Page 232 of Taken Away

"And if it turns into a disaster..."

He smiled.

"...I'll drive us home."

Blackwood Estate

Anne had set the table.

That was the first thing Aubrey noticed.

Not just plates on the counter. Not paper napkins. Not the careless half-effort Anne usually offered when she wanted credit for trying.

The table was set.

Blue plates. Cloth napkins. A chipped white pitcher full of hydrangeas from somewhere near the road.

The food was already out when they arrived.

Chicken browned in a cast-iron skillet. Cornbread. Green beans. Peach cobbler cooling on the stove.

For a moment, Aubrey couldn’t speak.

Anne stood near the sink, wearing a yellow blouse Aubrey remembered from years ago and an apron that looked too new to belong to her.

“Well,” Anne said, smoothing a hand over her hair. “Don’t just stand there.”

Bennett stepped forward first.

“Smells good.”

Anne smiled at him.

“Thank you, Bennett. That’s because I didn’t make anything complicated enough to ruin.”

He laughed softly.

Aubrey looked at him, then at Anne.

And for twenty minutes, it almost worked.

Anne was easy.

Funny.

She told Bennett about the summer Aubrey had decided she was going to be a veterinarian and brought home every injured creature within three blocks.

“A bird,” Anne said, lifting one finger. “Two stray kittens. A turtle with nothing wrong with it except an attitude problem.”

Bennett smiled across the table.

“That sounds about right.”

Aubrey looked down, but she was smiling too.

“I was eight.”

“You were determined,” Anne said.