“We walked into church together, whispers trailing behind us. I ducked my head. Did he hear them, too? I glanced up again. His chest puffed out a bit now, and his gait took on a swagger. He obviously felt no shame to be linked with an old maid of twenty-two. One with bobbed hair and a car of her own, who bore the name of the most influential man in town. Maybe, just maybe, Lawrence Trotter was God’s answer to my prayers–in more ways than one.”

“To go would be to honor Mama and repay Jewel. To stay here would be to please Daddy and to take a stand for every woman who desired to further her education. My heart pulled and stretched, breath-prayers rising to heaven in desperation.”

“Dan wiggled his way into my lap, tucking his head beneath my chin and pulling his knees to his chest. My arms circled his warm body as I sighed. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be in Prater’s Junction with the children, but I was certain my time here would not be dull.”

“I drew the ledger and several blank sheets of paper in front of me and stared at the numbers on the Expenditures page. All I had to do was make sense of them the way other people did.”