By the time Annie had scraped the last of the vegetable stew into a bowl and announced, “That’s it, folks!” she was clean out of biscuits, cakes, and hot chocolate powder. Even with Peter, Alex, and Greg helping, they were still rushed off their feet. John had taken over the kiosk and had managed to soothe even the most impatient customers. There was something about his courtliness that disarmed people. It was not so long ago that Annie had found his manner overly formal and pompous, but now she found that it was one of her most favorite things about him.

“Um, Annie.” John came up behind her as she was finishing off two chai lattes. “There’s someone at the kiosk.”

Annie peered around his shoulder and made a reflexive “Urghh” sound. Max.

“Can I help you?” Annie asked.

“I thought I’d come and see you. The boys are staying with me tonight, so I thought I’d pop down . . .” He trailed off.

Annie looked back into the café. It was emptying out now; she would close in a few minutes anyway.

“Boys!” she called back. “Dad’s here. Go out and spend a bit of time with him, Billy and I can take it from here.”

“I thought we could talk,” said Max.

“About?”

“Everything.”

“Everything is not going to fit into this evening. And you may have noticed, I’m rather busy at the moment.”

“Later, then.”

Annie could feel John’s eyes on the back of her neck while Max made puppy eyes at her from the front. She turned back into the café.

“Honestly, boys, thank you, but it’s all right. I’ve got this.”

Alex and Peter finished what they were doing and headed outside. Greg followed behind them, but not before he’d turned back to Annie and given her an exaggerated eye roll. She smiled and began to clear tables. She saw Max hovering at the kiosk window in her peripheral vision but ignored him.

Alfred came in, and Annie brought over a slice of cake she’d held back for him.

“I’ll be leaving tomorrow,” he said.

“I know.”

“You’ve done a good job here.”

“I think you’re doing the right thing, but it won’t be the same here without you.”

“I’d have been pushing off to the city before long anyway.”

“But still. I’ll miss you.”

“John’s right. It’s time to face my demons. I’ve got to at least give it a try. Tide’s in tonight.”

“Good job you can sleep here, then.”

Alfred nodded and headed back outside.

—