what she’d read in the journal about Rachel’s temper and determination. If Holly had lived in those days, the law to let women vote might have been passed a lot sooner than it had.
“You don’t need to take up for me,” Braden said. “I can take care of myself.”
“I’m not taking up for you, raccoon boy,” she smarted off. “I need to teach those sorry punks not to threaten me and Faith. If a girl whips their butts, they’ll sure know to leave everyone alone.”
She fussed about it all weekend, but by Monday afternoon she had settled down a little bit. When she got off the bus, she and Braden dropped their school things in their usual places and rushed into the kitchen, both of them talking at once.
Lily held up a hand. “One at a time, please.”
“Isaac and Faith want us to come to their house Saturday night for snacks and a movie,” Braden blurted out.
“Their parents said it would be okay, and we really want to go,” Holly said.
“And we won’t go to their house until after supper, like around six,” Braden butted in.
“We’ll be home by ten,” Holly said.
“That’s fine with me, but we’ll have to plan a night for them to come here real soon,” Lily answered.
“Are you going to marry Mack?” Holly asked out of the clear blue sky.
Lily’s mouth went dry, and her hands got clammy. “Why would you ask that?”
“You went to meet his parents, and they’re coming here to meet us,” Braden chimed in. “Me and Holly talked about it, and we really like Mack, but what if his mama and daddy don’t like us? I mean, they canceled the last time when they were supposed to come, and now they’re really coming, and . . .” His voice trailed off.
“Why wouldn’t they like you?” Lily set a bowl of fresh fruit on the table and poured two glasses of milk.
“I smoked pot. Braden’s still sporting an eye that says he got in trouble at school.” Holly sighed as she took a banana from the bowl. “What if they don’t like us, and Mack moves out?”
“I’m sure that isn’t going to happen,” Lily reassured them. “But we do need to talk about something here. Mack’s dad is Orville, and he has Alzheimer’s. Do either of you know what that is?”
“Nope,” Braden said.
“Is that when a person gets old and their hands start to shake?” Holly asked.
“No, that’s Parkinson’s. What I’m talking about is when people begin to get something known as dementia, and they don’t remember things very well. Sometimes they get mad because they can’t remember, or they think you’re someone else. Other times they’re better at remembering, so y’all need to keep that in mind.” Lily tried to explain.
“Is Mack going to get like that someday?” Holly’s eyes were wide. “We’ve been studying a little about genetics in science class. We kind of learned why some of us are short and some are tall, and some have blue eyes and others have brown ones. Is this something Mack might get? I don’t want him to not know me.”
“I don’t think so,” Lily answered.
“Good,” Holly said. “I’ll have to do some research on it when I get back to the library.”
“Does his mama have it, too?” Braden asked.
“No, she doesn’t. Her name is Nora, and she reminds me a lot of your Granny Vera. I would appreciate it very much if you spent some time with them.”
“All right.” Holly nodded. “But you didn’t answer our question. Are you going to marry Mack?”
Lily said honestly, “I can’t answer your question very well. We haven’t even been on a real date, and—”
“For God’s sake, Mama.” Holly butted in before Lily could finish. “We aren’t living in caveman days.” Holly’s tone was full of dramatic exasperation. “You can ask him out if he don’t ask you.”
“We’ve only been here a short while,” Lily countered.
“But we’ve lived together in one house for like what? Six weeks now?” Braden rolled his big brown eyes toward the ceiling. “So if you were dating him, it would be like a gazillion dates.”
“The only answer I can give you right now is that we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds. We can’t rush time,” Lily told them.
“Well, I’d be all right with it.” Holly finished her banana and milk.
“So you’re ready to stay in Comfort and not move back to Austin?” Lily asked.
“Duh!” Holly rolled her eyes. “Of course I want to stay here. This is