Granny Hayes chuckled. “I had a brother once, and he was a smarty-pants at times, too. But then in them days, I was just as bad as him.”

In her youth, Lily had seen the woman smile a few times, but she’d never heard her laugh. What made the old soul so solemn? she wondered. She’d have to remember to ask Sally about that when she went to work the next day.

Even in the rain and having to go the last mile on a dirt road, it took less than ten minutes to get from the church to Granny Hayes’s old log cabin. Chickens roosted on the porch, but they’d pecked the yard dry long since, and the rain had turned it into a giant mud puddle. A couple of ducks huddled against the door, and the mule, Dusty, had indeed come home to his lean-to shed not far from the house.

Mack pulled up right next to the porch, and chickens scattered every which way, but the ducks didn’t budge. Holly took a deep breath, got out, and ran through the puddles to the porch. Granny Hayes slid across the place where Holly had been sitting, hiked up her skirt to reveal black rubber boots, and trudged through the mud to the house.

“Go on in, child. I don’t believe in locked doors,” Granny Hayes called out.

Holly slung open the door and disappeared into the house. Lily slid over to the other side of the back seat and tried to catch a glimpse of what was inside the cabin, but all she saw before the door slammed shut was a big yellow cat.

“Don’t worry.” Mack locked gazes with her in the rearview mirror.

“Do you know anyone else who’s ever been inside that cabin?” Lily was now alone in the back seat of the truck.

“Nope, but then I’ve never heard her laugh before, either. Maybe the old gal is mellowing.” He drove out of the yard and headed back toward town.

“Comfort ain’t the boonies,” Braden said with a shudder from the front seat. “But this is, for sure. That lady reminds me of Granny Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies.”

“You’re too young to have seen that movie,” Mack said.

“My mother loved that crazy show,” Lily said. “She bought all the episodes on DVD when they came out. They’re probably still in the house somewhere. She showed the kids the movie the last time they stayed with her. Holly wanted to adopt a raccoon for a pet when she got home. I’m surprised that Braden remembers it. He couldn’t have been more than six years old.”

“It was dorky,” Braden laughed, “but I kind of liked it. Can we watch the movie again?”

“Sure,” Lily agreed. “Want to get it out of the buffet and watch it after dinner today?”

“That would be fun,” Braden said.