“I tell you what, Lily.” Wyatt’s tone was downright chilly. “You do things your way and have goats and live in a miserable old house like this in the country. I’ll do the cultural scene with them when I have time for them. And, darlin’, I will never not answer a text or a call from my wife.”

“You lost the right to call me darlin’ a long time ago,” Lily said as she left him sitting in the foyer and went to the kitchen. “I tried, Mama. I really did, but he only hears what he wants to hear,” she muttered under her breath.

The kids arrived not long after she’d poured herself a glass of tea. They didn’t burst inside arguing like always. Braden gave her a hug and said, “Can we call from the hotel when we get there?”

“Sure, you can. You can call however often you want. Just use the room phone,” she said.

“I hate hotels,” Holly declared. “I’m going to call and check on Star before I go to bed and before we check out in the morning. God, I hate that we have to go to the Alamo. I don’t even like going to the mall with Daddy. A ten-year-old wouldn’t be caught dead in what he wants to buy me.”

“It’s only twenty-four hours,” Lily said. “Maybe things will be different this time.”

“Yeah, right.” Braden’s shoulders were slumped as he left the room.

Holly gave Lily a quick hug. “If it’s not any better this time, then I’m not going again. Not even God can make me.” She flounced off to get her things.

“You kids ready?” Wyatt’s voice carried to the kitchen.

“In five minutes,” Holly answered.

“I’ll go warm up the car.”

“See you there,” Holly said.

Mack came through the back door so quietly that she didn’t even realize he was there until he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his body. “Are they gone yet?” he whispered.

The front door closed. There was the sound of the kids coming down the stairs, and Holly called out, “We’re leavin’, Mama. Talk to you later this evening.”

“I thought they might tell you goodbye,” she sighed.

“They did.” Mack kissed her on the neck and took a step back. “We just spent half an hour or more out in the barn with the goats. I thought maybe it would be best if I made myself scarce this time. Next time he comes around, I’ll introduce myself. Braden gave me a hug before he left, and Holly patted me on the arm. I’m making progress. Mama has invited us to eat with her and Dad tonight. It’s only a forty-minute drive, but I told her that I’d have to ask you.”

She turned around to face him. “Mack, are you sure you want to take me home to meet your parents? Things didn’t go well when you took Brenda and Natalie home to meet the folks, did it?”

“I don’t think I have anything to worry about. Besides, the third time’s the charm. ’Course if you don’t want to, that’s fine. We can always grab a burger at Dairy Queen and drive down to the river and watch the fish flop out of the water.” He grinned and then gave her a sweet kiss on the lips.

“Or I can make supper here,” she suggested. “But I’d love to see Nora and Orville again. I haven’t seen them since Mama’s funeral, and Nora was so good to organize and help Polly in the kitchen.”

Mack nodded and took his phone from his pocket. “I’ll send her a text and tell her to expect us in about an hour.”

“That leaves me fifteen minutes to get ready.” Lily started to leave the room.

“I thought you were ready.” He took her hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed her knuckles. “You look beautiful to me.”

She pulled her blonde hair from the band holding her ponytail, ran her fingers through it, and shook it loose. “After a comment like that, what can I say except ‘Let’s go’?”

“Got your cell phone?” he asked.

“In my purse,” she answered.

“I wrote my number down on a piece of paper for each of the kids, and they said they knew yours, so that’s covered.” He took her by the hand and led her to the foyer, helped her into her coat, and opened the door for her.

She picked up her purse and headed toward his truck that was parked right beside her car. Even though it was dusty, it sure looked better than that sleek little sports car Wyatt had been driving.

Taking her to his folks’ house might not be called a date, but Mack chose to think of it as one, anyway. He started the engine and adjusted the heater so that she would be warm. When they passed the historical marker out at the end of the lane, he asked, “So you’re the third generation to live in the house?”

“Sally and I were talking about that today. I think I might be the sixth.” She explained what she and Sally had pieced together. “And we could be long-ago kin to Granny Hayes.”

“Small world.” He didn’t want to talk about ancestors and relatives. He’d rather hear something about Lily. “Did you like growing up in the old stone place, or would you have rather lived in a modern one-story house?”

“It was home, so I never gave it much thought, except when tourists blocked the driveway or drove right up in the yard to take pictures of the place,” she said. “How have you liked living there?”

“Loved it. The whole place, from the house to the barn to the old smokehouse, has got personality,” Mack said. “It kind of reminds me of the place where I grew up. It wasn’t on the historical registry, but it wasn’t a newer, modern place, either. Personally, I think Mama would have been better to keep Dad in his familiar surroundings, but Adam was insistent that they move closer to Dad’s doctors. Now he’s even more disoriented than before, and he gets angry when he can’t find things. Mama says the doctors say that’s part of the disease and not to argue with him.” His phone rang, and he fished it out of his hip pocket, laid it on the console, and put it on speaker. “Hello.”

“Mack, this is Braden. We’re in the car on the way to the hotel, and I forgot to tell you that I left my boots in the barn. If Star gets them, she’ll chew them up.”

“You’re on speaker,” Mack said. “Your mom is right here beside me. I’ll take care of the boots.”