Hannah pulled into her garage at seven o’clock on the dot. She’d shared a good laugh with her mother and Doc, and her long day was almost over. Michelle was here and Lonnie’s car was parked in her second space. Obviously, Lonnie had brought Michelle home from The Cookie Jar and they were both waiting for her upstairs. Perhaps they’d even have food. That would be wonderful. Delores had decided that she wanted to drive straight home to Lake Eden and not stop to eat on the way. That meant Hannah hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and she was as starved as a bear after a long winter’s hibernation.

When she’d locked the loaner car and climbed the steps to ground level, Hannah glanced at the visitor’s parking lot. It was full and that was unusual for seven o’clock on a weekday night. She didn’t really look at the individual cars until she noticed a Hummer parked illegally on the ring road that ran around the pond. Only one person parked there if Hannah’s parking spots were taken. And that was because the guard at the gate knew his car and wouldn’t call it in. Mike was here.

Hannah turned and her eyes scanned the cars in the visitor’s lot. Yes, Norman was here. And so was Andrea. It seemed it was company night again, and she’d been planning to have a bite to eat with a glass of wine, and then relax on the couch in front of the television with Moishe purring in her lap.

How much did her legs weigh anyway? Hannah thought about that as she climbed the stairs. Weren’t people’s legs supposed to be a quarter of their weight, or something like that? But that didn’t make sense. Then her legs would weigh . . . no, she didn’t want to think about dividing how much she weighed by any percentage at all. If she did that, she’d have to recall what she’d weighed the last time she’d stepped on the scale, and that was a three-digit figure she’d rather forget. Her legs weighed a lot, though. With each step she climbed, they seemed heavier and heavier. She knew that was probably because she was dreading the thought of acting bright and cheerful for company. Although they were her best friends and dearest family members, and she loved each and every one of them, she truly didn’t feel like putting on a happy face when she was so utterly exhausted.