“Yes!” Abby lit up. “I am! Grandma said you make the best sugar cream pie she’s ever eaten.”

“I haven’t had a piece of sugar cream pie since my wife died,” Mr. Parker said, lowering his newspaper, his eyes misty.

“I wondered,” Abby said. “Could I buy one from you for Grandma? I’d like to surprise her.”

“You don’t have to pay me,” Bryony said. “I’ll bring one in next week.”

“Me, too?” Mr. Parker asked. “But I’m gonna warn you, if it’s anything like the ones my wife used to make, I won’t stop with one.”

Bryony smiled. “I’ll bring one in for you, too.” She glanced over at the third fixture. Etta continued to stare at her laptop screen, tapping on the keys, engrossed in whatever she did every day. Bryony deliberated about offering a pie to her, too, but chose to not interrupt. Something about Etta scared her a little. She didn’t want to bother her unnecessarily.

CAL PERSISTS

After texting once, Cal had decided not to bother Bryony anymore on Sunday. Instead, he visited with his father on Zoom, and called Heidi to talk about Halloween plans.

On the videoconference, his father complained Heidi would worry him to death about the ways he might die if he insisted on living at home alone.

On the phone, Heidi complained Cal’s absence put her in the position of bearing full responsibility for ensuring their father’s safety. She provided a sample of what—Cal assumed—she fed to her father on a daily basis. What if he fell? What if the house caught on fire? What if someone broke in and hurt him?

What if he hired someone to help? Cal had asked, but Heidi shot down the idea as it hung in the air still touching his lips, countering with, What if the paid caregiver rips off Dad? What if they hurt him? What if they marry him?

The last suggestion made Cal laugh so hard Heidi couldn’t help but laugh, too, while continuing to insist those kinds of things happened all the time. Read People Magazine or Star, she had said, making him laugh all over again.

All of the love and laughter had given him a good night’s sleep.

On Monday morning, he woke with one mission in mind, to stop at BeanHereNow to see Bryony. He waited until after school, so he didn’t have a deadline to meet. When he entered the coffee shop, he strode to the counter. Bryony finished with the person in front of him, and Cal started to ask how she was feeling, but stopped when she looked at him.

“What will you have?” she asked. She looked pale. Maybe the headache had hung on.

“I guess I’ll have a latte.” He waited until she turned her back to make the latte before asking, “Is everything all right?”

“As good as it can be,” she said. She set the steaming cup on the counter and snapped the lid on it.

He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and found his credit card. “Are you sure?”

She forced a mechanical smile. “Peachy.”

He held out the card. “What’s up, Bryony?”

Lillian appeared at Bryony’s side and snatched the card from Cal’s hand. “Bryony seems distracted today, Cal. Why don’t you two have a seat over there and chat for a few minutes? Maybe you can help her focus.”

Bryony started to protest, but Lillian lowered her chin and raised her eyebrows. Cal had never seen a more perfect version of, Not another word out of you. Bryony seemed to understand as she raised her hands, palms toward Lillian, in a clear response of, Okay, I surrender, and led the way to an empty table in the far corner of the shop.

When they were both seated, Cal decided to wait for Bryony to explain. Whatever was going on, she did not want to talk about it. He would not push her.

He didn’t have to wait long.

“There was a guy,” she began.

“Is he still around?” Cal asked. Mitch had mentioned someone dumping her—idiot—but maybe she was dating someone else now. He had considered asking, but saw no signals to indicate there might be another guy.

She shook her head. “No, he’s not around, at least not here. As far as I know, he is far far away, and I’m happy he’s gone.” She seemed to lighten up.

Cal relaxed.

“He’s not around because he broke up with me last year.” She paused there, lowering her head, but raising her eyes to indicate implied meaning. “After he met someone else at the beach.”

“The beach?” Cal asked.

“The beach,” she repeated.

Shrugging his shoulders, Cal gestured confusion with his hands and said, “I don’t get it. He was a jerk. What does that have to do with me?”

“Are you planning to move south someday?” Bryony asked. “Do you want to retire to a life of hanging out on a beach?”

“No, why?” Perplexed, Cal wondered if Bryony had confused him with someone else. “I don’t hate going to the beach, but it’s not one of my favorite spots. I’m more of a woods and rolling hills kind of guy.”

Bryony leaned forward. “So, why did you start asking me about Brazil?”

“Right.” He had raised the question, hadn’t he? “I’m sorry, Bryony. I should explain.”

He told her about Leslie, how she had asked him to marry her after announcing her plan to move to Brazil. “I thought she was joking at first,” he said. “But she had planned it all out. She had studied Portuguese for a year without telling me.”

“Why didn’t she talk to you about her plans earlier?” Bryony asked.

“She said she wanted to surprise me,” Cal answered.

“Brazil’s a big surprise.” Bryony seemed more at ease, the blood returning to her cheeks, turning them to a soft pink.

“She bought an engagement ring for me,” Cal said. “We were standing on the edge of the football field on graduation day. She opened a velvet box to wave a shiny silver ring with a huge diamond under my nose.”

“Sounds like a bit much,” Bryony said.

“It was hideous,” Cal said.

“Did she go?” Bryony asked.

“Oh, yes,” Cal answered. “But she’s not down there anymore. She came back in six months, sick of the weather, homesick. She wanted to resume our relationship.”

“And you didn’t?” Bryony asked.

“No,” Cal said. “I was over it. Remember when I told you the one thing I can’t forgive is when someone hurts my students?”

Bryony nodded.

“I guess another is when people I should be able to trust lie by omission. Leslie betrayed me when she didn’t tell me about her plans. I was totally blindsided. My buy-in was assumed, an afterthought, if thought of at all. I don’t have room in my life for one-sided relationships anymore.” Cal glanced at his watch.