Izzy thought about the soufflé, collapsed and sad on the kitchen table. She felt exactly like that soufflé. To think she’d been worried about today. This was so much worse.

Flora wasn’t just joining them for lunch. She was moving in.

7

Flora

“This is where you’ll be staying.” Izzy flung open a door and Flora hovered on the threshold of the room, feeling a little sick and shaky. In the time it had taken to load Flora’s things into bags and battle the traffic back to Brooklyn, the afternoon had slowly drained away. On the drive Izzy had assured her that a ruined lunch didn’t matter one bit, in a tone so cheerful that it was clear it mattered a great deal. Judging from the glint in Izzy’s eye, she didn’t just think Flora had ruined her lunch—she thought she’d ruined her life.

If Jack hadn’t been so caring and Molly completely adorable, she would have decided right away that this was a bad idea. Molly’s offer to lend her toys had almost made her bawl.

Aware that Izzy was watching her, she stepped into the room.

Light flooded through the windows. After a stressful and emotional day, a feeling of calm swept over her. The kaleidoscope of anxiety stopped turning in her head. The room was decorated in neutral shades of gray and cream. Flora had an urge to add a few touches of color; cushions in vibrant jewel colors to the bed, wild meadow flowers in a vase. But she wasn’t complaining.

She was used to dark and damp, and this was sunny and spacious with glorious views over the pretty garden. Cherry trees clustered together with bridal beauty, and the explosion of creamy pink blossom brought back such vivid memories of her mother that she almost doubled over. Most of her memories had faded, blurred by the passage of time, but one remained in her head with startling clarity. They’d visited the Botanic Garden in Brooklyn, near Prospect Park. Her mother had made a picnic and they’d sat on the grass in the sunshine, admiring the pastel perfection of the blossom. Later, her mother had painted the scene and Flora had hung it on her wall. It was the first thing she’d rescued when the water had started pouring into her apartment.