“Probably, but kids are kids wherever you go. We’ve got potheads, drug users, and alcoholics just like every other place. There’s just fewer of them,” Mack said.

“How much trouble do you have with gangs?” Lily was almost afraid to hear his answer.

“None,” Mack told her. “We nip that in the bud every time it rears its ugly head. Basically we’re still a rural school, even if”—his smile brightened the whole room—“the Bobcats do play a mean game of football.”

“You still go to all the games?” Lily asked.

“Oh, yeah,” he replied. “Haven’t missed one in years.”

“Why didn’t you play in high school? I kind of wondered,” Lily asked.

“I’m not the aggressive type.” He pushed back his chair and stood up. “Never was, probably never will be. That was Adam’s personality, and still is. Guess we split the personality traits before we could even walk.”

“That’s the way it happens sometimes with twins. I wish Holly and Braden had split some traits. They’re both headstrong and mouthy.” Lily picked up Braden’s empty cup and carried it to the sink, and then the giggling from upstairs turned into thunderous noise.

In reality, there were just three chatty teenage girls stomping down the wooden stairs, but it sounded like a herd of elephants. And then the door opened and slammed, and silence filled the house.

Lily poked her head around the door to see Holly starting back upstairs. “I thought maybe their mother would come inside so I could meet her,” she said.

“She doesn’t speak much English,” Holly told her. “Rose and Ivy are teaching her.”

“That’s Conchita Sanchez.” Mack washed both mugs and set them in the dish drainer. “She and her husband work out on Preston Ranch. Rose and Ivy are the youngest of six or seven kids. All the others have already graduated and left home. You don’t have to worry about them. Conchita and John are strict, and they don’t put up with any sass. Rose and Ivy are also active in my Future Farmers of America class. They show steers at the local fair, and as far as I know, they’re good kids.”

“That helps.” Lily picked up a dish towel, dried the cups, and put them away. “Now if I could just figure out what to do about this job offer.”

“Make peace with it,” Mack suggested. “Get out a piece of paper and write down the pros and cons of each job—the one you have now and are comfortable doing, and then the one that Sally offered you. Make a decision and then forge ahead with no regrets.”