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amused grin. “If you’re goin’ in the woods, you’re gonna need shoes, gal.”
    Grimacing at her forgetfulness, Rebekah dashed into her bedroom and fished from under the bed the brown lace-up shoes Mama had found in one of the charity barrels city folks donated to the church. She forced her feet into the shafts without loosening the laces, tied a quick bow at the top, and darted back into the main room.
    Daddy waited by the back door. “Ready now?”
    She lifted the hem of her skirt and tapped the scuffed toes of her shoes together.
    “Let’s go then.”
    Rebekah trailed Daddy past their dried-up garden plot, past the corncrib and tobacco barn, and into the woods. She could hardly believe her luck. Most Saturdays she worked alongside Mama tidying the cabin, plunging their sheets and blankets in a tub of sudsy water, then tossing them over bushes to dry. A morning in the woods with Daddy was a treat. Smelling the perfume of new, uncurling leaves instead of lye soap, enjoying Daddy’s cheerful whistle and the chatter of squirrels instead of Mama’s deep sighs and her sisters’ squabbling. And best of all, she’d have him all to herself for a long talk.
    Daddy lifted a pine bough and held it up so Rebekah could duck under. He let it go, releasing the sweet scent of pine along with little droplets of moisture. She turned and walked backward in front of him, studying his whiskery face. They were far enough from the cabin no one would overhear, but was he in a mood to listen?
    “Gal, you’re gonna knock yourself on your backside movin’ like a crab.”
    She grinned. Daddy had visited the ocean once when he was young, and he never tired of sharing about the rolling sea and the funny little creatures he’d chased along the shore. His teasing let her know it was safe to talk about something serious like a job. And Andy.
    She reached for his hand, the way she used to when she was no bigger than Little Nellie, and he caught hold. “Daddy, I heard you an’ Mama this morning.”
    His fingers tightened. “Thought so by the look on your face when I opened the door.” He carried her hand to his chest and chafed her knuckles against the rough fabric of his overall bib. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I wasn’t upset with you, gal.”
    “It’s all right, Daddy. I worry about Mama, too.”
    The path narrowed. He released her and took the lead.
    Following close on his heels, she gathered her courage and spoke to the straps crisscrossing his broad back. “I’d sure like to help get that marker for Andy.”
    Daddy’s steps faltered, forcing Rebekah to slow her pace. Then he set off again, his stride long and his feet thudding on the hard ground. “I shouldn’t ’ve made that promise to your mama. Not when I know deep down I can’t keep it. How will I get the money? We spend it fast as it comes in. I got nothing of value to sell except the land, an’ I won’t never part with that. Not with our family’s bones planted in the soil.” He spoke soft, so soft she barely heard him over the crunch of their feet on dried pine needles and the wind’s whisper through the tree branches. “No, I won’t be able to keep that promise, no matter how much I want to. But Nell needs somethin’ to hold on to. Some little hope to keep her heart beatin’ ’til the Lord finally heals all the hurt she’s got inside.”
    Rebekah grabbed the X on Daddy’s back and drew him to a stop. He turned, his brows pulled into a puzzled frown. “Gal, why’re you tuggin’ on me?”
    “ ’Cause I need you to listen.”
    “To what?”
    She straightened to her full height—two inches taller than Mama but still a good six inches shorter than Daddy. She looked her father directly in the eyes. “I want to help you keep your promise to Mama. I want to buy that fancy headstone with Andy’s name and a verse carved into it.”
    Daddy’s frown changed to such a look of sorrow Rebekah experienced the sting of tears. He gripped her shoulders.