I thanked her profusely, she sent back more eye rolls, and the next morning I drove to the restaurant with Eddie in his carrier. “You’ll be fine,” I said softly as I got out. “It’s not that cold and I’ll be back in half an hour.”

That was all true, but I still felt guilty leaving him alone. Guilt, in spite of the fact that he was snoring when I shut the door and was likely to still be snoring when I got back.

Inside, Leese and Mia were just sitting down. I slid in next to Mia, because while Leese was many things—a top-notch lawyer specializing in elder law, a talented softball player, and a fantastic cook—small was not one of her qualities. She was a very sturdy six feet tall with brown hair almost as curly as mine. It was hard to believe she was in any way related to the thin, average-height, straight-haired Mia. Yes, they shared half a genetic pool courtesy of their late father, but clearly the maternal genes had dominated in both cases.

“And there she is!” Leese said. “Haven’t seen you in ages, seems like.”

“Hi, Minnie,” Mia said softly.

“Morning to you both.” I looked up as Carol, the other regular waitress, came over. “No Sabrina?”

Carol shook her head. “She and Bill went on a vacation.”

This pricked my interest. As far as I knew, the farthest Sabrina had ever traveled had been to Lansing, the state capital, on a fifth-grade field trip. “Where are they going?”

She shrugged. “Somewhere warm, is all I know. Now, what can I get you ladies?”

We ordered, with Leese pushing Mia to get something protein- and calorie-laden and Mia resisting, but eventually adding a side order of bacon to her plain oatmeal. When there were mugs of coffee in front of all three of us, I turned to the object of Josh’s affections and said, “Mia, I have to ask you something. I’m sorry I agreed to do this, as it’s really none of my business, but I made a promise and now I’m stuck, so I have to do it, though I’d really rather not.”

Leese snorted. “If you keep going on like that, we’re going to be here all day, and I have a nine o’clock. Get to the point, Hamilton.”

I ignored her and kept my focus on Mia.

“It’s okay,” Mia said, staring at her coffee. “Go ahead and ask. It’s about Josh, isn’t it?”

“He’s just . . .” I searched for the right words. Found them, realized how much he wouldn’t like it, decided I didn’t care, and went ahead. “He’s just scared of losing you.”

“He . . . what?” Mia’s eyes went wide. “Losing me? Why would he think that? I love him! I love him so much it hurts sometimes.”

“Then why won’t you move in with him?”