Never in her life had she felt as if she were the focus of anyone’s world. In the three years she’d spent with Neil, not once had she lost control. Sex had been a choice, not a need, and it had always followed a predictable pattern. She’d always had the feeling that either of them could have walked away at any point, and it wouldn’t have mattered. After Ryan had walked away, she’d felt so wound up and frustrated she’d almost chased after him and begged him to finish what he’d started.

Lizzy tugged at her arm. “Your face is red.”

“It’s the sun.”

She was wondering how she was ever going to look Ryan in the eye again, when the door opened. Any awkwardness she might have felt from the knowledge she’d spent the previous night physically welded to this woman’s grandson melted away under the warmth of the welcome.

As for Agnes and Lizzy, it was love at first sight.

Some friendships, Emily knew, were instant, and this was one of those.

Within five minutes of knocking at the door, Lizzy was sitting at the kitchen table eating freshly baked chocolate cookies as if it were something she’d done hundreds of times in her life before.

“Handsome bear.” Agnes slid her glasses onto her nose and took a closer look at the toy clutched tightly in the child’s fingers. “Ryan’s sister Rachel had a bear just like him. He’s upstairs somewhere. I had to mend him a few times. Looks like yours could do with mending, too. Would you like me to do that for you?”

Lizzy glanced at Emily and then slid the bear across the table.

Understanding the trust implicit in that gesture, Agnes examined it carefully and then produced a sewing box from a cupboard. “It’s nothing serious. Just something that happens when a bear is very loved. Emily, could you thread the needle for me, honey? My eyes aren’t what they used to be.”

Emily dutifully obliged and then glanced around the sunny kitchen as Agnes settled down to mend the bear. This, she thought, was how she’d imagined a kitchen should look. The countertops gleamed, pots of fresh herbs were lined up along the windowsill, and delicious smells wafted from the stove. Through the windows she could see butterflies flitting through the colorful blooms that crowded the lush, leafy sanctuary.

“You have a beautiful home.”

“It’s too big for one person. I rattle around like a bean in a jar.” Agnes glanced up from her emergency repair and saw Emily looking at the herbs. “I love to grow my own food, but it’s harder now I can’t tend the garden myself. So, Ryan bought me herbs I could grow on the windowsill.”

Having finished the cookie, Lizzy slid off the chair and wandered after Cocoa, leaving Emily with Agnes.