Nessa took it and forced a smile. “Thank you, but no, let’s go take a look at it. We’re all anxious to see what’s in the hope chest. If I put off letting you see it for a week, Flynn and April would disown me.”

“Then let’s get it over with, but”—Stella lowered her voice—“what is Jackson doing in the living room?”

“The will says he has to hear you, or some member of the club, say that the quilt passes muster,” Nessa said.

Stella’s laughter echoed off the walls and drowned out the noise of the washing machine. “Lucy really took care of things, didn’t she? We were just told to make sure the quilt was finished. We didn’t come here to rake you over the coals about your stitching. We just want to have a look at the final product.”

Nessa bit back the tears that were dammed up behind her eyelids. She wasn’t sure if they were tears of relief that the quilt wasn’t going to keep them from opening the hope chest or if they were tears of anger.

Or jealousy? the aggravating voice in her head asked.

Nessa shook that idea from her mind and led the way into the house. “I’ll bring it out, then, and you can see that it’s all done.”

“Great, then me and Vivien can be on our way.” Stella followed close behind her.

“Well, look at you. If you’re not the image of Lucy when she was about your age,” Vivien said from Lucy’s rocking chair. The woman was pretty much a mirror image of her sister, Stella, except that she’d dyed her hair jet black and wore bright-red lipstick.

“Thank you.” Nessa managed a weak smile.

“You are quite welcome. Lucy had her bad moments, but when she wasn’t suffering, she was the best friend we ever had,” Vivien said.

Talk about bad moments. It took all of Nessa’s willpower not to shoot a knowing look right at Jackson.

Vivien went on, “She was a good Christian woman, and I always thought she was a beauty.”

“Well, then, thank you a whole bunch more times.” Nessa went to her room and brought out the quilt. She flipped it out on the back of the sofa. “What do you think?”

“It’s the ugliest thing that Lucy ever made,” Stella answered.

“And we both told her so.” Vivien nodded. “But it’s finished, and you kids did a great job, so our part of this—whatever this is—has been done. You can open the hope chest and put this in it.”

“Then my work is done. I’ll be seeing all y’all around, I’m sure.” Jackson pushed himself up out of Grandpa’s rocking chair and waved over his shoulder as he left the house.