If he’d had misgivings about living with Lily and the kids, they had disappeared with that first look at her and the way the kids entertained him with their constant bickering. Lily was being very fair about the financial end of things, and if every day started off like that day when they had worked so well in the kitchen together, this arrangement would be great.

“Hey!” The preacher of the church, and one of his oldest and best friends, poked his head in the room. “There’s doughnuts in the nursery.”

“Thanks, but I had a big breakfast,” Mack said.

He and Drew Donovan had graduated from Comfort High School together more than twenty years ago now. They’d formed a friendship way back in elementary school because they were the two shy boys who didn’t fit in with the rest of the kids. Drew was tall and lanky, with a thick crop of black curly hair he had inherited from his black father, and green eyes from his white mother. Drew had known when he was in middle school that he would be a preacher someday, just like Mack had known from a young age that he wanted to be a vo-ag teacher.

“Walk with me to my office. We’ve got a little while before it’s time for Sunday school,” Drew said and led the way to his office.

“What’s on your mind?” Mack opened the door for him.

“I hear that Lily Miller has come back to Comfort and is living in her folks’ place with you. How do you feel about that?” Drew took a seat behind his desk.

“They just arrived yesterday, but so far, it’s fine,” Mack answered. “Only she’s Lily Anderson now, and she’s got a couple of kids. Braden is twelve, and Holly is fourteen.”

“Are they going to be in church?” Drew asked.

Mack nodded. “And Sunday school, pretty much against their wishes, but . . .” He went on to tell Drew the reason why Lily had taken them out of the city.

“Smart mother.” Drew finished off the last of his doughnut, stood up, and went to the small refrigerator in the corner. He took out a diet root beer and held it out to Mack.

Mack shook his head. “I should be getting on down to my classroom.”

Drew twisted the lid off the bottle and set it on his desk. “You’ll be a good influence on those two kids, Mack. I have faith in you.”

“Thanks.” Mack stood up.

“You get part of the credit for my boys being good men.” Drew placed a bookmark in his Bible to save his spot.

“I just kept them focused. You were the guiding light.” Mack waved at the door.

Drew had met a wonderful woman at seminary, married her when they graduated, and come straight back to Comfort to the church. They’d had three cute little boys in about four years. The oldest had been in Mack’s agriculture classes and in his Future Farmers of America program. The two youngest still were. Their oldest son had joined the air force right out of high school. The middle one was a senior this year, and he already had an academic scholarship to Baylor University. The baby was a sophomore, and it looked like he would be following in his father’s footsteps.

Mack found Clay Donovan, Drew’s youngest, already in the classroom. Unless a miracle fell out of heaven, Clay would never be a tall man. He was about five foot seven, had straight light-brown hair like his mother and brown eyes like Drew’s dad, and had a slim build. But he’d been blessed with a deep voice, and when he spoke, most folks paid attention.

“I came in with Dad this morning, so I went ahead and got things ready,” Clay said.

“Thank you.” Mack sat down in one of the chairs. “Are you ready to go back to school next week?”

“Might as well be.” Clay chose a chair on the other side of the circle. “I kind of hate to see the year come to an end, though. I’ll miss Barry when he goes to college. It wasn’t the same around the house last year when Randall left, but it’ll be even worse when I’m the only one at home.”

“Spend all the time you can with your folks. I sure wish I had,” Mack told him.

The door opened and five teenage boys came in. They plopped into chairs and slid down until they were practically sitting on their backbones. Mack checked the time on the clock at the back of the room. Five more minutes and he’d begin the lesson.

Another minute ticked away, and Braden peeked into the room. “Is this the right place?”

“Come right on in.” Mack motioned with his hand.

All six boys sat up straighter when they saw Holly enter behind Braden.

“Take a seat anywhere,” Mack said. “We’ve still got a couple of minutes before we begin, and . . .” He turned to look toward the door when he heard laughter in the hallway. “There are the twins right now.”

Two girls with long black hair and brown eyes carried their Bibles into the classroom and took seats. Rose and Ivy Sanchez were fourteen. They’d just moved to Comfort a year ago, so they were still considered newbies, both in school and in church. They got seated, and then Isaac and Faith Torres arrived. Mack stood up and the room got quiet.

“We’ve got two new members today, so we should introduce ourselves. I’m Mack Cooper, and I’m your teacher. Clay, you can go next. Tell us your name and how old you are, maybe what grade you are in school.” Mack half expected either Holly or Braden to pop off a smart remark, but they both sat still. The only things that moved were their eyes, shifting from one kid to the next.

After everyone else had given their names, Braden and Holly introduced themselves, and Mack dug deeper by having everyone share whether they had siblings. Then he segued into the lesson about loving your brother. He could tell by the look on Holly’s face that she wasn’t buying a single bit of it—no way was she going to love Braden like she did herself.

While he was listening to the kids’ arguments about why they didn’t love their siblings, he thought about when he and Adam had been in that same classroom, right along with Drew. Mack loved his brother then, but he sure didn’t like him. Truth was, nothing about that situation had changed.

Lily wasn’t quite sure where she should go. The last time she and Wyatt had come to church in Comfort, they had gone to the young married couples’ class, but now that she wasn’t married anymore, she just stood in the middle of the sanctuary and wondered what to do. Sally came up behind her, looped an arm in hers, and steered her to the left.

“We go to the singles’ class,” she said. “Divorced or never married go in this one. We can’t go to the young married class anymore for two reasons. We’re damn sure not young.” She raised a hand toward the ceiling. “Forgive me, Lord. That Saturday-night language just slipped out.”

Lily giggled. “And the second reason?”

“We’re those wild divorcées who might steal one of those poor women’s husbands if we go into that class. We’re so bad that Preacher Drew teaches this one himself,” Sally whispered.

“You are not old,” Drew said right behind them. “And that’s not the reason we have this class. It’s for the fellowship.”

“Busted!” Sally laughed and gave Drew a hug.

Drew nodded over her shoulder toward Lily. “Welcome back to Comfort—we’re all glad to have you in church with us.”