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each other, He’ll work out the details.”
    “But if G. W. could strike a match, it would take his mind off of Papa.”
    “Let G. W. determine that matter. The only matches you need to strike are ones for the kerosene lamps.” Her mother’s tone was firm, but not harsh.
    “Yes, ma’am,” Deborah said, reverting to childhood politeness.
    “Now, tell me what else is goin’ on in that head of yours. You seemed mighty preoccupied tonight at supper.”
    “Well, I am tired. The trip is not for the faint of heart, to be certain. I’m also anxious to get started with the bookkeeping and such. I know Uncle Arjan said it’s going to take some time to get things recorded properly. A lot of what I need to put down on paper is registered only in his head.”
    Mother gave a light laugh. “Arjan has a good mind for such things, but I keep sayin’ that if something happens to him, we won’t none of us know what’s going on. I think he’s more relieved than I am to have you take over the office.”
    Deborah looked out across the darkness. Occasionally fireflies winked their light, but otherwise the velvety blackness remained unbroken. “It feels strange – coming home after being gone so long.”
    “You’re no longer a child.” Euphanel gazed at her daughter. “Something happens to us when we cross that threshold to womanhood.”
    Deborah considered that a moment. “Everything seems different, and yet nothing has changed.”
    “You’ve changed.”
    She startled at her mother’s words. “I’m still the same old Deborah.”
    Her mother shook her head. “Hardly that. You are a woman now. While many would have called you one before, there can be no doubt about it now. You have tasted the world and its delights – traveled to see so many exciting things. You walked beyond your own gate, as my mother would say. It opens your heart and mind to so much that you didn’t know before.”
    “I suppose so,” Deborah admitted.
    “It was what made life so difficult for me when I first came to Texas as a young bride,” her mother continued. “I had walked beyond my gate, and I knew what the world could offer. Your father brought me here in 1858. His dreams fueled his desire for a new life here, but my dreams were wrapped up in him. Texas seemed a terrible desolation to me – at least until your grandma and grandpa came west during the war. I kept thinking of all that I’d known in Georgia. Now you will think of all that you knew back East.”
    Deborah shrugged. “But while I was back East, all I could think about was Texas. I honestly missed my family and home. But . . .”
    “But?”
    She heaved a heavy sigh and looked at her mother. “I almost feel like a stranger in returning. Does that sound odd to you?”
    “Not at all. I remember when I accompanied my parents back to Georgia just before my grandmother passed on. Let me think now . . . you were just a little girl of eight – maybe nine.”
    “I was nine and heartbroken that you left me to accompany them,” Deborah said. “I was afraid you might never return.”
    “It was hard to leave you here – the boys, too – but I knew it would be a hard trip for a child to endure. The South had suffered so much during the war and frankly I was afraid of what we might face.” She paused for a long pregnant silence. “I was right to be afraid. Nothing was the same. It broke my heart to see the changes, and I was glad to return to Texas. That’s when I realized, however, that my heart had changed – this was home now. There was something bittersweet in that realization.”
    “I think I’m going to miss my classes a great deal, but not the city. I prefer the quiet, easygoing pace I find here. There is a frantic spirit in the East that seems to devour everyone in its path. I will miss hours of reading and educating myself to new cultures and ideas, but I will be happy for the peace. And for the comfort that comes in knowing that people know you, recognize you,