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everything she wants won’t solve the heartache.”
    â€œNo, it won’t.” Breezy reached for another dust collector to wrap in paper.
    â€œI have too many snow globes and knickknacks.” Oregon looked around the tiny living space. “Why do I collect things?”
    Breezy smiled at that. “Now that is something I have an answer for. Because we moved so much as children. Things mean stability, having a home. If you collect something, you take it with you so that every new place feels a little familiar. Like home.”
    Oregon agreed as she looked at the shelves filled with things she’d collected. She had moved often as a girl because her mom couldn’t stay in a relationship. Breezy, on the other hand, had spent much of her life drifting and homeless. Oregon wanted more for her daughter. She wanted a place where Lilly could have roots, family, a real home.
    â€œI’m happy for my daughter. She loves Duke. She’s loved him since the day we got to town. I just don’t want him to let her down. I don’t want to lose her, either.”
    â€œYou won’t lose her. And if ever there was a guy who wouldn’t let a kid down, it’s Duke Martin.”
    â€œIn my heart I know that.” But old hurts were hard to let go of. So many men had let her down. Starting with her own father, a man whose name she didn’t even know, and ending with Duke, who should have remembered her. It was hard to put her trust in him now.
    She taped the box and gave herself a lecture about trusting. Because she knew that she could trust God. She knew that He wouldn’t let her down. He wouldn’t go away. He wouldn’t change His mind. Whatever happened with Duke, with Lilly, she knew they would get through this.
    â€œI’m going to bring a casserole to the new place this evening so you don’t have to worry about cooking.” Breezy reached for an empty box.
    â€œThank you.”
    Breezy set the box down on the table and reached for a stack of books. “Why did you come here after so many years? I guess we all wondered what changed.”
    Fair questions. Duke had also asked, pushing to know more about her sudden appearance after so many years. He had wanted to know about the years in between, when she hadn’t thought it was a good idea to tell him about Lilly.
    Life changes and so do people
, she had told him the previous day. But she hadn’t told him that sometimes things happen and a mother realizes her little girl might someday need a safety net, another parent if one has to go away.
    Her heart ached at the thought of ever having to leave her little girl alone. She wanted to be in her daughter’s life for decades, not years. She wanted to watch Lilly grow up. See her get married, have children and grow older.
    â€œOregon, are you okay?”
    She nodded, somehow looking at her friend with eyes free of tears. “Of course. I’m just emotional. I love this silly apartment.”
    Breezy shot her a look and shook her head. “I do not believe you are that attached to this place. And when you change your mind about talking, I’m here.”
    â€œI know you are.” She managed to keep her hands from trembling. “What are people in town going to say? How will they treat her now that they know?”
    Breezy put down the cup she’d been about to wrap and hugged Oregon tight. And Oregon didn’t back away. She closed her eyes to fend off tears but held on to her friend.
    â€œPeople love you, and they love your daughter. That isn’t going to change.”
    â€œBut life is going to change.”
    â€œYeah, that’s something we can’t avoid.” Breezy released her. Oregon listened to the brush of crutches on the sidewalk. Lilly was home.
    Oregon hurried to open the door for her daughter, and Lilly gave her an “I can do it myself” look.
    â€œAre you done working for the day?” Oregon asked as