Page 2

“What kind of emergency?” Janice asked.

“I needed the bathroom and crackers.”

Alan straightened with Penny in his arms. “That sounds serious.”

“The bathroom was the emergency,” Penny told him. “The crackers weren’t.”

“So not an emergency at all?” Alan asked.

“Half an emergency,” Penny said with all the logic of a child.

Kate smiled, but her attention had already shifted to her parents. Her mother looked tired, maybe, but not worn out. She had dirt along one forearm, and her hair had escaped whatever she had done to it that morning, yet she was smiling in a way Kate had not seen during the frantic weeks of packing and moving.

“And you?” Kate asked. “How are you?”

Janice’s expression softened. She knew what Kate was asking. “We’re good. We’re still finding things we didn’t know we needed to know, but that was always going to happen. We didn’t buy the place believing we’d become orchard experts overnight.”

“Speak for yourself,” Alan said. “I’m at least halfway there.”

Janice glanced at his boots. “You got the tractor stuck yesterday.”

“I got it out again.”

“With help from next door,” Janice reminded him.

Kate looked between them. This, at least, was familiar. The comfortable running commentary of two people who had been married long enough to know exactly where the other one was exaggerating.

“We have a very kind neighbor named Wes. He owns the orchard next door,” Alan said. “He’s certainly made us feel welcome.”

“And like we’re not completely crazy to have taken on the orchard,” Janice said, smiling at Kate. “You should meet him while you’re here. He had to go into the city for a tractor part, but he’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Mom.” Kate put a hint of warning in her voice. Her mom never overtly tried to set Kate up on a date. But if the opportunity arose…

“I only meant that if you meet him, you can ask him if he thinks we’re coping,” Janice answered.

“Which we are,” Alan said.

“Come on. Come inside. I want to show you the house,” Janice said. “I made coffee. Penny, your room is ready. Grandpa has put some shelves up for all your books.”

“He did?” Penny asked and gave Alan a squeeze. “Thank you, Grandpa.”

“You are very welcome, sweetheart.” Alan nodded toward the trunk. “I’ll come back for your luggage.”

“I want to unpack now,” Penny said.

“I’ll grab your suitcase, and we can come back for the rest.” Kate opened the trunk and pulled out Penny’s unicorn-adorned suitcase.

As she turned toward the house, she sucked in a breath of the cool mountain air and let it out slowly. Her parents looked happy. That did not mean she was done checking, but it was a very good start.

When they reached the house, Janice poured Kate a cup of coffee. Penny insisted she needed to see her room before anything else, so Alan took her upstairs with the unicorn suitcase while Janice stayed in the kitchen.

Kate took her first sip and looked around. She couldn’t entirely stop herself. Rooms spoke to her before people had finished telling her what they wanted from them, and this one was no different. The kitchen was large, with plenty of light and enough space for a family table. She might have changed a few things for a client. This wasn’t a client’s kitchen.

There were apples in a bowl on the counter, a cardigan hanging over the back of one chair and two mugs beside the sink. A half-open box stood near the pantry with KITCHEN written across the side in her father’s handwriting. Nothing was quite finished, but the room already felt warm and lived in. It would make a wonderful family home.

“You’re doing it, aren’t you?” Janice asked.

Kate glanced at her. “Doing what?”