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mother, and they need a temporary replacement, through the end of October.”
    “You’ll be teaching high school students?” Lem said. “I don’t know, Mom. Some of those kids can be rough on substitute teachers. It ain’t pretty.”
    Shiloh shook her head and gave him an amused smile. “It ain’t ‘pretty’ how ya’ll try to be rough on me, either. I’m flattered that you’re worried about me, but I think I can handle it. The question is, can you guys handle stuff around here while I’m doing this? You’ll have to pitch in with dinner, laundry, and other chores more than usual.”
    Her two middle sons, Omari and Raphael, frowned.
    “We have to do girl stuff?” Omari groaned.
    Shiloh restrained herself from glaring at him. She had created some monsters. She glanced at Randy, who strategically avoided eye contact by reaching for the plate of fresh-baked cookies in the center of the table. No—she corrected herself—
they
had created some monsters.
    “Let’s just say you’ll have a chance to practice some skills you need anyway, to take care of yourself once you go off to college,” Shiloh said. “And for your information, none of the things I mentioned counts as ‘girl stuff.’ They are life skills.” She waited several seconds for that truth to resonate. “I’ll take your silence as evidence that you’ll fully support me and will be on board with helping out more. Thank you!”
    The boys opened their mouths to protest but fell silent when Randy raised his palm. “Let’s chill, guys.” Randy looked down the long table and locked eyes with Shiloh. “I can tell this means a lot to you. It will inconvenience the family for a while, because we are used to you doing everything, taking care of the house and us. But if this is something you feel strongly about, we are going to support you.”
    Shiloh blew him a kiss. “Thank you, babe.”
    “Now, we don’t want fast food meals for dinner every night just ‘cause you’re working.” Randy winked at her. “But if you want to give this teaching thing a try, go for it.”
    Shiloh rubbed her palms together and looked around the table. “Chick-fil-A, here we come!” she said and laughed, before softening her expression. “Seriously, though, we’ll get through this fine. Lots of families have two working parents. I’m excited!”
    “What happens if you get into the classroom and hate it? Is there an out clause?” Randy asked. “Or will you be forced to stay the entire term, even if it isn’t working out?”
    Why is he thinking it won’t work out?
Shiloh felt irritation creeping up her spine, even though she knew he didn’t mean any harm. She responded with a shrug. “Dr. Carter and I didn’t get that far. I’ll ask him about that, and also ask him to email the contract so you and I can go over it together.”
    Shiloh sat back and smiled. Maybe it was premature, since she didn’t know what she was getting herself into, as Randy was wisely pointing out, but for the first time in a long time, she was enthusiastic about something more than her cherished roles of wife and mom. This was for her, and it felt good.

seven
    Shiloh held her cell phone at arm’s length and glared at it.
Should have known better.
    Still elated after the call from Dr. Carter two days ago, and their first formal meeting this afternoon, she had taken a few minutes before Wednesday night Bible study to check in with Mama. Now she was kicking herself. What made her think Mama would be imressed by her opportunity to teach? Mama was the perfect Southern Baptist minister’s wife for her generation; she had never done anything that would take her away from Daddy and the church. Why had Shiloh thought she’d celebrate her plans to manage her First Lady role differently?
    Mama was in the middle of a lecture about the proper care and nurturing of preacher husbands and their families, and refused to be interrupted. In a single breath, she had imagined Shiloh’s four sons in