Dozens of thoughts vied for first place in Nessa’s head. She was relieved and yet sad at the same time that the quilt was done. What had started out as a chore had turned into something she looked forward to doing each morning with her cousins. She wanted to clear the air with Jackson, but she didn’t. What if it turned into a big fight that put a virtual fence between them even just as neighbors?

“Looks to me like Jackson done found a cockroach in his morning bowl of cereal,” Vivien giggled. “He’s never been that curt with us before.”

“Could be that he doesn’t want the O’Riley kids to open that hope chest,” Stella added. “We should be . . . Whoa!” She paused for a good fifteen seconds. “What are those loops on the side of the quilt?”

Nessa had hoped that they wouldn’t even notice, but it’s near impossible to put a cat back in the bag when it’s already out. She figured she might as well just tell the truth, and she did. When she was through explaining what she and the other two had decided, both Stella and Vivien had tears streaming down their faces.

“Are you crying because you think we’re doing the wrong thing by not following Nanny Lucy’s wishes?” Nessa wiped a tear from her own cheek.

“Oh, no, honey.” Vivien pulled a tissue from the box on the end table and dabbed at her eyes. “I just think that’s the sweetest thing ever.”

“Me too.” Stella wiped her eyes on a handkerchief that she took from her purse. “Hanging it up there on the wall means that you are remembering the good times and not the ugly ones. Lucy wanted you three cousins to be close.”

“Did she say that?” Nessa asked.

“More than once,” Stella answered. “She hoped that making y’all work on that quilt would help.”

“She got her wish. We’ve talked about the good, the bad, and the crazy while we worked on the quilt. We do plan to take down the one up there”—Nessa nodded toward the one hanging on the wall—“and put it in the hope chest. That way whoever gets married first will have a quilt that she made.”

Nessa didn’t miss the look that Vivien shot Stella or the nod that Stella gave her.