“Nell! Nell, wait a minute.” Shaking his head when she didn’t respond, Zack jogged across the street. “Let me give you a hand with those.”

It amazed her she didn’t jump straight out of her sneakers as he reached out, took two of the bags. “I can get them. I can do it. I’m in a hurry.”

“You’ll move faster if you’re not weighed down. Supplies for the café?”

“Yes. Yes.” She was nearly running again. She could get another salad put together. Ten minutes, fifteen tops. And prep the ingredients for sandwiches. Then she could deal with the sweets. If she could get started right away, there might not be any gap.

“I guess you’re pretty busy.” He didn’t like the look on her face. It was so grim, so set. Like someone about to go to war.

“I should’ve anticipated. There’s no excuse for it.”

She shoved through the back door of the shop, bolted up the stairs. By the time he got to the kitchen, she was already unbagging.

“Thank you. I can take care of it now. I know what to do.”

She moved like a dervish, Zack thought, her eyes glassy and face pale.

“I thought you got off at two, Nell.”

“Two?” She didn’t bother to look up, but continued to chop, grate, mix. “No. I made a mistake. I have to fix it. Everything’s going to be all right. It’s going to be fine. No one’s going to be upset or inconvenienced. I should have planned better. I will next time. I promise.”

“Need two sandwich specials and a veggie pita—Jeez, Nell,” Peg murmured as she stepped to the doorway.

Zack put a hand on her arm. “Get Mia,” he said quietly.

“Two specials and a veggie. Okay. Okay.” Nell set the bean-and-cucumber salad aside, hauled out the sandwich ingredients. “I bought some more eggplant, so we’ll be fine. Just fine.”

“No one’s upset, Nell. You don’t need to worry. Why don’t you sit down a minute?”

“I only need a half hour. Twenty minutes. None of the guests will be disturbed.” She picked up the orders, spun around, then jerked to a halt as Mia came in. “It’s all right. Really, it’s all right. We’ll have plenty of everything.”

“I’ll take those.” Peg eased by, slipped the orders out of Nell’s hand. “They look great.”

“I’m just putting together a new salad.” There were bands around her chest, around her head. Tightening, tightening. “It won’t take any time at all. Then I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll take care of it. Don’t be angry.”

“No one’s angry, Nell. I think you should take a break now.”