Lanie took out her journal and dated it April 12, 1928. She started the habit of writing down everything that happened to her when she was no more than eight years old, and now she had six journals completely full. She thought about the prize at school, almost prayed to win, but somehow she could not. "God," she finally said, "I'll do my best, and if you'll help me, that's all I ask." Fourteen-year-old Lanie Belle Freeman of Fairhope, Arkansas, has high hopes for her future. Happy on the five-acre family homeplace, she dreams of going to college and becoming a writer. And with her father...

Lanie Freeman had to grow up fast. Her mother died when she was just fourteen and now her father is in prison. The oldest of five children, seventeen-year-old Lanie has transformed into a surrogate mother ... and a beautiful young woman. Not only must she keep her family together, but lately she has drawn the attention of Roger Langley, son of the richest man in town. Tensions run deep between the Freemans and the Langleys. And on top of it all, Louise Langley accuses Lanie of trying to snatch away her handsome fiance, Dr. Owen Merrit. Dr. Merrit has long helped out the Freeman children, but...

Raising four strong-willed younger siblings after her mother's death and her father's imprisonment, seventeen-year-old Lanie Freeman never knows what new adventure will roll into view--such as her brother's wild idea to turn the family's old truck into a traveling store. The Freeman Rolling Emporium could provide the financial security Lanie and her family so desperately need, or it could tear them apart. Yet it's only a prelude to other changes. Author Brent Hayden's arrival in Fairhope breathes fresh life into Lanie's dream of becoming a writer. And then the hammer descends ... Lanie's...