The woodworker had refinished the round tables for Hester’s not a second too soon, and Sadie had spent all afternoon putting the final details into place. Along with her other finds, Sadie had gathered eclectic clutter from Renee’s house and made it shine. It was fairly mind-boggling how the space had come together. A playlist, including some songs Sadie could remember Grandma Hester playing during their cooking sessions together, was set to go on their streaming account.

It was going to be a great opening day. But now she had to chill out a little.

“Oh! Sorry about that, Mom. I couldn’t resist a slice of your gooseberry pie before bed last night. It was incredible.” Tansy started to move from her cozy corner of the sofa, but Renee shook her head, smiling.

“Don’t worry about it. Glad for the positive review. I was considering adding more vanilla.” Not only was she happy her daughter was home, Renee was also thrilled she’d replaced her nighttime vodka cranberry with local berry pie. “Whatcha reading tonight?”

“Some cozy murder mystery I picked up from the library.”

“When did you go to the library?”

“This afternoon.” Tansy padded into the kitchen, hugging her mother from behind. “Are you nervous for tomorrow?”

Nervous was an understatement.

As if the pressure of Hester’s grand opening wasn’t monumental enough, unbeknownst to Tansy, Bree was going in for a second test next week. The first biopsy had come back inconclusive, an especially evil form of torture. A larger sample needed to be taken and sent to a special lab. “Please don’t tell Tans,” Bree had pleaded with her. “I want to be her cool, strong aunt for as long as I can.”

Renee sighed. “Oh, I’m nervous all right.”

“Well, just remember this.” Tansy whirled her mother around, her eyes big and teasing. “If you need me to distract people somehow, I can definitely do something dramatic.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“I don’t know—give myself a haircut with the giant opening-day scissors? Smash a pie in my face?” Renee shook her head, starting to laugh. “I mean it, Mom! I’m willing to do anything for you.”

“And I so appreciate that!”

The doorbell rang just then, and Tansy sprinted toward the front door. “Mom!” she called. “Sadie’s here!”

Renee made her way to the foyer. Sadie stood on front porch, a bottle of chilled sparkling apple juice in one hand, champagne and two flutes in the other. “Hey there, business partner.”

She had the same sweet smile as the very first time she knocked on this very door, her bike resting against the house. She must have only been fifteen then and had brought markers and crayons instead of champagne. But at this moment, time melted away and she was so grateful to now call Sadie her dear friend and partner.