Prologue May, 1799 Lily was six when she met the boy she knew she would love for the rest of her life. Not many six year olds would recognize something like that, but Lily was more aware than most. She’d sneaked off to run through the woods barefoot, which was her favorite springti...
She had dinner ready by five in the evening, happy with herself for working so hard. She’d wanted to make cornbread with the beans, but he didn’t have any cornmeal. She’d have to make sure to buy that at the store the next day. When he wasn’t there right at five, she kept cleaning, planning to...
She crawled from the bed, feeling like death warmed over, but did her best to hide it from him. "I'm going to make breakfast this morning," she announced, "and I'm going to do it right!" She felt as grumpy as she always did first thing in the morning, but she did her best to hide it. &nbs...
Mary could see the emotions flitting across her face, and she kept glancing over her shoulder as if she was expecting to hear gunshots. When Jasmine came to the dining room and found her sister there, Amaryllis could see the gleeful grin on her face and wanted to vomit. “Papa’s looking for you!...
“Hi, Mama,” Lily said waiting for the lecture to ensue. When nothing was said, she looked up in expectation. Mary had a slight smile on her face. “Welcome, Daniel. I understand you’ll be joining us for dinner again.” She held her hand out to Daniel and squeezed his bri...
"You got anything easy to cook?" He knew it was pointless even asking, but he had to try. He just wasn't sure he could eat beans for another week without screaming. "Colin, you come in here and ask me the same question every week. Every week I say 'no,' and you leave he...
She needed to get off work at four if they were going to get his apartment finished before Saturday unless he was greatly exaggerating the mess they were facing. He picked up dinner on the way home and they ate, and then headed to his place. She steeled herself for the mes...