I promise to get all my homework done before I go.”
“She just wants to go because Clay will be there. That’s the preacher’s son, and she’s got a crush on him,” Braden tattled.
“Do not,” Holly argued.
“Do, too,” Braden shot back.
“Hello,” Mack called from the back door. “Is that chocolate I smell?”
“Brownies,” Braden yelled. “You better hurry before Holly eats them all.”
“You’re the pig when it comes to brownies,” Holly accused.
Braden snorted just like a hog.
“You’re disgusting.” Holly took another brownie from the pan.
The comment Holly had made back in Austin about Braden being Lily’s precious angel son had been weighing heavily on her mind all day in addition to all the other bits of guilt. She wondered if she was enabling Braden to be a little narcissistic, but after listening to them argue, she decided that she was raising two healthy kids. They might be as different as night and day, but they were not suffering from NPD.
“Coffee is in the pot. Sweet tea’s in the fridge,” Lily told Mack. “Where are your glasses? I just realized that you haven’t worn them in several days.”
“I only wear them when I have to,” he said. “Most of the time I wear contacts, but I had an allergy flare-up and had to use my glasses for a while.”
He brushed past her on the way to get a cup of coffee, and there were those sparks again, only this time they were even hotter than before. An image flashed through her mind—she was cuddling up with him on the sofa, and he was tipping her chin up with his calloused hand to kiss her.
“Should I pour a cup for you?” Mack asked.
His deep voice jerked Lily back to reality. “Yes, please, and thank you.” She hoped he attributed her burning cheeks to the heat in the kitchen.
It seemed like the kids swallowed their brownies whole and hurried up the stairs to do their homework, or in Braden’s case, to change into different clothing so he could go to the goat pens with Mack.
“You also run the 4-H, right?” Lily asked when she and Mack were alone.
“I do.” Mack nodded. “Braden came to the 4-H meeting today with his new friend. Isaac Torres is a good kid. He’s a little shy, but he’s super smart. He’s always on the superintendent’s honor roll.”
“Then it’s all right for Braden to—” Lily started and then stopped. “Is he Levi Torres’s son? The Torres Ranch folks? Didn’t you and Levi graduate the same year?”
“We did, and yes, Isaac is his son. Levi married a girl he met in college. She’s from down around Houston and grew up on a ranch like Levi did,” Mack answered.
“Levi was smart and shy, too,” Lily remembered, and stopped herself before she added, “A lot like you.”
“You’re the mother, but I think Braden and Isaac will be good for each other.” Mack reached for a brownie.
“Why’s that?”
“Braden is outgoing, and he’ll help Isaac in that department. From what I see in Braden, he needs someone to challenge him intellectually, so Isaac will be a help to him that way. Same way that Holly is good for Rose and Ivy. Their parents are strict with them, so you don’t have to worry about her smoking pot. Yet they could sure use someone like Holly to give them a little push when it comes to grades.”
“Holly wants to go to Friday-night choir practice with the girls, and Braden wants to know if he can go to the ranch and hang out with Isaac on Saturday. What do you think?” Lily hadn’t asked for anyone’s input where her kids were concerned in years, but she really needed Mack’s opinion.
“If they were my kids, I wouldn’t have a problem with either the choir or the ranch,” he said.
“Thank you.” It was beginning to look like she’d made the right decision in her fit of anger over their behavior.
“I talked to my mother and dad today,” Mack said.
“How are they doing?” Lily carried her coffee to the table and sat down on the other side from Mack.
“Dad’s not good,” Mack replied. “He’s getting more confused about time than ever. They haven’t been here since the end of November, but he thought it was two days ago, and he told me to make Adam help me with the goats. Mama’s got her hands full with him, but she’s doing okay.”
Lily reached across the table and laid a hand on his. “I’m so sorry. That has to be the worst