“I believe her.” Mack could feel the coldness in his own voice. “It’s time for you to go. It would be best if you didn’t come back.”

“Come on, brother.” Adam’s smile faded. “I’ve changed since Brenda and Natalie.”

“Don’t let the door hit you in the ass,” Mack said.

“Mama isn’t going to like this.” Adam’s mouth tightened into a firm line.

“After what you’ve done to Charlene, she might not believe your story,” Mack said.

Adam glared at him for several seconds, then stomped out of the room like a petulant child. Mack heard the front door slam and his brother’s cute little sports car roar out of the driveway.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Lily told him. “But thank you.”

“Hey, is that hot chocolate ready?” Braden yelled from the living room. “And did y’all realize it’s time to go get Holly? I’m going to ask her if she wants to watch The Beverly Hillbillies with me again when she gets home.”

Mack had never wanted to hug anyone in his life as much as he wanted to hug Lily at that moment. She would never know how much it meant to him to see a woman, especially one he’d begun to like, fend off Adam’s advances.

Mack checked the time on his phone. “I should get there at exactly the right time. Want to go with me?”

“I’ll stay here and make hot chocolate while you’re gone,” Lily offered. “It should be ready when you get home.”

In less than half an hour, Holly came bursting through the back door. Her long blonde hair was in two braids, and she was wearing a pair of new earrings and a crocheted scarf around her neck that was the same color blue as her eyes.

“Mama, can I have a kitten? Granny Hayes has this big, yellow mama cat that’s got three babies, and she says I can have my pick of them if you say it’s all right.” She touched her ears. “We made these earrings together, and she says we can make another pair next week if I can go home with her after church. I’ll wash dishes every night if you’ll say yes.”

“I guess you had a good time, then?” Lily poured up four cups of hot chocolate.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Holly exclaimed. “I got to sit in front of her fireplace and hold all the baby kittens, and she told me stories while she was teaching me how to make earrings. Did you know that Sally buys her the basic supplies, but Granny uses feathers from her own chickens and ducks to make the earrings? She dyes them different colors, and she’s got a whole bunch right there in her cabin.”