His mom came up and hugged him, and he turned easily and gathered her into his arms, lifting her off the ground.

“Don’t squeeze me, I’ll fart,” she warned, and he laughed and put her down. She beamed up at him. “Dinner’s nearly ready. Are you hungry?”

He nodded. “Yup, or at least I think so. It’s tomorrow in Japan, and my body isn’t sure what’s going on yet.” He grinned and shrugged, clearly happy to be home. The only one happier than him and Maggie was Daisy. She was hopping around on her claws, making tiny noises of frustration. Asher looked down and sat right on the patio, welcoming the little dog into his lap. She went nuts, rubbing her wrinkly face on him, spinning around and making whiffling sounds.

Polly looked at Bob. “See? Hurts, doesn’t it?”

•   •   •

A couple of hours later, with Cheshire cat smiles of pizza crust all over the table and wineglasses and beer bottles fighting for space, Polly was riveting the group with tales of the Larchmont excitement of the previous year. She was on her third cranberry and soda, but was pacing herself and had dropped the maraschino cherries.

“So, Nina found out she had an extended family she didn’t know about?” Laura was finding this hard to imagine.

“Yes,” crowed Polly, clearly still delighted by it. “She knew she must have a dad somewhere, she’s not a changeling, but her mom never talked about him. Then last year he died and she found out she had, you know, a million relatives in the city. It was a total trip.”

“She wasn’t as pleased as you might think,” added Anna sympathetically. She had a younger brother she would have swapped for a kitten at almost any point in their childhood. Possibly still.

“She was horrified,” clarified Polly. “Totally horrified.”

“Why?” asked Asher, who knew Nina only vaguely but was obviously no stranger to Knight’s and Larchmont.

Polly shrugged. “Nina’s shy.”

Laura was about to express disbelief when Maggie leaned out of the kitchen door. “Anyone want an ice cream sundae? Show of hands.”

Asher moaned and looked at his mom. “Did you make . . . the sauce?”

She nodded, counted hands, and went back inside.

“A small one,” called out Polly, then hoped Maggie hadn’t heard her.

Asher looked at her. “I take it you haven’t had the sauce yet?”

“I’m not sure . . .” Polly looked thoughtful. “She makes one that tastes like eating toffee on the beach, all salty and sweet at the same time—I’ve had that one.”

A small smile started to play across Asher’s face, and he nodded. “Yes, that’s a good one, but hopefully not that.”