Debbie sighed as she watched him hurry away. At least the rest of the family still loved her. It was small comfort, but it was a comfort nonetheless.

*  *  *

The doorbell was ringing and ringing. Debbie dropped her mixing spoon back into the bowl, ignoring the fluff of flour that poofed over the edge and onto the counter as she ran to answer the persistent summons.

She peered through the peephole and then screamed with delight. The door flew back with a thud and for just a moment the sunlight was blocked by a very tall man wearing a weary smile and juggling a multitude of bags. The woman standing beside him had a bag over one shoulder and a baby on the other.

“Lily! Case! Why didn’t you call? Why didn’t you tell us you were coming? Someone could have met you at the—”

Case dumped the bags and scooped her up into his arms, laughing as he moved her over to make room for the rest of his family to come in.

“You haven’t changed a bit, Deb. You still talk faster than you walk, and that’s saying something,” he said. “Besides you know Lily. The moment the doctor said she could travel, we were on the plane. She’s been very worried about Morgan.”

“Lily! You look great!” Debbie said. “Your dad’s next door. He’s going to be so excited.” And then her expression changed as worry tinged her voice. “I’m in your old room. It’ll take me a little while to get my stuff out of—”

“Leave it,” Lily said calmly. “I spent my entire life across the hall from my big brother. I know how cranky he can be in the morning. I don’t think he’d appreciate listening to his nephew crying during the night. Are the twins still gone?”

Debbie nodded.

“Good. We’ll take their room. It’s bigger anyway.”

It didn’t take long for bag, baggage, and family to be moved into the Brownfield residence. Case wandered back through the house, taking note of the layout and the inviting blue waters of the backyard pool, and found Debbie staring blankly into a bowl of partially mixed dough.

“Did you forget what you were doing?” he teased as he slid a gentle hand across the back of her neck. “You’ve been a godsend to us, honey. I can’t tell you how much we appreciated you coming out when you did. But as you can see, as soon as the doctor gave her the go ahead, Lily was packed. All I could do was follow.”

Debbie looked up into those dearly familiar big-sky eyes, so blue they made her heart ache, and promptly burst into tears.