their homework all over the school hallway. If she had to pick teams, Mikey would be one of her first choices.
Prompted by Ted’s whining, the girls opened the rest of the picnic baskets. They passed around red plastic plates and blue gingham cloth napkins, reminding Kate of people who worked on assembly lines. Soda bottles and an opener were passed around next, and those were followed by plastic silverware.
Kate watched how the girls arranged their plates and how they unfolded the napkins and draped them across their laps. She copied their movements precisely. Finally, platters were arranged in the center of the quilts, and everyone moved to the edges of the blankets, anchoring the fabric to the prickly grass.
Geoffrey arranged himself so he sat on the edge nearest Kate, and she smiled as she passed him a plate of sandwiches.
“Well, thank you, Miss Kate,” he said quietly as he stretched his leg and brace out of the way.
She inhaled, smelling the scent of his soap. “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t tasted them.”
Geoffrey glanced down at the pimento cheese oozing from the squishy, crustless white bread. “Why don’t you try one first?”
“No, thank you,” Kate whispered with a slow grin. “I don’t eat weird orange cheese sandwiches.”
The wind gusted hot, sticky air across the grass and tried to snatch napkins from laps. Kate’s spine stiffened. The skin on the back of her neck felt as though a dozen spiders skittered across it. When she looked away from Geoffrey, Martha was smiling at her.
“So, Kate,” she said, “I guess you heard all about Geoffrey’s accident.”
Kate nodded, and before she could come up with a more proper response, Martha continued talking.
“And he’s doing so well now, aren’t you, Geoffrey? When I heard what happened, I was worried you’d be in a cast all summer.”
Geoffrey popped a square piece of white Cheddar into his mouth and shook his head. “Wouldn’t have wanted that,” he mumbled with a full mouth.
Martha leaned toward Kate as though she had a secret to share. She spoke in a low voice, but it wasn’t quiet enough for only Kate’s ears. “Did he tell you about his helper?” she asked.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Kate spun the chilled soda bottle around in her hands, cooling her palms.
“The one who helped him after the wreck, after Benjamin went for help.”
Kate stopped moving; she stopped breathing . Her eyes jerked toward Geoffrey, but it was Matthias who watched her. He moved his head, side to side, barely an inch in each direction, but Kate understood.
“He told me the doctor took care of him. And I’m sure Dr. Hamilton and Matthias have been great helpers to have around too.”
Martha smiled, and the sunlight glinted off her large, white teeth. “I guess he didn’t tell you about the other person.”
You mean me, Martha?
Geoffrey cleared his throat. “Great cookies, Sally. You should tell your mom to sell these at the candy shop. I know I’d buy them.”
Sally’s cheeks flushed, and she twirled a few fingers through her blonde curls. “She’ll be glad to hear that.”
“Hey, Kate, what did you bring?” Geoffrey asked. He pointed to the unwrapped plate of cookies resting on the quilt at her knees.
“Oh,” she said. She spun the glass bottle into the grass and dirt behind her until it propped up by itself. Then she unwrapped the plate. “Lavender cookies.”
Geoffrey took the plate from her hands and dropped a cookie onto his knee. Then he passed the cookies to John.
“Are they actually made with lavender?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes, fresh lavender, but you can use dried too.”
Ted reached for a cookie and wrinkled his nose. “Isn’t lavender a flower?”
Kate laughed. “Yes. It’s also an herb, a very useful one.”
Ted sniffed a cookie and passed the plate. He stared at the cookie as though waiting for it to perform a trick in his palm or poison him through his fingertips. Kate resisted the
Richard Murray Season 2 Book 3