“See why not what?” Holly poked her head around the door.

“I get to go to the feed store and get boots and a coat,” Braden sing-songed.

“If he gets to do that, can I go to Sally’s store again?” Holly asked.

“Why don’t you and I go to Sally’s, and these two guys can go to the feed store?” Lily asked.

“Fine by me,” Braden said. “A girl don’t belong in a feed store, anyway.”

“Hey, now, they have all kinds of western clothes for girls in there,” Mack said.

“Then I want to go there instead of to Sally’s. Rose and Ivy have western belts that they wear with their jeans. Can I have one of those?” Holly asked.

“We can look at them.” Not long ago, Lily had been arguing with these two about moving to Comfort, and now they argued about rubber boots and a western belt. She almost pinched herself to see if she was dreaming.

Later that evening, after Lily had taken a bath and washed her hair, she went to her room and got the journal. She adjusted the lamp so she could see better, then like a kid with a dollar in a candy store, she couldn’t help herself from peeking at the next entry in the journal. She knew that she probably shouldn’t keep reading the journal without sharing it with Holly, but she was drawn to it that evening.

December 1870: My precious son was stillborn a month ago. He was a month early and so very small. He was a perfect baby, but he never took a breath. I don’t know if I will ever get over the feeling that it’s my fault. What did I do wrong? Rayford doesn’t seem to care that we buried our baby, or maybe he doesn’t know how to show it. I’d like to think that’s the reason he’s so indifferent, but in my heart, I’m sure it’s because he has a new woman. I refuse to be like Henry’s wife, so I put on a front and keep going.

Lily tore a page off a notepad on the nightstand to use as a bookmark, closed the journal, and let what she’d read sink deep into her soul. She’d had to put on a brave front when Wyatt left. She hadn’t lost a baby, but she had just lost her mother—and a marriage. Grief was the same, no matter what caused it. She could relate to the way that Matilda held on to her dignity through it all, and wondered if Rayford had ever changed. She was tempted to keep reading, but if she did, she knew she wouldn’t stop until she’d read the whole journal, and she needed to get some sleep.