“Braden is in the seventh grade. Isn’t that middle school?”

“Sorry about that, yes,” Ruth-Ann apologized. “Welcome to Comfort, kids, and call me sometime, Lily. We’ll have lunch.”

“Sure thing,” she said, but she had no intention of having lunch with Ruth-Ann. The woman had been the biggest gossip in high school, and she’d already told her everything she knew about everyone in town. Lily didn’t need to hear a weekly update on anything or anyone except her own kids. “Let’s go get Braden enrolled, and then maybe we’ll stop by Sally’s store and see her.”

“Yes!” Holly pumped her fist in the air.

The middle school had been the old high school and was a little over two miles away and closer to town. It was where Lily had gone to school her freshman and sophomore years. Mack’s class had been the last one to graduate from high school in that building. She was thinking of him when she parked the car and got out for the second time that day.

“Can I just stay right here?” Holly asked. “I brought a book, and I’ll lock the doors.”

“You don’t have to lock the doors,” Lily answered. “But don’t get out and go wandering around if you get bored. We may be a little while getting everything done.”

“If I had my cell phone, you wouldn’t have to worry,” Holly sighed.

“But you don’t, and I will.” Lily tucked her car keys into her purse, made sure her phone was in the outside pocket, and opened the door. “If you decide to join us, the office is through the doors and about halfway down the hall on the right.”

“I won’t.” Holly already had her nose in the book.

“Just my luck,” Braden huffed as they crossed the parking lot. “Holly gets the new school, and I have to take the old one.”

“I’d hardly call the high school new anymore,” Lily informed him. “It’s been there for more than twenty years now.”

“Then that makes this one ancient.” Braden hung back a few seconds when his mother opened the door. “Does it even have bathrooms?”

“Sure, it does.” Lily went on in and headed down the hall.

Braden had to run to catch up with her. “Real bathrooms. Not one at the back of the school in an old wooden building.”

“When did you ever really see a bathroom like that?” Lily asked.

“I haven’t seen one in real life, but Holly made me watch reruns of Little House on the Prairie with her when we were little kids,” he answered.

Lily pointed to a door with a “Boys” sign on the front. “Does that ease your mind?”

“Whew!” Braden let out a whoosh of air. “It sure does.”

“Hey, I was hoping I might catch you while you were here.” Mack waved from a room where several other teachers were leaving from both doors. “I’m free to work in my office until eleven. Y’all want to go down to the Dairy Queen and get a snack when you get done?”

“Yes,” Braden answered before his mother could say a word. Then he turned to her. “Please?”

“Love to,” Lily agreed.

“I’ll meet you there in half an hour.” Mack waved and disappeared down the hallway.

The principal was a no-nonsense guy, newer than she was in the town, who handed Braden and Lily over to his assistant—an older lady whom Lily didn’t know either—and rushed out to a meeting. The lady was about as warm as an iceberg, but she was efficient. Braden was enrolled and had his own blue-and-gold handbook in less than fifteen minutes.

Mack arrived at the Dairy Queen just as Lily and the kids found a booth. Lily and Holly were sliding into one side, Braden the other. He waved from the door and joined them. “So what are we having?”

“French fries and a chocolate malt,” Braden said.

“Tater tots and a chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard,” Holly answered.

“Just a cup of coffee.” Lily slid out of the booth. “I’ll go with you to help.”

“Have you made up your mind about the job?” Mack asked as they waited in line to order. He’d forgotten how good it felt to simply take a woman out for ice cream.

“Not yet, but we’re stopping by Sally’s shop on the way home. I’d like to take a look at the place and get a feel for what I’d be doing,” she answered.

Their turn finally came. Before Lily could open her purse, Mack had his wallet out, rattled off the order, and handed the lady a twenty-dollar bill. The young woman made change and gave him a receipt.

“We’ll bring it out to you as soon as it’s done,” she said. “Are you ready for school to get back in session, Mr. Cooper?”

“Might as well be,” Mack answered. “When do you go back to college?”

“Tomorrow,” she answered. “Just one more semester and I’ll have my degree.”

“That’s great. I’m glad you stayed with it. Still going to teach vo-ag somewhere?” Mack asked.

“Plannin’ on it.” She grinned and looked over his shoulder at the next customer.

Mack ushered Lily back to their booth with his hand on her lower back. A few customers smiled and others waved. He could almost read their minds—Mack was dating Lily Anderson. They were happy for him. There was chemistry, at least on his part, but he wasn’t sure that he’d ever be able to trust another woman, no matter how much he wanted to do so.

Lily slid into the booth beside Holly. “Thank you for treating us today.”

He took a place across from her beside Braden. “My pleasure. Ice cream is my ultimate weakness.”

“Mine, too,” Braden said. “I like it even better than cake, and I love Mama’s chocolate cake.”

Mack’s knee brushed against Lily’s under the table, and even through his jeans and her stretchy pants, he could feel electricity between them. What would it be like to hold her in his arms, or even kiss her? Just thinking about it made the dining area so hot that he removed his coat and draped it over the back of the booth.

Their order arrived, and each of them reached for their part of the food. Mack picked up his sea salt caramel Blizzard. Lily took her coffee from the tray. The ketchup bottle was on the table, and the kids grabbed for it at the same time. The argument over who got to use it first was settled with a contest of rock, paper, scissors. Braden won and took his time squeezing it over his fries.

Mack remembered having the same fight with Adam—more than one time. Adam nearly always won at everything, so by the time he was a teenager, Mack usually just gave over to his twin brother. Dozens of memories flashed through Mack’s mind—none of them had to do with ketchup, and all of them had to do with women. He wondered how Lily would react to Adam. There was no doubt that his brother would show up before long. Adam wouldn’t be able to stand the temptation of an available woman living with Mack. Oh, yes. He would definitely show up with all his charms as soon as he heard that Lily had moved back to Comfort.

Mack looked up from his Blizzard to see Lily staring right at it. He stood up and went to the counter for an extra spoon. He handed it to Lily. “Help me out with this. I shouldn’t have ordered a large one, especially when there’s a potluck at the school today for the teachers and the folks presenting the programs.”