Nessa picked up the pen first and began flipping pages and signing on the appropriate lines. “What if none of us want to leave at the end of the quilting stuff?” She tucked an errant strand of curly red hair behind her ear as if focused on the document, but her steely blue eyes floated in tears.

Leave it to Nessa to ask that question. She’d always been Nanny Lucy’s favorite of the three, even when she rebelled against her father’s strict religion and did not marry the guy he had picked out for her. Nessa looked like Lucy and was the daughter of her favorite child.

“Then I suggest you learn to live together in harmony,” Paul answered as he pulled envelopes from his briefcase.

“Did she leave any money at all?” April asked as she took her turn with the pen.

That’s April, Flynn thought. When Nanny Lucy’s only daughter, Rachel, died just four days after April was born, Granny had taken her in and raised her, given her a home until she graduated from high school and moved to San Antonio to live with a group of her friends. She had been a pretty little girl with a round face and blonde hair, but from the looks of her now, life had not been too good to her.

“There’s a thousand-dollar check for each of you up front,” Paul informed them. “Beginning today, you will be responsible for the electric bill. I’ve taken care of having the bill put in Nessa’s name. Y’all can figure out how you want to split the payment. The propane tank is full, and the water comes straight from a well. I’m not sure what there is in the house in the way of food. She died quite suddenly, as you all know.” Paul passed the three envelopes around, one to each of them.

“On Christmas Day.” April wiped a tear from her cheek with the sleeve of her chambray shirt. “I didn’t even get to come to the funeral.”

“That’s on you.” Nessa glared at her. “I tried to get in touch with you.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” April said. “You’re not God. I lost my job, got kicked out of my apartment, and was living in my car with no phone. Not all of us—”

Nessa’s finger shot up so fast it was a blur. “Don’t start with that poor, poor, pitiful me crap. It’s not like I was royalty. I worked hard to get my teaching degree. I’ve taken care of myself since I was eighteen and Daddy cut me off. Granny raised you herself, so you had it better than me or Flynn, either one.”

“Yeah, right.” April folded her arms across her chest and turned to stare out the window.