Free Small-Town Moms by Janet Tronstad

walking through the dining room to get to the door coming into the living room from the porch. Maegan and Clint couldn’t see her but they could hear the murmur of voices as Lilly came inside the house.
    Maegan forced herself to smile as she heard Lilly nearing the entrance to the kitchen.
    The girl stopped in the doorway and looked at Clint and Maegan. “Am I in trouble?”
    â€œOh, no,” Maegan gasped. But then she noticed that Lilly had her eye on Clint and she was waiting for his response. The girl was uncertain.
    â€œNot at all,” Clint said softly and he opened his arms to Lilly.
    The girl didn’t go to him, but the worried look left her face and she said, “Oh. Well, then, Mrs. Hargrove said I could have some cookies.”
    â€œThat I did,” the older woman said as she, too, entered the kitchen.
    With that, Lilly started taking off her gray parka as she walked to the table. She draped the coat over the back of her chair before starting to sit down.
    â€œThat’s my picture,” she said stiffly, pausing midway to the chair. She straightened herself and kept standing as she looked at Clint again.
    Maegan could see the hurt and confusion in Clint’s eyes. Lilly was acting like she expected him to harshly reprimand her for something. Maegan knew Clint well enough now to assume that he was never unkind to anyone, and especially not to Lilly.
    â€œI tried not to use much crayon,” Lilly said defensively. “I know they’re not cheap.”
    â€œYou can have all the crayons you want,” Clint said, his voice cracking with defeat. “And paper, too—whatever you need.”
    Lilly nodded. She sat down and folded her hands.
    There was an awkward silence.
    â€œWell, land’s sake, child, have a cookie,” Mrs. Hargrove finally said as she pulled her own chair out and sat down. “You must be starving. I know they give you lunch at school, but it’s never enough.”
    â€œWe had hot dogs today,” Lilly said, relaxing as she talked to the older woman. “And carrot sticks.”
    â€œSounds good,” Mrs. Hargrove said as she poured the glass of milk and pushed the plate of cookies closer to Lilly. “Go ahead now. I know these are your favorite.”
    Lilly nodded shyly as she reached her hand out.
    Maegan and Clint didn’t say anything as their niece took bites around the edge of the sugar cookie, methodically making it smaller and smaller until there was onlyone round bite left. She sat that on her napkin and took a long drink of the milk.
    â€œI expect all kids like to have a snack when they get home from school.” Mrs. Hargrove smiled at Lilly. “I’m sure your Uncle Clint gives you a snack, too.”
    Lilly nodded. “Mostly graham crackers, sitting at the kitchen table. He gets them just for me, because I like them.”
    Maegan relaxed and addressed herself to Lilly. “I was out at your place this afternoon. I think I even had some of your graham crackers. They were very nice.”
    Lilly smiled.
    Maegan looked over at Clint and he gave her a subtle nod so she continued. “That’s when I saw the picture you drew. It’s a very nice picture and I was wondering if you could tell me about it.”
    Maegan reached out and moved the drawing closer to the girl.
    Lilly was sober. “Did you know my mother?”
    Maegan shook her head slightly. “Not really. She was very young when we got sent to different places to live. I wish I had known her later though. She must have been a good mother to have a daughter like you.”
    Lilly stiffened and looked down at the table. “She said she was a bad mother. That’s why she was looking for my father. She wanted to send me to live with him.”
    â€œOh, surely—” Maegan was taken back. She hadn’t expected any of this. What kind of a woman had her sister been? “Maybe she meant she wanted you to spend