Everyone turned to look at Braden. Some nodded. Some said hello. Since he was sitting with Isaac, one of the geeks in the middle school, no one said much to him. At the end of the period, Isaac hurried to the bathroom, and Braden stopped by the desk where Mack was still sitting.

“Isaac is my new friend. Why do the other kids treat him like something is wrong with him? He’s super smart and he’s really fun to talk to,” Braden whispered.

“Yes, he is, and he’s a hard worker, too,” Mack told him. “He really takes time to train his show animals, and that’s why he does so well. I’m glad he’s your new friend.”

“But why do the kids treat him like they do?” Braden pressed for an answer.

“Number one.” Mack held up a finger. “He’s smart, and that makes them feel inferior.” Another finger went up. “Two, he’s a little overweight and kind of shy, so they put him down to make themselves feel all important.” A third finger popped up. “And three, they’re jealous.”

“Well, that’s just mean.” Braden slung his backpack over his shoulders. “I don’t care what they think. Me and him have fun together, and he’s my friend.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Mack said. “Someday maybe the other kids will come around and see what you do. You better get on to class now before you’re tardy.”

“Thanks, Mack, and I’m going to talk to Mama about joining 4-H. Next year maybe I can get a goat and show it, like Isaac says.” Braden threw the brown bag that he’d brought his lunch in that day into the trash, and waved as he left the room.

“How about that?” Mack said as he picked up what was left of the forms and headed out of the building. The halls were quiet, but in a few minutes the bell would ring, and all that would change. He paused at the door for a moment. Several times his life had changed drastically in the few seconds that a bell could have rung. Things in his world had been as quiet as the hallways—then Lily and the kids moved into the house, and bingo, everything had done a turnaround.

When he pushed the doors open to go outside, he noticed Braden and Isaac over in a corner. Both of them waved at him. That alone was geeky—students ignored teachers for the most part, and they sure didn’t smile and wave.

He crossed the parking lot, got behind the wheel, and headed out of town toward the high school. He remembered asking his father pretty much the same questions that Braden had asked him that day. Only Mack’s were about why the kids at school treated Adam like a celebrity. Mack made better grades and worked harder. Orville Cooper had been as honest with him as Mack had been with Braden.

Mack wished he’d taken better advantage of time with his father. Orville had Alzheimer’s, and there were many days when he didn’t even know Mack, and others when he thought his sons were still teenagers.

He parked in his spot at the high school, got out of the vehicle, and hunched his wide shoulders against the bitter-cold January wind. When he finally made it to his room, he realized he had a few minutes left before the bell rang for his next class, so he took the time to call his mother.

“Hello.” She was out of breath when she answered on the fourth ring. “Sorry it took so long. Your dad and I just got back from our walk. The doctors say it’s good for him to get his exercise every day, but boy oh boy, is it ever cold today.”

“How is he?” Mack asked.

“No better but no worse. Today is a good day. He knows me and talked about you and your goats. How are you doing with a family in the house with you?” Nora asked.

“It’s going great so far. Mama, did you ever realize that Adam has a personality problem?” he asked.

“Of course I did, honey,” she answered.

“Put it on speaker so I can hear,” Orville yelled.

“We’ll talk about Adam later,” Nora whispered. “Okay, it’s on speaker, and you have me and your dad here.”

“I’ve only got a few minutes,” Mack said. “Just thought I’d call and check on y’all. When are you going to come to Comfort and help me weed out my goatherd, Dad?”

“I was just there two days ago, and we took care of that then,” Orville chuckled.

“That’s right.” But it had been six weeks since his folks had been to see him. “With school starting back, I forgot about that. Now you have to come and meet the family that’s living with me.”

“When the weather gets nicer, I’ll do that,” Orville said. “Have you seen Adam? Charlene comes to see us pretty often, but Adam hasn’t been here in a year.”

“I’ll fuss at him next time I see him.” Mack’s voice almost cracked.

“You do that, and make him go feed the goats with you. He should get his hands dirty once in a while,” Orville said.

“Darlin’, Adam is the president of a bank,” Nora reminded her husband in a soothing voice. “He hates any kind of outside work. Remember? He even has a gardener to take care of his yard.”

“I’m hungry,” Orville said. “I’m going to get some cookies and milk. You want some, Mack?”

“I’m good, Dad,” Mack said. “Mama, I have to go now.”

“Just one more thing before we hang up,” she whispered. “I’m taking it off speaker now. I knew Adam had problems when y’all were little, but I didn’t want to believe it. After that thing with Brenda”—she paused for a full twenty seconds—“I didn’t know what to do, so I ignored it and hoped it would go away.”

“It’s not your fault, Mama. Look, the bell is ringing, so I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later.” Mack ended the call. Ignoring problems didn’t make them go away, but at this late date, what good would it do to talk about the issues concerning his brother? His father used to say that a person should let sleeping dogs lie, so unless his mother brought it up again, that’s what he planned to do.

He caught a glimpse of Holly in the hallway with Rose and Ivy. He thought it might embarrass her for him to speak to her, so he just eased on past and hurried to the vo-ag building.

Some of his students were working on rabbit hutches. Others were helping Barry, Drew’s son, refinish a stock trailer for his State Fair of Texas project. It had come into the shop looking like crap, but it would be downright beautiful when they got it finished. As he went from project to project, giving encouragement here and there, his mind kept going back to how comfortable he’d been with Lily the night before. Talking to her had brought Adam’s problems out into the open and helped Mack realize that there was little he could do to help his brother. It had also solidified the fact that he was no longer the brother who had to walk in Adam’s shadow, and that Mack was at last comfortable with his life, just the way it was.

Lily put a pan of brownies in the oven so they’d have an after-school snack. While the treats were baking, guilt jumped out of nowhere and settled on her shoulders like a heavy, wet blanket. She could list the reasons why she felt that way. First was that she hadn’t visited her parents often enough, then after her father had died suddenly, that she hadn’t gone to see her mother more. Now she would be working full-time away from home, which meant there wouldn’t be after-school snacks straight from the oven for her children.