It took a long moment before Serenity finally spoke. “If you happen to meet a good man—someone like your father—it’s better for you to get married. At least you’ll have a partner, someone to help share the load. But if you truly can’t find anyone, you can follow Everly’s lead.”

Jeanne replied, “Capable and fiercely loyal men like my dad are incredibly rare these days.”

That was a blessing from her parents’ generation; none of the younger crowd had been lucky enough to find anyone like that yet