While Helen put the finishing touches on her packing she also made a casserole dish of stuffed cabbage leaves from a heart-healthy recipe she found online. She grabbed an avocado and a bag of mixed greens for a salad; she couldn’t wait until the garden would provide some other vegetables to add to it. It would be her first time raiding the garden. It was almost June and things were coming in nicely, promising a nice crop. Another two months and she could get the entire salad from Sully’s garden.

“I’m impressed,” Sully said. “Who knew I’d like stuffed cabbage?”

“I don’t have that many recipes that are dependable,” she said. “I was always too busy to putter in the kitchen, but I was capable of throwing together a meal. It’s been a real treat having you on the grill. I had one in Chicago but it was rarely used.”

“And my stove was rarely used,” he said with a laugh.

“What will you do while I’m away?”

“I’ll be kept busy getting ready for Memorial Day weekend. Some people will take a few extra days off with their three-day weekend, make a vacation of it. Campers will start arriving this weekend. There will be a good supply, but then starting a week from now, it will be mostly full for the rest of the summer.”

“Tell me the truth, Sully. Will I be a little in the way?”

“God, no!” he said. “I have a couple of the Canaday kids helping out. I’m going to let them work the longer summer hours at the store. People are always welcome to the store porch and its electricity. They’re welcome to the showers and laundry facilities, and the ice machine is on the back porch. But I’m not going to increase my hours. Besides, the second best part of my day is looking over to the porch to see you writing.”

“Second?” she said. “And what’s the best part?”

He reached for her hand. “This,” he said. “I hope I’m so busy getting ready for the season to start that the week goes by fast.”

She hesitated, then decided on honesty. “Me, too. But, Sully, you know I’m only here for the summer...”

“Should be a good summer, then.”

She drank the last of her wine. “I’d better get going while I still have a little energy. I want to check my list and make sure I have everything.”

“If you were staying over, you could have another glass of wine,” he said. “Or that fancy stuff in the bottle that looks like a monk.”

“I suppose you’d let me use your guest room?”

“I’d let you, sure. That’s Maggie’s old room. But it really ain’t necessary to mess up two sets of sheets...”

“Why, Sully,” she said, laughing in spite of herself. “You surprise me.”

“Prolly not as much as I surprise me.”

“I’m going to get going before you tempt me.”

“Or you could stay and see if I have any temptation left in me,” he said.

“I’d like to think about that for a while,” she said.

“Okay, then, but I thought you were more daring than me. And I’m a willing man even though I’d prolly have to sleep with one eye open. I’ll walk you to your car.”

“It’s about ten steps away.”

“Then I’ll take the ten steps,” he said. He grasped her gently on the arm, escort fashion, and guided her down the steps. When they got to her car, he hugged her. “Please be careful, Helen. I think New York City is a dangerous place.”

“Only on TV,” she said. “I know my way around a big city. And I’ll be with people constantly.”

“I’m going to give you a kiss goodbye,” he said. Then he leaned toward her and gave her a peck on the lips.

She was shocked. Beyond surprised. She knew he was fond of her, of course. But she thought they would just be good friends. She stood motionless, trying to absorb the meaning of that kiss. Then she put her hands on his cheeks—his smooth cheeks because he always stayed clean-shaven if she was around—and planted a giant kiss on him. She put some genuine feeling into it. When she released his lips, he stared at her in wonder.

“Holy Jesus, if I don’t just feel eighteen,” he said.

“I’ll miss you, Sully. I’ll call you when I can.”

“Okay,” he said.

“And you be careful, too,” she said.

Maggie and Cal didn’t get back from Denver until Saturday. Sully dropped by their house on Saturday afternoon. “And how’s that little girl doing?” Sully asked.

“Well, she’s not a whole week post-op so she has her struggles but I’d say it looks positive. It’s a challenging road when you’ve had your head cracked,” Maggie said. “My partner has stepped in and will look after her while I’m here. I expect him to discharge her in a day or two.”

Sully played with Elizabeth for a little while, but when Maggie took Elizabeth upstairs for her nap, he cornered Cal.

“Cal, I need a favor,” he said.

“Anything, Sully,” Cal said.

“I need one of those fancy phones. The new ones that do everything under the sun, including taking pictures, making movies and let you see the person’s face when you’re talking to them. I have that old flip phone Frank gave me years ago but I don’t even know where I put it.”

“Well, now,” Cal said. “This is quite a transition. What brought this on?”

“I have a lady friend and she likes to travel. And she likes to text. And she likes to stay in touch.”

“Helen?” Cal asked. “Helen is a lady friend?”

“What else would you call it?” Sully asked, a little cranky.

Cal cleared his throat. “You want to come with me to buy this fancy phone?”

“How long does something like that take?”

“It’s very efficient and boring, but we’re going to have to go to Aurora. Or maybe Breckenridge. I can do that with you right away. Just let me find out where there’s a good phone store and the hours of operation. Want to do that Monday morning? While Enid and Frank can mind the store?”

“Let’s get this done as soon as possible,” Sully said. “I missed three calls from her already on account of I have to be near the phone in the store or house in order to get the call. I want one of those phones.”

“Absolutely,” Cal said.

“Thank you,” Sully said. “Tell Maggie I’ll see her later.”

There are only two mistakes one can make

along the road to truth:

Not going all the way, and not starting.

—Gautama Buddha

11

LEIGH HAD HIGH hopes that once Rob came home from Maia’s surgery in Denver, they would spend a great deal of time together. But there was graduation and his in-laws visiting and Rob was very busy. For a moment or two, Leigh worried that he’d rethought their relationship because he seemed busier than usual. Then he introduced her to his wife’s family and she sighed her relief—it was okay.

Even though Rob didn’t make a big fuss over graduation, at Finn’s request, his late wife’s parents wouldn’t miss it. And of course Finn’s aunt Sid and Dakota joined the celebration, such as it was. Leigh, of course, didn’t attend the graduation ceremony, but at least Rob included her in the dinner and introduced her as the woman he was dating. She met Grandma and Grandpa Speers.

She was learning to accept the fact that as long as he had sons living with him, there would not be any long, slow nights together. Their grandparents tried to convince the boys to make a Florida visit, but they were beyond that now. Finn wouldn’t dream of leaving Maia and Sean wouldn’t dream of leaving his baseball buddies.

But even without any luxurious nights together, they managed a little time here and there. Lovely time.

Then came Memorial Day weekend and the town seemed to fill up with people, which of course meant that Rob’s pub was busy. Sully was kind enough to include her with his family plans and she went to the Crossing on Monday and hung around on Sully’s porch. The entire Jones contingent was there together—Cal, Maggie, Sierra, Connie, Dakota, Sid and the little ones. Leigh looked at Sierra and said, “It’s a good thing there are a couple of doctors here.”

“I know,” Sierra said. “It’s getting to the point I can hardly lift Sam.”

“Because he’s a little bruiser,” Connie said.

The men of the family took turns in the store since the campground was pretty busy. Not only were they selling lots of things, the shelves had to be continually restocked. But Sully sat like a king on his dais—the porch—while Leigh tried to show him all the tricks of his new iPhone.

“I wasted a lot of swearing on this damn thing, but now I’m coming to see it’s kind of slick. Too bad I don’t have anyone to call except Helen.”

“Hey, I’m taking calls,” Maggie said.

“I answer when called,” Sierra said.

“If you need me now you can find me,” Cal said.

But it was kind of obvious that Sully wasn’t all that interested in calling them. And Leigh was finally catching on. This might be slightly more than a friendship between her aunt and Mr. Sullivan. But surely only slightly more.

They had traditional picnic food together, family-style on Sully’s porch. Leigh helped the other women in the kitchen. And Leigh took note that Sully called Helen several times and laughed with her on the phone. Oh my goodness, he was completely smitten!

Was Helen? she wondered. Where had her head been?

Oh, yeah. That was easy. On Rob.

After their Memorial Day picnic, Connie Boyle shot off some fireworks over the lake, then everyone dispersed.

Leigh really wanted to see Rob. The boys were with him, working in the pub. They needed the money and he needed the help, but by this time Monday night, things were dwindling. She jumped up on a bar stool. He came over straightaway.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said. “How was your picnic at the Crossing?”