“Are you sure?” She took the spoon from him.

He pushed the cup to the middle of the table. “Yep, I’m glad to share.” Truth was, he wanted to see if he got that little spark every time their hands touched. Sure enough, he did.

“Mama, what’s in Sally’s store, anyway? Does she have stuff in my size?” Holly finished off her tater tots and started on her Blizzard.

“I’ve never been in it, but it’s a vintage store, so I doubt you’ll be interested in anything,” her mother answered.

Lily dug into the ice cream a second time and let her mind go back to when Sally had said she was putting in the store. It was the month after Lily’s mother died, and they had all met in Blanco, the halfway point between Austin and Comfort, at the Dairy Queen there. Sally had been divorced for three years at that time, and looking back, Lily didn’t know how she would’ve survived that first year without Sally’s support and love.

Lily had thought her friend was out of her mind when she had told her that she was quitting her job and putting in an antique store in Comfort. A single woman needed job security with a benefits package. She damn sure didn’t need to use all her savings to open an antique store in a small town. Little did Lily realize just how smart Sally really was. Comfort, like Fredericksburg, was a tourist town that specialized in the past. People flocked to both of them to see hundred-year-old buildings and historical markers on houses and some structures that were even older than that. While in that frame of mind, they bought antiques.

“You’re a hundred miles away right now,” Mack drawled.

Lily jerked herself back to the present. “I was thinking about how crazy I thought Sally was when she quit her steady job and put in her shop. I’ve never been a risk taker, so . . .” She shrugged without finishing the sentence.

“Me, either, but sometimes a door opens that isn’t really a risk, but an opportunity.” Mack checked the time on his watch. “I should be going. Y’all enjoy the rest of the day.”

“Thanks again for treating us,” Lily said.

“Thank you,” both kids chimed in at the same time.

“You’re very welcome. See y’all at home,” he said.

There had been something between her and Mack when they both dipped into the ice cream at the same time. If anyone ever had a type, Lily did. She liked men who weren’t so tall that she had to tiptoe to kiss them. She leaned toward dark hair and was drawn to blue eyes. Mack was over six feet tall and had dark hair, but his eyes were green. He wasn’t flirty, and was basically a little shy. So why in the devil were there vibes between them? It simply didn’t make a bit of sense.

She was still pondering the situation as she drove back into town and parked the car in front of Yesterday’s Treasures. Braden opted to stay in the car this time with his book, but Holly seemed eager to go inside. As usual for her, any store that had a fancy dress in the window had to be a good place.

The bell above the door rang when they walked into the shop. Sally had been dusting a floor-to-ceiling bookcase that held white milk glass pieces of every size and shape. To her left was another case with nothing but cut crystal in it, and to her right was a third one with carnival glass.

She laid the dusting rag on the counter. “Welcome to my shop. I was hoping you’d come by today. I heard that you and Mack took the kids to the Dairy Queen for ice cream.”

“I’d forgotten how fast gossip travels in Comfort,” Lily sighed.

“Oh, honey, with all these new techie toys, it can make the speed of light look like a snail. If you burp, someone will put what you ate for dinner on Twitter.” Sally laughed. “So what do you think of my store? What was your first impression?”

Lily tried to take it all in with one sweeping glance. “It’s bigger than I thought it would be—”

“Mama, look at all these gorgeous earrings,” Holly interrupted from across the store.

“Granny Hayes makes those,” Sally said. “She also crochets the hats and shawls spread out on that old buffet. Oh, and she was delighted with all those gowns and the underwear I took out to her.”

“Who is Granny Hayes? Am I kin to her?” Holly asked.

“Why would you ask that?” Sally took a pair of earrings off the rack and held them up to Holly’s ears.

“Because Mama said once that there’s lots of folks in this town that are kin to other people in some way.” Holly looked at her reflection in the tabletop mirror and shook her head. “I like some of the others better.”

“No, honey, as far as I know, you aren’t related to Granny Hayes. She lives out in the country in an old log cabin. I actually went out and checked on her since she missed church. She had a head cold and didn’t feel like saddling up Dusty.”

“She’s got a horse?” Holly’s eyes lit up. “I always wanted a pony.”

“Dusty isn’t a horse, darlin’,” Lily chuckled. “Dusty is an old gray mule, and she’s been riding him to church since I was a little girl.”

“I want to meet Granny Hayes and learn how to make earrings like these with feathers on them,” Holly said. “Can I have a pair today to wear to school tomorrow for my first day, Mama?”

“Pick out your favorite ones,” Sally said. “I’ll give them to you as a present to celebrate you moving to Comfort.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Lily whispered.

“I want to,” Sally said in a low tone. “It’s free advertising. If the other girls like them, they’ll come in and buy some for themselves.”

Holly looked over at her mother. “Please? I love this pair with turquoise stones and feathers. I’ll wear my new jacket and boots that I got for Christmas, and I’ll pull my hair up in a ponytail and—”

“All right! All right!” Lily laughed.

“Thank you, Mama,” Holly said. “And thank you, Sally. I can’t wait to wear them.” She held them up to her ears in front of the mirror. “I just love them. They look like something Taylor Swift would wear.”

“Come see the rest of the shop,” Sally said. “The clothing room is through here, and then the furniture is in the back room.”

“Good Lord! How big is this place?” Lily asked.

“The front door opens on one block, and the back door is all the way to the alley,” Sally answered. “It started off years ago as three stores. I bought each piece of property as it came up for sale and expanded. As you can well see, I need help.” She led the way to the next room. “Now,” she whispered, “do you think there might be something between you and Mack?”

“Holy hell, Sally!” Lily gasped. “I’ve only been home a few days. We’re barely even roommates.”

“I believe in love at first sight,” Sally said.

“If that was the case, then I would have fallen in love with Mack when we were about three years old. That’s my first memory—of being in church with him and Adam.” Lily fingered a lovely lace shawl that had to date back fifty years or more.

“Adam,” Sally sighed. “Now that was one sexy boy.”

“I always thought he was fake and kind of full of himself,” Lily said.