Jackson nodded. “Miz Lucy brought it over here last year in the back of her truck. I tried to talk her out of leaving it with me, but she’d made up her mind. She said that she didn’t have long to live, and that she’d been to see the lawyer earlier that day about her will. She made me promise that I would take care of it, so I just shoved it over there in the corner, and it’s been there ever since. When are y’all going to get the quilt done?”

“By the end of the month if we keep on schedule,” Flynn answered. “You ever been nosy enough to peek inside?”

“Nope.” Jackson grinned. “Knowing Miz Lucy, it might be booby-trapped. I liked her, and she was a good neighbor, but she did have her moments. Uncle D. J. said that she had mellowed a lot in the last five years, but things were different when she was younger.”

“We’re slowly finding that out,” Flynn said.

“Which one of you do you think will be married first and take this away from my house?” Jackson asked. “Not that it’s in the way or a problem for me to keep it. I owe Miz Lucy that much.”

“Why do you think you owe her anything?” Flynn asked.

“Lots of Sunday dinners, dominoes and games of checkers, and long talks about what I wanted to do with my life,” Jackson answered. “She was always willing to listen to me. She didn’t give a lot of advice, but she was a good listener. Of course, I could always tell within a few minutes if she didn’t want company, and I’d make an excuse to leave.”

“I never talked to her much about what to do with my life, but I did spend time with her every summer, so I guess I owe her, too.” Flynn turned up his bottle and took another drink before he went on. “And I expect that it will be Nessa who gets that hope chest. I’m not even looking for a relationship, and I get the impression that April isn’t, either.”

“Nessa is looking for a relationship?” Jackson asked.

“All three of us are kind of messed up right now,” Flynn said. “No, that’s not right. We’ve been messed up for a while, and we need to get our lives straightened out. Nessa may be the lightest of the list, but she’s got baggage. She’ll probably get her ducks in a row before me and April. That’s why I said she might wind up with the hope chest.”