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“We brought coffee,” Janice called. “And your father decided we needed sandwiches.”

Alan kissed the side of her head as he passed. Janice handed Kate a cup.

They gathered beneath the tree while Alan unpacked sandwiches, sliced apples and the last pieces of a pie Gabe had sent over that morning.

Wes sat beside Kate on the grass. Penny immediately climbed into the space between them, ate half an apple slice, abandoned it in Kate’s hand and reached for pie.

“Sandwich first,” Kate said.

Penny looked at Wes.

He shook his head. “Your mom outranks me.”

“Everybody outranks you,” Penny said.

Alan coughed into his coffee.

Wes turned slowly toward him. “I’m learning that.”

Kate laughed and leaned against Wes’s shoulder. His arm came around her easily.

It had become easier for all three of them over the last week. Not instant. Not perfect. Penny still went to Kate first when she was tired or hurt, as she always had. Wes never pushed into those moments. But she had begun looking for him when she had a question about apples, ladders, tractors, weather, or anything else she had decided he probably knew. Usually, he did.

Eileen accepted a cup of coffee from Janice.

“Are you heading back today?” Janice asked.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“You could stay longer.”

Eileen looked across the orchard. “I know.” After a moment she added, “I might come back next week.”

Janice’s expression remained carefully neutral. “To visit?”

“For now.” She looked toward the old cabin, mostly hidden by the trees from where they sat. “I want to have another look at something.”

Kate did not follow her gaze. She had learned from her parents not to decide what other people wanted before they had decided for themselves, so she ate her sandwich and kept quiet.

Beside her, Wes’s thumb moved slowly across the back of her hand. He had noticed too.

Penny finished the acceptable portion of sandwich required to gain access to pie and scrambled to her feet. “Can I go see my tree again?”

“It hasn’t changed in five minutes,” Kate said.

“I know.”

She ran back toward the rootstock. Alan went after her, still carrying his coffee. Janice and Eileen began talking about the fruit remaining in the cooler and whether Eileen wanted another box to take with her.

For a few minutes, nobody needed anything from Kate. She tipped her head back against Wes’s shoulder.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re quiet.”

“I’m enjoying it.”