to go back home to Vicksburg and see if we still had rights to our land. We did, and the house was still standing. As I stood there looking at the place, the yard in shambles, Mama’s rosebushes hidden by weeds, tears ran down my face. We had a house, but the home we’d grown up in wasn’t there. That might not make sense, but it’s the way I felt. No matter, we were glad to find it still there and know that it belonged to us. There was no furniture left, so we slept on the floor for a week until we could get some ticking sewn into mattresses and stuffed with hay. Tears turned into joy with each tiny step forward we took. I’ll never forget that first night that we went to sleep on something other than the hard floor. I thought I could never be happier than that moment, but I was so wrong. This journal and a trunk full of our clothing is all we brought to our old plantation with us. I almost left the journal behind because I didn’t want to read any more about Mama’s heartbreaks, but I just couldn’t.
We could not farm the whole plantation, but Henry had enough money saved that we could hire a few hands, and we had a pretty decent, even if small, cotton crop. I was so proud when we brought it all in and had made a good profit. Henry had sworn he’d never come home to the South, but we both needed a change, and we got it. Henry remarried to a woman who’s a little older than him. She grounds him and is an excellent manager, and I remarried a wonderful man with the farm next to ours. My third child was born in March, and I’m so happy. Money can’t buy happiness. Only love can do that. Jenny is now nine years old, Samuel is seven, and the new little girl, Lily, is healthy. God has given me a second chance. I’m so grateful.
“Did Grandma name you Lily after that little girl?” Holly asked.
“I believe she did.” Lily vaguely remembered her mother telling her that she was named for an old ancestor.
“It’s kind of strange reading about our relatives like this, isn’t it, Mama?” Holly asked. “But I’m glad we got to read that Matilda’s awful husband finally left her. Why did she wait for him to leave, though? Why didn’t she kick his sorry ass—I mean butt—out the door when she found out about him cheating on her? I’m so glad I didn’t live in those days. I couldn’t put up with that.”
“Hypothetical question,” Lily said. “What are you going to do if you’re dating a boy and he’s going behind your back, say with Rose or Ivy, and kissing them when you’re not there?”
Holly snapped her fingers and did her head wiggle. “Goodbye, sucker. Don’t come around me anymore, and then I’d tell whatever friend he was kissing that they weren’t my friend either for doing that behind my back.” Then she got serious. “Was Victoria your friend before”—Holly’s brows drew down in a frown—“you know, before Daddy left?”
“No, she wasn’t, and honey, I didn’t know your dad was seeing her until he packed his things and left.” Lily didn’t ever want her daughter to think that she knew and put up with that kind of behavior. She wanted her to be strong and stand up for herself.
Chapter Eleven
Lily opened the shop on Monday morning, turned on the lights in all three rooms, and then shoved her purse and jacket under the counter. Being there alone for the first time was a little eerie, but Sally had called that morning and said that she was going to an estate sale in Boerne. She wouldn’t be in until noon.
Lily started in the furniture room at the back of the store and made her way to the front, straightening things as she went. She’d just finished the job when the bell above the door jingled and Polly waved at her.
“I brought a thermos of hot coffee and doughnuts,” Polly said.
Lily turned and headed toward the break room. “I’ll get the cups and a roll of paper towels.”
Polly set the thermos and a box with a dozen doughnuts on the counter. Then she took off her coat and scarf, tossed them on the counter, and sat down in a metal chair. “Sally keeps sweet tea and soft drinks in the back room, and