”

“I got this brilliant idea,” Sally said. “I’ve decided that you need a change in your life. It needs to be more than just bringing your kids here to Comfort. Lord have mercy! Your mama died. You got a divorce and had to move from your home right after that. And now this with the kids. Woman, you definitely need something new in your life.”