“Well, now we know.” April tipped up her beer and took a sip. “I can’t help but wonder if she would have been a different person if she’d gotten help sooner. She must have held so much in when you and Flynn visited so that we could have a good time together.”

“What makes you say that?” Nessa folded the letter into the envelope and dropped it back in the hope chest.

“Because she was a nightmare for a few days after you left. I thought it was because she loved you and Flynn so much more than me. I figured out that she was going to be in a horrible mood when you were gone, and I’d stay away from her as much as possible.” April brought the quilt from across the room and laid it in the hope chest on top of the letter.

“Should I push it back in the corner? Or has one of you gotten married? In that case, you can take it home,” Jackson asked.

“Well, that lightened the mood, but hell, no!” Flynn chuckled. “We’re just now making progress in getting our lives in order. I’ll take care of putting it back.”

“I can understand that. As they say, been there, done that,” Jackson said, but his eyes were on Nessa. “This has been kind of anticlimactic, hasn’t it?”

“Little bit,” Flynn said.

“I’m just glad to still be breathing,” April joked.

Jackson laid the key on top of the quilt. “There’s no reason to lock it up, is there?”

“None that I can think of,” Nessa answered, feeling mixed emotions about the way Jackson was looking at her.

He returned the chest to the corner and sat down on the other end of the sofa from Flynn. Nessa didn’t budge from her place on the floor. She finished off her beer and set the bottle on the coffee table. She wondered if it would be rude to say that they needed to leave. No one was saying anything, and a gloom hung over the room like smoke in an old Western bar.

Flynn frowned. “Do you think what Nanny Lucy suffered with is hereditary? Do we have to worry about it?”

“I have no idea, but if I start showing symptoms, I’m going to go straight to the psychiatrist and get medicine for it,” Nessa answered. “There are a number of kids each year in my school who meet with our counselors. It makes a big difference.”

“I’m with Nessa and would treat it, but maybe it’s not something we have to worry about,” April said. “Talking about it is hard, though.”

“She wouldn’t want this to be a sad night,” Jackson said. “Y’all want to play a board game to get our minds off that letter? I’ve got Pictionary or Monopoly.”