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Hairtique that had an old-time soda fountain in back. “Oh,” she’d said, dismayed, “I don’t think so. Not on Alcott Street.”
    She returned to the present and hugged Marce again. “Find the way you want to go,” she said. “It’s what Frank would want for you and the girls. Ben and I are finding ourselves this summer—you can, too.”
    “I know.” Marce looked up at the multigabled house, her eyes tearing again. “I know.”
    Kate had just finished loading the dishwasher when Ben came in the back door. “Got any breakfast left?”
    She looked at the schoolhouse clock on the wall. “Running a little late, are we?” she asked in the haughty-innkeeper voice Marce had told her to use if guests got too recalcitrant.
    “I was at the hospital.”
    Oh. So much for recalcitrant. “Really? Everything okay?”
    “The emergency room doctor had an emergency of her own. Calling me in was quicker than getting someone to come from Montpelier or Burlington, and I can practice in Vermont, so here I am.”
    She poured coffee from an insulated carafe and handed him the cup. “So, how did it feel?”
    “Fine,” he admitted. “You’d expect Thursday night to be slow in a town the size of Fionnegan, but it wasn’t. Being busy meant I only had time to do what I do. I couldn’t be mad about my dad or upset about hospital politics or any of that. So, yeah, it was fine. No one died, no one threatened to sue anybody else.” His smile was the one she loved, the one that had stayed alive and well in her heart ever since the first time she’d seen it.
    It was a lot like his kiss.
    She warmed a couple of Penny’s pastries in the microwave before setting them in front of Ben. “If you’re working the bar tonight, you’d better get some sleep.”
    “I will.” He grinned at her. “But thanks for worrying about me. Mom would be relieved.”
    Fifteen minutes later, she walked outside with him. “I’m going to plant some flowers today,” she said idly, looking down at the flower bed nearest the back door, where perennials were sending out brave shoots of green. “You know, tempt Jack Frost to pay a return visit.”
    “It’s a sure thing the ground’s plenty soft,” he grunted. “Mud season at its peak, though all the signs say it’s going to be a short one this year. It’s a bright, sunny day. Do you want some help?”
    “No.” She gave him a push. “Go to bed, Doctor.”
    She planted two flats of annuals at the bed-and-breakfast before filling the garden cart from the garage with tools and still more plants. She put the inn’s cell phone and a thermos of coffee into a tote bag and walked over to Alcott Street.
    The blackened area where her house had stood had been cleared a few days before. Weeds were already poking their way through the excavated soil, but as far as she could tell, none of the landscaping that had surrounded the house had survived the fire and its aftermath. She had to look at the trees in the back for a long time before the lump of grief in her throat dissolved. Back there, the maples were encouragingly green and the paving-stone sidewalk she’d laid circuitously through the grove was intact.
    Kate rebanded her hair, which had half-fallen out of its ponytail, and reached for the rake.
    “Hey, Kate!”
    She turned to see Jayson trotting toward her. His gait was ungainly, but the appearance of clumsiness did nothing to slow him down. “Whatcha doing?” he asked. “Can I help? Did you know Ben was gonna teach me to ride a bicycle? It’s his old one and it’s blue. He says its name is Navy but if I want to change it I can. But I won’t. I like the name Navy, don’t you?”
    “Wait for me, Jay.” Debby’s voice sounded thin as she followed her brother to where he stood, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
    The younger woman looked exhausted, and Kate gave her a concerned look. “Of course you can help, Jayson,” said Kate. “Why don’t you stay with me while Debby goes home for a