Almost as if he were responding to her words, Moishe got to his feet, gave a little shake, and dropped down again in a belly stretch with his front legs extended as far as they could reach toward the foot of the bed and his back legs stretched out behind him so that they touched the edge of his pillow. Stretched out like that, Hannah noticed that he covered well over half the length of the bed.

“You’re a really long kitty,” she told him. “No wonder you’re always trying to take over my half of the bed. And this is a king size bed. They don’t come any bigger than king size.”

“Rrrrroww!” Moishe responded, just as if he were answering her.

“Okay. Let’s go.” Hannah sat up on the edge of the bed and reached for her slippers. She pulled them on, shrugged into her robe and padded down the hall with Moishe playing tag with the belt of her robe.

The kitchen light was on and fresh coffee was in the pot. Hannah poured herself a cup, fed Moishe, and was just sitting down at the kitchen table to drink her coffee when Michelle came out of her bedroom.

“Morning, Hannah,” Michelle greeted her.

“Good morning, Michelle.”

“Are you going to take your shower right away, or can I use your exercise machine for a quick five-minute workout?”

“You can use it. My eyes aren’t fully open yet. The last time I wasn’t fully awake for my shower, I slumped to the floor, fell asleep on my back with my mouth open, and almost drowned.”

“Really?” Michelle looked shocked.

“No. I’m just kidding. But it’ll be at least twenty minutes before I’m ready to take a shower. Go work out and have fun . . . if that’s possible.”

“It’s possible,” Michelle said with a smile. “I love to work out first thing in the morning. It’s so invigorating.” Then she turned on her heel and headed back the way she’d come.

“She loves to work out first thing in the morning,” Hannah repeated to Moishe. “At times like this, I feel like Carly. You heard what she said about Jennifer last night. If Michelle likes to work out first thing in the morning, she can’t possibly be my sister.”

They were standing outside Hal and Rose’s Café when Rose McDermott flicked on the lights, turned the sign that hung on the door from closed to open, and unlocked it to let them in. Hannah and Michelle trooped in and sat at the first booth so that Rose wouldn’t have to walk far.

“What’ll it be?” Rose asked, coming up with two cups and the coffee pot without being asked.

“Coffee, please,” Hannah answered. “I didn’t get my full four cups this morning. And then you can tell us what’s good for breakfast.”