Lily put a pan of brownies in the oven so they’d have an after-school snack. While the treats were baking, guilt jumped out of nowhere and settled on her shoulders like a heavy, wet blanket. She could list the reasons why she felt that way. First was that she hadn’t visited her parents often enough, then after her father had died suddenly, that she hadn’t gone to see her mother more. Now she would be working full-time away from home, which meant there wouldn’t be after-school snacks straight from the oven for her children.

Guilt trips never take you anywhere. Her mother’s old adage came to mind.

“Amen,” she said as she set out glasses for milk.

The kids came through the front door. She could hear their backpacks hitting the chairs and their arguing as they hung up their coats. Then they both tried to come through the door at the same time. Holly hip-checked Braden to the side and made it to the kitchen first.

“I smell brownies.” Braden evened the match by getting to the table first. “I made a new friend at school today, and his name is Isaac Torres, and can I join 4-H so I can maybe show a goat next year and”—he stopped for a breath, then went on—“can I go to Isaac’s house on Saturday and hang out with him?”

“I’ll think about it.” Lily poured milk for each of them.

“Rose and Ivy invited me to go to choir practice on Friday nights.” Holly helped herself to the first brownie. “They said their mama would pick me up and bring me home. It’s at the church, and it’s from seven to nine. I promise to get all my homework done before I go.”

“She just wants to go because Clay will be there. That’s the preacher’s son, and she’s got a crush on him,” Braden tattled.

“Do not,” Holly argued.

“Do, too,” Braden shot back.

“Hello,” Mack called from the back door. “Is that chocolate I smell?”

“Brownies,” Braden yelled. “You better hurry before Holly eats them all.”

“You’re the pig when it comes to brownies,” Holly accused.

Braden snorted just like a hog.

“You’re disgusting.” Holly took another brownie from the pan.

The comment Holly had made back in Austin about Braden being Lily’s precious angel son had been weighing heavily on her mind all day in addition to all the other bits of guilt. She wondered if she was enabling Braden to be a little narcissistic, but after listening to them argue, she decided that she was raising two healthy kids. They might be as different as night and day, but they were not suffering from NPD.

“Coffee is in the pot. Sweet tea’s in the fridge,” Lily told Mack. “Where are your glasses? I just realized that you haven’t worn them in several days.”