“Of course she does,” Orville’s gruff old voice said from the living room. “I remember she always loved your fried chicken at the church potlucks. Come on in here and let me look at you, Brenda.”

She looked up at Mack, who shrugged. “Just play along with him.”

The house was laid out with what real estate agents called a great room—dining room, living room, and kitchen all combined. Lily left Mack’s side and went to give Orville a hug. He had always reminded her of a bulldog—a wide face with drooping jowls, broad shoulders, and big biceps. Mack had gotten the best features of both his parents—his height and those big, broad shoulders from Orville, and his face shape from his mother. Adam must have been a throwback to a past generation, Lily thought, because she couldn’t see a blessed thing about him in either of his parents.

Orville hugged her and then took a step back and looked down at her with a frown. “Where’s Adam? I thought he was coming with you. Why is Mack bringing you to dinner?”

“I just arrived at the same time he did, and we came in together,” Lily told him.

“Did I hear my name?” Adam came into the room with a big smile on his face.

“There he is,” Orville said. “I knew he’d be along soon if you were here. Nora, is supper ready? The kids are all here now. Brenda’s here, too. Seems like forever since we’ve seen her.”

“How’d you get here before me, darlin’?” Adam headed straight for Lily. “We always play along to keep from upsetting Dad,” he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss.

“Touch me, and the only thing you’ll be doing is staring at a hospital-room ceiling,” she said in a soft voice.

Orville sat down at the head of the table and motioned for everyone to take their places. Mack seated Lily while Adam pulled out a chair for his mother. Then both boys sat down across the table from each other. Orville bowed his head and said a short grace and then looked over at Lily.

“I’m so glad all you kids”—he frowned and cocked his head to one side—“you’re not Brenda. You’re Vera Miller’s daughter. I’ve got this forgetting problem lately so I can’t remember your name.” He picked up the platter of fried chicken, took two legs for himself, and passed it on to Adam.

“Thank you for having me.” And for recognizing me. “My name is Lily. Mama passed away, and I’m living in her old house in Comfort.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Nora and Vera were good friends. You got kids?” Orville asked.

“Two,” she answered. “A boy and a girl. Braden is twelve. Holly is fourteen.”

“I fell in love with Nora when I was fourteen.” Orville reached over and touched his wife’s arm.

Even with the declaration of love, Lily could feel the tension in the room. Adam glared at Mack, who ignored him. Nora’s eyes kept shifting between the three men, as if she knew one of them would explode at any time.

“This is wonderful fried chicken,” Lily said. “Sometime you’ll have to share your secret with me.” She felt something touch her ankle.

“I’ll be glad to,” Nora said.

Adam was still shooting daggers at Mack, but his foot was sure enough sliding up the inside of Lily’s leg, and it kept going when it reached her knee. There was no way it could be Mack, because he was sitting right beside her. She dropped her chicken on her plate, reached under the tablecloth, and picked up his foot. His expression went from amusement to pain when she bent his big toe backward until it popped.

“Do you use rice flour instead of wheat?” Lily hung on to the toe with both hands like a bulldog with a bone, but she never took her eyes off Nora.

“No, just plain old flour. It’s technique, not recipe. The grease has to be just the right temperature, and oil doesn’t work as well as shortening,” Nora told her.

“I’ll have to try that next time I fry a chicken.” Lily shoved Adam’s foot away from her like it was garbage. “Please excuse me. Where’s the restroom?”

“First door on the left down the hall,” Nora said.

Lily’s heart pounded as she turned on the water and squirted liquid soap into her hands. She washed them three times, but they still didn’t feel clean, so she did them one more time. When she’d dried them and went back to the table, Mack was telling his father about the new baby goats. She took her seat and pretended that nothing had happened.

Adam glared at her, but he kept his foot away from her leg. She had a feeling that if he could do it without getting his hands dirty, he’d throw the bowl of gravy at her.

“I never thought I’d see the day that my fourteen-year-old daughter, who has always been a girlie girl, would be so tickled with a baby goat.” She entered the conversation as she passed the biscuits around the table again. “If I’d let her, she’d bring it into the house and let it sleep in her bed like a puppy.”

“I got to meet this child,” Orville said.

“And her brother, Braden, helps me feed every evening, Dad,” Mack told him. “You really should come to the farm and see the new babies while they’re still young. What do you say, Mama? Can y’all come next weekend?”

“Of course we can,” Orville answered for her. “We’ll come on Saturday and spend the day.”

Nora caught Lily’s eye and raised a brow.

“That would be wonderful,” Lily said. “The kids would love to get to spend the day with y’all.”

“Then Saturday it is,” Nora said.

“Is tomorrow Saturday?” Orville asked.

“No, but it’s real soon,” Mack told him.

Out of her peripheral vision, Lily caught sight of Adam’s scowl. Even at his age, he didn’t like not being the center of attention or not being invited to a family gathering.

“You could come and bring Brenda,” Orville told Adam.

“No, thanks.” Adam’s tone dripped icicles. “I’ve got better things to do than spend a day with goats.”

Orville looked like he might cry until Nora patted him on the arm. “Maybe another day Adam can get away from his busy schedule.”

Orville nodded, but his expression didn’t change. Lily wished she’d broken every bone in Adam’s foot for treating his father like that.

They’d just finished dessert—pecan pie with ice cream—when Lily’s phone rang. She excused herself and rushed to the other end of the room where she’d set her purse and coat on a rocking chair. She answered just before it went to voice mail.

“Mama, can you come get us?” Holly asked.

Lily’s blood felt like ice water in her veins. “Are you hurt? Has there been an accident?”

“No, we’re both fine,” she said. “But Daddy is mad at us, and he . . .” She started crying.

“Gimme that phone,” Braden shouted.

Things had to be catastrophic for Holly to let him have it without an argument. “We told Daddy that we didn’t want to go to a fancy dinner, that we’d rather have pizza or burgers, and that we didn’t want to go to the Alamo tomorrow. He got mad at us and said if we wanted to be little rednecks, then he’d let us. We’re in a hotel at”—he rattled off the address—“and he said to keep the doors locked other than opening it for the pizza guy. He wasn’t going to miss having dinner with Victoria or doing stuff with her tomorrow just because of ungrateful kids. He said if we changed our mind, then he’d come get us and we could join them. He ordered pizza for us, but it was cold and burned when it got here, and I had to give them a dollar of my allowance money to pay the bill because Daddy didn’t leave enough money.”