“I’d be nosy and ask who you’re mad at, but I don’t have time. April told me yesterday that the quilt was about done. Vivien and I are planning a little two- or three-day road trip to Jefferson to do some antique shopping, so we were wondering when we might inspect it,” Stella said.

“Anytime tomorrow.” Nessa touched her face to see if it was as hot as it seemed. “We’re hemming the border tonight.”

“Great, we’ll be by about nine o’clock, and we’ll leave on our trip from there,” Stella said. “I’ve got about five minutes before I go to the shelter to volunteer today. Want to tell me who you are mad at and why?”

Nessa almost smiled. “Miz Stella, it would take all day to make you understand, so I suppose the answer is no, ma’am.”

“In that case, goodbye, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here,” Stella said.

“Thanks for that. Bye now,” Nessa said, and she hung up the receiver a second time.

She went back to the bedroom and picked up the double wedding ring quilt top and carried it out to the shed. She planned to have all of them finished by September, plus at least one of the tops she had sewn up. She hung it over the edge of the wooden frame and went into the garage to forage for batting and backing. There was plenty of both, so she carried the bundle of batting and the precut muslin backing out to the shed. She would rather have gotten things into the frame, but it would be quite a job for one person, so she would wait until later when April and Flynn were home to help.

She went back inside the house and started rolling and pinning the border of the quilt they’d just finished. The whole time she thought about the picture on the back of the quilt.

“You had it tough, Nanny Lucy, but thank you for helping us to understand your reasons for what you did. I wish that none of us three would have inherited that O’Riley curse, though,” she said as she worked. “I want to be happy, not miserable the rest of my life, and you’ve helped me take steps toward that, but I’m still hurting from what happened with Jackson.” Listen to your heart. Nanny Lucy’s voice was so clear that she looked over her shoulder to see if her grandmother had truly risen from the grave.

April was in the middle of doing the daily cleaning when Stella and Vivien came inside. She looked up from a kitten’s cage and waved. “Hey, it’s good to see you out and about, Miz Vivien. Been a long time since I’ve seen you, and you haven’t changed a bit.”