Braden kept his jacket on and slumped down in a kitchen chair. “I think my blood is frozen.”
“Think hot chocolate will thaw it out?” Lily asked.
“Is it that stuff out of a package or the real thing?” Braden shivered so hard his teeth rattled.
“It’s homemade, like you like it,” she answered.
“We’ve got to get him a warmer coat. A hooded sweatshirt isn’t enough on cold days,” Mack said. “My blood isn’t frozen, but hot chocolate sure sounds good. What can I do to help?”
“You can get down a couple of mugs,” Lily answered.
“You aren’t going to have any?” Mack asked.
“I just finished a glass of sweet tea, so I’m good,” she answered as she used a whisk to mix cocoa, sugar, coffee creamer, and a little vanilla together. The milk in the pot came to a boil, and she stirred in the other ingredients and poured the hot chocolate into the mugs. Before she took them to the table, she topped both mugs with whipped cream. When she handed off the first cup to Mack, her fingertips brushed against his. There was that tingle again.
Braden took a sip and picked up a cookie. “I feel my blood thawin’ out.”
“Amazing what a little heat, cookies, and really good hot chocolate will do for you, isn’t it?” Mack agreed.
“Mama makes the best.” Braden used his cookie to skim off the whipped cream and then popped the whole thing in his mouth.
Lily couldn’t remember the last time Braden had said anything to her other than smart-ass remarks and a few grunts. She would’ve hugged him but didn’t want to jinx anything. They’d only been in Comfort a few days, and each of the kids had said something kind to or about her. Miracles did happen.
“It’s the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had for sure,” Mack said. “Thanks for making it for us, Lily.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Are those girls still up there with Holly?” Braden asked.
“For about thirty more minutes”—Lily nodded—“then their mother is coming to get them.”
Braden sighed. “I guess I can stand it for that long. It would sure be better if I had my tablet or my Nintendo.”
“But you don’t.” Lily was not giving in, no matter how pitiful he sounded. “But I noticed a package of earplugs in the secretary in my bedroom. Daddy used them when he was out in the garage running the table saw. They’re bright orange. Why not go see if they’ll work?”
Braden frowned. “What’s a secretary?”
“It’s that big piece of furniture with a glass front,” Lily explained.
“I guess that’s better than nothing.” He finished his hot chocolate and picked up another cookie to take with him. “See y’all at suppertime.”
“If you want to help Mack feed the goats this evening, you can wear your grandpa’s coat,” Lily said. “It’s hanging over there on the hook beside Mack’s.”
“That would be dorky.” Braden wrinkled his nose.
Mack chuckled. “I don’t reckon the goats would mind.”
Braden shrugged and left the room.
“He’s a good kid. He just got mixed up in the wrong crowd,” Mack said.
“You know the kids here. Will you tell me if he does the same thing in school?” Lily sat down in the chair Braden had just vacated.
“Yes, I will.”
Lily hadn’t had to make a job decision since Holly was born. She’d been in her counseling office through the last day of school, gone into labor that evening, and had Holly on May 28. She’d already started her home sessions in the evenings and had continued with them all these years until she’d moved to Comfort. Now, it appeared, she’d be banging her head against the wall if she tried to set up another practice.
“Sally offered me a job,” she blurted out.
“Are you going to take it?” Mack went to the stove to refill his cup.
“It’s tempting,” she answered. “She’s even said I can open the shop at eight and leave at three thirty. That way I can leave after the bus picks up the kids in the morning and be home by the time they get back here in the afternoon.”
“You could take them to school, and I could bring them home if they don’t mind waiting until four. I have to be there for thirty minutes after the last bell rings,” he suggested.
She shook her head. “Riding the bus is part of their punishment, but thank you.”
“You got to deliver what you promise. That’s what my mother always preached to me.” He sat back down.
“I got the same preachin’.” Lily nodded.
“Our parents were of the same generation,” he said. “I have to go to school tomorrow for a professional day, and then the kids start on Wednesday. The administration office will be open if you want to enroll the kids tomorrow. You’ll need to tell them that Braden and Holly will be riding the bus so their driver will know to come down the lane to get them.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll do that. How many kids are there in the school these days?”
“A little over three hundred total in the high school. We still graduate about the same number each year as we did when we were going to school there—seventy to eighty. Maybe a few more in middle school,” he answered.
“The high school Holly attended had more than two thousand in each grade. Braden and Holly will be in for a culture shock.” Lily had forgotten just how small Comfort was.
“Probably, but kids are kids wherever you go. We’ve got potheads, drug users, and alcoholics just like every other place. There’s just fewer of them,” Mack said.
“How much trouble do you have with gangs?” Lily was almost afraid to hear his answer.
“None,” Mack told her. “We nip that in the bud every time it rears its ugly head. Basically we’re still a rural school, even if”—his smile brightened the whole room—“the Bobcats do play a mean game of football.”
“You still go to all the games?” Lily asked.
“Oh, yeah,” he replied. “Haven’t missed one in years.”
“Why didn’t you play in high school? I kind of wondered,” Lily asked.
“I’m not the aggressive type.” He pushed back his chair and stood up. “Never was, probably never will be. That was Adam’s personality, and still is. Guess we split the personality traits before we could even walk.”
“That’s the way it happens sometimes with twins. I wish Holly and Braden had split some traits. They’re both headstrong and mouthy.” Lily picked up Braden’s empty cup and carried it to the sink, and then the giggling from upstairs turned into thunderous noise.
In reality, there were just three chatty teenage girls stomping down the wooden stairs, but it sounded like a herd of elephants. And then the door opened and slammed, and silence filled the house.
Lily poked her head around the door to see Holly starting back upstairs. “I thought maybe their mother would come inside so I could meet her,” she said.
“She doesn’t speak much English,” Holly told her. “Rose and Ivy are teaching her.”