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“Yes.” Kate brushed past him, catching his hand on the way. She got the bank deposit from the compartment under the bar, her fingers still in his. “Are you going to drop it off?”

“Yeah. I’ll drop you off, too. Morgan left your car at the B and B.” He dangled her keys in front of her.

The tavern was closed and the night’s income safely in the night depository at the bank before Kate remembered she didn’t live at the bed-and-breakfast anymore.

“You could stay with me,” Ben suggested. “It’s a two-bedroom suite.”

Most of the time, Kate felt as though she’d matured. Their breakup in the tavern all those years ago had become a painful blip in her past.

Then there were other times.

“No.” She heard the regret in her voice and knew he probably did, too, but there was nothing she could do about that. “Just leave me at my car and I’ll go on to Alcott Street.”

She’d stayed there the night before and even though the downstairs kitchen-living-area were on the tent side of cramped, the two bedrooms and bath on the second story were surprisingly ample. She’d slept well in the new queen-size bed once she’d grown used to the sloping ceiling over her head.

“Okay, but I’m still following you home.” He stopped beside her car. “It’s too late at night for you to go into an empty house by yourself.”

She chuckled. “So you’re my father now?”

“No.” He slanted a sideways grin that slashed a deep dimple into his cheek. “But I figure you’ll tell him and it’ll earn me back some of the points I lost for wearing a ponytail.”

“Good luck with that.” But it was true that her parents loved Ben as surely as Tim and Maeve loved her—that had never changed. “Do you want to see the place when we get there?”

“Sure.”

She showed him the offices first, with the large oak teacher’s desk Marce had been unable to find a place for in the inn and the almost-matching file cabinets Kate found at an auction for a closing business in Montpelier. Even though the building was new, the furnishings kept it New England cozy.

“This is nice.” Ben sounded insultingly surprised. “I don’t know what I expected, but it looks successful. Like you’ve been in business for years rather than just opening Monday.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.” She looked around, prouder than she wanted to admit of their surroundings. “I want people to be comfortable when they come in, whether as job-seekers or clients who need personnel. I remember how on edge people were when they came into Schuyler and Lund.”

“Katy, it’s a law office—those make everyone jittery.” Ben snickered. “Having Skip Lund know your business is enough to put you on edge in and of itself. Has he signed up to use A Day at a Time?”

“He has.” She’d been delighted when her ex-boss called her. “He was quite surprised that we had both bookkeepers and a paralegal on our list.” She led the way to the short hallway at the back of the office and gestured to two narrow doors on the left. “Public restrooms, which I hated to use up the room for, but it seemed necessary.”

At the end of the hall, she slid open a pocket door. “Here’s home. This is the kitchen.”

The kitchen was, even in its tininess, efficient and comfortable. Had Kate never spent time at either Kingdom Comer or Bright Sky with their six-burner stoves and commercial-sized refrigerators, she would have loved it. She
did
love it—it just wasn’t any fun working in it because there was no room for anyone else.

The dining area had an old table from McGuffey’s—Mr. Hayes had fashioned a new leg for it—with four prettily mismatched chairs. The staircase divided it from a living room complete with a love seat, two chairs and a small fireplace. A glass-fronted bookcase was built in under the stairs on the living room side. In the same spot on the dining room side, a miniature buffet showed off the beginnings of Kate’s new collection of blue-and-white dishes.

“Wait till you see this.” She led the way up the stairs, her hand trailing along the banister. “It’s very compact. Just two bedrooms with a Jack and Jill bathroom, but there’s this little sitting area at the head of the stairs. I really like how it came out.”

“It’s nice.” He looked around her bedroom, his gaze resting for a long time on the Double Wedding Ring quilt her family had sent her from Tennessee. “It all looks like you.”

She laughed, although the tone of his voice bothered her. It had been sad, as though “looks like you” was a condemnation of sorts. “It shouldn’t. If it hadn’t been for Penny, Joann and Debby—not to mention my mom and sister long distance—the living quarters part would be furnished with one blow-up bed and a lawn chair. Now,
that
would look like me.”

“Come on down and lock the door after me.” He grinned at her. “And don’t forget to tell your dad.”

“Doofus.”

At the back door, Ben scooped her up and pulled her close to his side, then wrapped his other arm around her, too. “Thanks for working tonight.” His cheek rested against the top of her head, and she felt his weariness right down to her bones. When he spoke again, his voice was muffled. “We know our folks are going to die as we get older. Dan’s mom and dad are both gone. Penny and Joann have lost their father. I’m the only partner in my medical practice who hasn’t lost a parent. I’ve had months to get used to the idea, but I don’t think I’m any more ready now than I was when the extent of his heart disease was first known and a transplant was still a viable option.”

“There was hope then,” she suggested. “Something you could work with as a doctor and live with as a son. You’ve always been able to fix things, and this is something you can’t fix.”

“I know.”

He held her for a minute longer, and she stayed still, offering the only comfort she could. When he drew away, he kissed her forehead. “Thanks, short woman. You’re a good friend.”

Sometimes, she guessed, locking the door behind him, that just had to be enough.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“I
T
’
S
TOO
BAD
you don’t have temporary rooms on your list,” said Marce, handing Kate a to-go cup from the Bagel Stop. “I’ve had to turn away two people during the weekend of Morgan’s wedding. Ben’s already given up his suite to a family who’s coming today. T. J. says Traveler’s Rest is full, too.”

Kate sipped the coffee and leaned back in her desk chair—she’d forgotten how long the day could be when one spent it sitting. “It’s nice of you having that last-minute bachelorette party aka wedding shower tonight.”

Marce shook her head, looking rueful. “It’ll be good to have noise in the house. It’s so quiet since the girls went back to school. Plus, I’m missing Nick more than I expected.” She sat in the chair across from Kate’s desk. “Do you have anyone who could run the B and B occasionally if I want to get away for a few days?”

“Sure do.” Those were easy ones to place: retired people who didn’t need full-time jobs or benefits. Some of them were so flexible they said they only needed long enough to brush their teeth before reporting to work. Kate hadn’t put that to the test yet.

“Good.” Color swirled into Marce’s cheeks. “Next week, then. The first week of October. I know it will be busy, with autumn settling in so early this year even for Vermont, but I told Frank’s family I’d do the last of the winterizing at the family camp. Nick’s doing the same thing.”

Kate typed notes on the computer in front of her. “I’ll email you later with who’s coming, or text you. That work?” She tapped the print button and handed Marce the order.

Marce scanned the paper and nodded. “Perfect.” She looked around the office, smiling at the plants in the windows. “How’s it going? The business, I mean. I know it’s only been three weeks, but do you think it’s working out?”

“I do. I may need to hire someone sooner than I thought. Did you notice the chamber of commerce even put a park bench out front? The official Fionnegan welcome to A Day at a Time.”

“I remember when they put the one in front of Kingdom Comer. I felt as though we’d arrived as a business. The day Frank died, someone tied black ribbons to the armrests of the bench.” Marce looked thoughtful, but not as sad as she would have only weeks before. She got to her feet. “Sitting here isn’t getting the towels washed, is it? You’ll be early to the shower, right? It should be interesting. Most of us have never seen a bunch of history professors in one spot.”

It was a busy afternoon. Kate added two house-sitters to A Day at a Time’s labor pool, dispatched a driver to pick up a woman whose car committed suicide in front of the organic grocery store on Creamery Road and typed the first ten pages of Meg Palmer’s dissertation. When her eyes threatened to glaze over—tax law didn’t make for exciting reading—she made little bags of birdseed for Morgan’s wedding.

Dirty Sally came into the office and sat on the windowsill. She appeared to be waiting for something. Kate worried for a moment about Lucy, but Marce hadn’t said anything about the old dog ailing.

She shouldn’t have been surprised when Ben and Jayson stopped by on their bicycle ride. “I turned a corner,” Jayson said excitedly, dropping his helmet as he came in and startling Sally right off the window ledge, “and I almost didn’t fall off. I’m going to a party with Ben. It’s a—what kind of party is it, Ben?”

“It’s a bachelor party for Jon. Kate’s going to a bachelorette party for Morgan, but we can’t go to that one.”

“How come?” Jayson had Sally in his arms, stroking her a little more firmly than she liked. Rather than complain, the cat bumped her head against his chin, making him laugh.

Ben looked confused. “How come what?”

Jayson’s sigh could have powered a sailboat. “How come we can’t go to the party for Morgan?”

“Because it’s all girls,” said Kate. She sensed that the end of Ben’s patience was coming perilously close. “And we’re going to put on makeup.” It was the worst thing she could think of.

“Yuck.” Jayson shook his head sadly, then brightened. “You wanna go to the bachelor party with us?”

“Yeah, Kate, why not?” Ben’s laughter was silent, but it gleamed in his eyes and put that slash of a dimple in his cheek. “We promise no makeup.”

She grinned back at him. “You two need to go on about your business and behave yourselves at your party. We girls will do just fine at ours.”

The phone on her desk rang, and she picked it up, waving at them. Sally, contented with having seen two of her favorite people, retreated to the bed in the corner behind Kate’s desk.

The call was a new client, a day care manager looking for a new source for hiring. Thrilled with the business, Kate set the appointment with her for Monday and went back to Meg’s dissertation, thinking she’d seen two of her favorite people, too. It made for a bright spot in the day.

* * *

S
ITTING
A
LITTLE
apart from the others in the parlor at Kingdom Comer, she was the most beautiful woman Kate had ever seen. Her hair was dark, but highlights slipped through its thickness so perfectly it was hard to stop looking at it. Her skin had the expensively creamy look that came from better care than Kate had ever given hers. The woman’s makeup was flawless, and it was absolutely unbelievable that her body—complete with flat stomach—had recently given birth. She wore quite a bit of jewelry, but it didn’t jingle or in any other way draw attention to itself. Her dress, a simply cut sheath, fit like the proverbial glove. Its color complemented the highlights, the jewelry and the makeup splendidly.

Kate would have liked to hate her. But she’d talked to Nerissa on the phone several times. They’d snorted unladylike and unkind laughter together at Ben’s expense. The too-beautiful-to-live woman had been a good daughter-in-law to Ben’s parents, a good sister-in-law to his siblings, by all accounts a good wife to him. Her only flaw had been wanting her husband to be a grown-up.

Yes, Kate truly would have liked to hate her.

But she couldn’t.

“Well, at last!” Nerissa’s smile was beautiful, too. This was so unfair. “After all these years, I am so happy to meet you face-to-face.”

“I’m glad to meet you, too.” Kate shook her hand and smiled back, though she felt self-conscious. “Although I must admit it feels a little weird.”

“Here we are. The woman Ben McGuffey married and shouldn’t have and the one he should have married and didn’t.” Nerissa nodded decisively. “Yes, I’d say
weird
is the perfect word for it. We should either become our own reality television show or call in reporters and have a catfight. But I just had my nails done and I’m wearing an outfit my wonderful, spoiled baby hasn’t spit up on yet, so I’d rather just enjoy the evening.”

Kate nodded. “I’d like that, too. Is there any chance you have that baby with you? I could help a little with the spoiling part.”

“He is here, but Penny’s daughters are babysitting everybody’s children in Marce’s quarters, so I’m afraid you’ll have to get in a rather long line to see him. But I’ll bring him in when he’s hungry—then he’s insistent I’m the only one who’s properly equipped.”

Kate wondered what some of the out-of-towners thought of Morgan’s last-minute party. It was a cross between a kitchen shower, a lingerie shower and a roast that absolutely destroyed Morgan’s character. They ate soup and sandwiches and chips and desserts and laughed till their stomachs hurt. They drank mulled wine and hot cider and laughed still more. Then, after the food was gone and Kate and some of the other guests piled into the kitchen to help clean up, Marce made coffee and they drank that and laughed yet again. Deep, loving laughter of the kind that soothed the soul. Kate watched Maeve McGuffey’s face and saw joy soften the lines grief had settled there.

She wished Ben was here to see so he could tell his father that Maeve had laughed hard and she would be all right. It would make Tim’s day.

The guests ranged from Ben’s ex-wife to Morgan’s history department colleagues to her college roommate. At least half of her high school class at Fionnegan Academy was in attendance.

Laughter rolled through the room. Kate, sitting on the floor with Penny, leaned into her friend’s shoulder and thought what a gift it had been growing up in this little town with these people.

It had come home to her in the spring exactly how lucky she was, when her friends had circled the wagons and made her realize life as she knew it hadn’t ended in the ashes of her house. It was touching to see many of the same people and others besides offering that same reassurance to Maeve and Morgan as they prepared—amidst the joy that was Morgan’s marriage—to lose the husband and father they adored.

Nerissa nursed her beautiful baby, sitting quietly in the antique rocker in the corner of the room. Kate wondered if she regretted leaving the McGuffey family, or if she ever really had. Maeve and Morgan were both pleased to see her and hugged and kissed her children. Ben had given up his suite over the garage so she and her family would be comfortable this weekend. Her husband, Mark, was at the tavern with Jon, his friends and the male McGuffeys.

Ben liked the neurologist Nerissa had married. But was Ben jealous of him, too? Did he look at his ex-wife’s children and think they could have been his? Did he look at Nerissa and remember that she
had
been his?

Was Kate, despite liking her, jealous that Nerissa had held Ben’s attention long enough to have married him? She’d lived with him, shared his life as the doctor he wasn’t always sure he should be, loved him.

And when their dreams for their lives veered apart, she’d left him and created a new life for herself without him. Just as Kate had done when he’d ended their relationship.

Sort of.

Maeve looked at Morgan and smiled. “It has been an adventure raising my kids. We made Wendy sign a no-deposit, no-return agreement when she married Patrick.”

For just the piece of a moment, there was awkwardness as the people who filled the room remembered that Nerissa had indeed returned Maeve’s second son after only a few years. But Nerissa spoke into the silence, her voice light. “That was why Ben and I eloped when he had a weekend off. Neither of us was sure about the no-return part.”

“That’s sweet of you,” said Morgan, “taking some of the blame. I love my brothers, but I don’t see any of them as good husband material. Sorry, Wendy, but you’re a saint.”

“No blame.” Nerissa shook her head. “It takes two to unravel a marriage just as it takes two to make a good one. Although I agree that Wendy’s a saint.” She grinned at Patrick’s wife.

Wendy shook her head. “We just like each other. We learned that from your folks, little sister, that the liking’s as important as anything.” She gave Morgan’s blond hair a tug.

“But every marriage is different, because every person is different.” Maeve sipped coffee, her gaze far away. “Liking’s so important, but it’s not enough by itself. Neither is loving. Nor is sex. Nor is agreeing on money or politics or religion. All the pieces have to come together—not just once but every single time the puzzle falls apart—in order for the marriage to work.” She rolled her eyes in a way so reminiscent of Ben that Kate felt as though he were in the room. “And do believe me when I say marriage is definitely a puzzle.”

* * *

H
E
HADN
’
T
SEEN
Kate today, Ben realized as he dressed for his sister’s wedding Saturday evening. It was the first day since they’d met when she came to stay at Kingdom Comer that they hadn’t shared a walk or a ride or even a cup of coffee.

Well, except for the days he was in Boston, he corrected himself, living his other life. Eating dinner in restaurants with colleagues or occasionally in Nerissa and Mark’s Back Bay home. Going to plays downtown or in Cambridge or playing basketball with high school kids at the YMCA.

Until this strange summer out of time, he’d never been celibate, although he hadn’t been one to keep score, either. After his and Nerissa’s marriage had failed, he’d kept relationships casual. He’d never told another woman he loved her, never moved in with anyone or invited anyone to share his apartment in Charlestown. He hadn’t been “Uncle Ben” to anyone’s children but Patrick and Wendy’s and Nerissa and Mark’s. If the women he dated were mothers, it was incidental—he didn’t meet their children or go to their soccer games or birthday parties.

It had been a satisfying enough lifestyle. He’d been content with it. Although when he became less happy practicing medicine and came home to Vermont, he didn’t miss the life he’d left behind very much.

Because, Kate assured him, he could go back to it. For a day or two of every week, he was the Dr. McGuffey he’d been for years. The rest of the time, he could be Ben. The middle—and some said the worst—McGuffey son, Kate Rafael’s old boyfriend, and the guy who’d almost been a world-class skier.

“Almost” wasn’t a very good way to go through life.

“You do realize if we’re late, Morgan will have us killed.” Patrick came into the room without knocking, which Ben guessed was fair since the three of them had shared the space from the time they’d moved from the apartment over the tavern until they left for their freshman years at the University of Vermont.

Patrick’s tie was the worst of the shamrock ties Morgan had found at a garage sale. She was making the men in her wedding party wear the ties with black shirts and pants. Ben winced and tried not to look at his own, which was nearly as bad. “Where is she? I haven’t heard any hysteria coming from her room or the bathroom.”

“She’s already at the church with Wendy. The kids went, too, since two of them are flower girls and the other two are going to fight over carrying the rings up the aisle. Dylan just left to take Mom and Pop. He has to get all priestly before he performs the ceremony, too. Any bets on how long it takes him to make Morgan cry?”

Ben snorted. “We better hope he doesn’t make
us
cry. I think being full Irish and the sons of bartenders gave us extra tear ducts. Come over here. Your tie’s a mess in addition to being ugly. I can’t believe Wendy left you alone to tie it.”