“What brings you to the boonies?” he asked.

“Had some property to look at over this way again.” Adam raised an eyebrow at the kids’ coats when he added his trench coat to the mix. “Mama told me that Lily Miller has come back to Comfort and is living with you.”

“More like I’m living with her—she owns the house,” Mack answered. “What property are you looking at?”

“I’m ready,” Braden yelled as he bounded down the stairs, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Adam.

Mack made introductions. “This is my twin brother, Adam. And this is Lily’s son, Braden. We’ll be a few minutes, Braden. Want to have some cookies and milk before we go?”

“Sure.” Braden nodded and then turned his attention back to Adam. “Nice to meet you. For twins, y’all sure don’t look alike.”

“Thank God,” Adam chuckled.

Lily came out of the kitchen again. “Hello, Adam. It’s been a while, but you haven’t changed a wink. I just made a fresh pot of coffee, and there’s homemade cookies on the table. Y’all help yourselves.”

“What? No hug? It’s been twenty years since I’ve laid eyes on the beautiful Lily Miller, and I don’t even get a hug?” Adam flirted.

“Sorry, I’m fresh out of hugs, and it’s Lily Anderson now. I’ll be back down here in a few minutes. I’ve got a phone call to make.” Lily hurried off up the stairs.

Mack had never seen a woman brush Adam off like that. His poor brother checked his reflection in the mirror hanging above one of the chairs.

“Got a hair out of place?” Mack asked.

“Shut up,” Adam growled. “I’m going to take her up on that coffee. It’s cold out there, and it’ll warm me up.”

“Hey.” Holly nodded to both of them as she passed through the foyer and went upstairs.

“That’s my sister,” Braden said. “Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s just in a mood. Let’s go get some cookies. My mama makes the best cookies in the whole world. I hope they’re peanut butter today. That’s my favorite, especially dipped in good cold milk.”

Mack followed Braden and Adam into the kitchen and went straight to the coffeepot. He poured two cups and carried them across the room. He set one down in front of his brother, who’d already taken a seat, and took a chair across the table from him. He added two spoonfuls of sugar to his mug and took a sip.

“Only sissies have to have sugar in their coffee,” Adam said. “Or dip cookies in their milk.”

“Guess I’m a sissy.” Braden made a show of dipping a cookie in his glass of milk. “Me and Mack do this all the time, don’t we, Mack?”

“Sure do.” To prove the point, Mack dunked a cookie right down into his cup.

“Never,” Adam answered. “I hate crumbs floating in my coffee.”

“The best part is when you get a spoon and eat all those soaked-up crumbs from the bottom,” Braden said. “Sometimes I let half a cookie just drop off in my cup so I’ll have even more.”

Mack bit back a smile when Adam shivered at the thought. Adam could never stand for dirt to be under his fingernails, among other things.

“So how are things between you and Charlene?” Mack asked.

“Right now I’m living in a hotel. We haven’t filed papers yet,” Adam replied. “Mama is mad at me. When Dad is lucid, he won’t talk to me, and when he’s not, he thinks I’m a teenager and is constantly giving me advice. And to top it all off, my secretary quit.”

It was hard for Mack to be sympathetic when his brother had brought all of it on himself.

Lily had been restless all day. She’d gone up to her bedroom so she could call Sally and talk to her in private. Leaving Adam like that might be rude, but she’d never liked him, anyway, so a phone call seemed like a damn good excuse not to have to be around him. Fate had to have had a part in all this. It simply could not have happened by chance.

She called Sally and was about to hang up after six rings, but Sally finally answered. “Hello,” she huffed.

“Are you all right?” Lily asked.

“I left my phone on the checkout counter, and I was all the way back in the furniture room,” Sally said. “What’s going on? Did the kids do all right on their first day of school? Damn, I’ve got to lose weight. I can’t even catch my breath.”

“Kids did fine. Her new friends, Rose and Ivy, loved her earrings.” Lily took a deep breath and spit out, “If you were serious about that job offer, I can come to work Monday morning.”

“Halle-damn-lujah!” Sally squealed. “You bet I’m serious. I’ll get a set of keys made for you and bring them to church Sunday. This is wonderful, amazing, awesome, and all the other adjectives in the dictionary.”

“I thought maybe I’d come in Friday morning so you can show me how to ring up sales,” Lily said.

“I’d love that.” Sally’s breathing was almost back to normal. “Do you remember that old cash register over at the ice-cream shop? The one we used when we worked there in high school?”

“I’ll never forget that thing. It was ancient,” Lily answered.

“I bought it when they went to a new digital one. It’ll be like riding a bicycle. You’ll remember how to work it after the first sale,” Sally said. “I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am. Destiny brought you home, Lily. I’m convinced of it.”

“I so hope that you’re right,” Lily said. “I keep thinking that someone should pinch me to wake me up. Even with the kids squabbling all the time, I’m feeling like this was the right move. Thank you so much for the job.”

“Hey, thank you. Got a customer. See you Friday, but we’ll be talking before then.” She ended the call.

Lily hugged herself and did a ten-second happy dance. Life had thrown her a curveball, but she felt like she’d hit one out of the park.

She started down the short hall to Holly’s room to tell her the news but then thought better of it. She would wait and tell them all at once at the supper table that evening. She wanted to hold on to the excitement a little while longer, and Holly would probably figure out a way to throw ice water on the idea of her mother being a plain old salesclerk, and not something using her therapy degree.