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I opened the door for her. “I have my moments.”

She climbed in, and this time her smile lasted long enough to reach her eyes.

The cottage was silent when we got there. Sybil wanted a shower, water, and sleep, in that order. I checked the house while she showered, then changed out of the clothes I had worn at the farm. By the time I came down the hall, she had crawled into bed with damp hair spread over the pillow.

I stopped beside the mattress.

Sybil lifted the blanket without opening her eyes.

I got in.

She moved into me almost immediately, fitting herself against my chest while I settled one arm around her waist. Her bandaged hand rested between us, and I shifted until there was no pressure on it.

Neither of us tried to make the night into anything else.

We slept.

***

Sunday afternoon sunlight spilled through the front windows of The Sugar Basket and turned the glass display cases bright enough to show every swirl of frosting and stripe of chocolate inside them. The place smelled of cinnamon, coffee, caramel, and warm pastry, with a deeper trace of chocolate drifting from the kitchen whenever the swinging door opened.

Laurie had claimed two tables near the back and pushed them together.

Pamela was moving mugs out of the way so Frankie could set down a platter of sandwiches when Sybil and I came in. Angie rose so quickly from her chair that she bumped the table with one hip and sent three spoons rattling against their saucers.

Sybil barely had time to unzip her jacket before Laurie wrapped her in a hug.

Pamela waited beside them until Sybil reached one arm toward her too. Then both women had her, Laurie pressing a kiss into her hair while Pamela kept a careful hand away from the bruised knee.

“The paramedics checked me last night,” Sybil said, though she let Laurie look her over for another second before easing free. “I’m sore. That’s it.”

Laurie frowned. “They checked you at three in the morning. I want to know how you feel now.”

Pamela touched Laurie’s shoulder. “Give her enough room to take off her coat before you begin the examination.”

Laurie gave her a look that convinced no one, and Sybil used the distraction to escape toward Angie.

Angie reached her next without saying anything and wrapped her in a hug. Sybil squeezed her back just as tightly. Frankie stayed near the table until Angie released her, then gave Sybil a careful squeeze and told her he was glad to see her standing.

Within five minutes, Laurie had put tomato soup, half a turkey-and-cheddar sandwich, and a mug of tea in front of Sybil. A plate of pastries occupied the center of the table despite the fact that nobody needed dessert yet.

I had coffee and a sandwich of my own.

Sybil looked around at the food. “Did you expect a football team?”

Laurie sat beside Pamela. “I expected my family.”

Frankie reached for a second sandwich. Angie pushed the pickle from her plate onto his. “He’s been doing his part since high school.”

Pamela asked Sybil whether the paramedics had given her anything for the knee. Laurie interrupted herself halfway through telling me where the mustard was because she had to go ring up a customer. Frankie carried an empty tray toward the counter on his way back from getting more coffee and returned with two iced pumpkin cookies one of the bakery employees had declared too crooked for the display.

For a while, the conversation stayed away from Grant.

Sybil ate most of her sandwich before Angie leaned her elbows on the table and looked at her.

“I have been trying to decide whether asking you about last night makes me a good friend or an unbearable one.”

Sybil wrapped both hands around her tea. “You’ve managed both before.”