“I vote yes,” Flynn said.

“My vote is yes, too.” April went to the kitchen, and in a few minutes brought out a small lunch pail.

“What’s that?” Nessa asked.

April flipped its latch open to show that it was filled with stuff for her lunch. “I found this in the garage last night. I carried it to school every day until I was in the seventh grade, when Nanny Lucy decided that I could start buying my lunch. It was one of the few things that I had like the other girls, and it brings back good memories. So I’m going to use it. See you later, and Nessa, don’t worry yourself crazy about whether we’re doing the right thing with the quilt.”

Nessa opened her mouth to say something, but April and Flynn had already left. She went to her bedroom and pulled out the trundle bed, where she had stored the quilt tops that had fallen out of the closet. “I’m going to start with the double wedding ring one,” she muttered as she studied each of them.

The house phone startled her when it rang. She hurried to the kitchen and grabbed the receiver. “Hello,” she said with caution. After what she’d just said, she wasn’t sure where the answer might come from.

“Are you mad at me?” Jackson asked bluntly.

“Should I be mad at you?” she fired back.

“I hope not. I really like you,” Jackson said. “I waited for you by the waterfall the last few nights.”

“When you figure out why I’m mad, then you can call back.” Nessa returned the receiver to its base.

That was kind of mean, Nanny Lucy’s voice scolded her.

“I was expecting an answer to my question,” Nessa grumbled. “And besides, I’m not ready to talk to Jackson.”

She couldn’t get a clear thought pattern going. April had said she should give him a chance to explain, but the woman had kissed him right there in public. There wasn’t much to explain there. And yet the Jackson she thought she knew wasn’t that kind of man.

“It’s like trying to see the sunshine through mud,” she said as she took a step away from the kitchen.

In seconds the phone rang again. She picked it up on the second ring. “That was fast, and I’m not through being mad, so call back tomorrow.” She wasn’t ready to hear his excuses.

“What was fast?” Stella asked in her unmistakable gravelly voice.

“I thought you were someone else, ma’am.” A red-hot blush heated up Nessa’s cheeks.