“Bless that dog.”

“I know. Thanks to him, I woke up to birds singing and got up and then went down to do the chores. After I fed him and the cat, of course.”

“Did you go in the chicken house?” Amalia asked.

“Ah, no. But I opened their door and fed the rest of the animals. Addy is down feeding the chickens now.”

“She’s okay?”

“Yes, we had a good talk after I fell apart—again. Amalia, I tried so hard not to.”

“And that only makes it worse.”

“I know. I am learning, albeit slowly.”

Amalia’s voice soothed. “Ginny, life is not a contest to see how quickly we learn, which is an incredible gift from our God, who wants to help us grow. He never says, ‘Hurry up.’”

Ginny blew out a breath. “Well, this seat is getting rather hard. I’ll talk with you later. Got to get dressed and Addy wants French toast.”

“Good for you both. Later.” Amalia clicked off.

“Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful friends and family.” She sniffed. “I take too much for granted. Way too much. Sorry, Father.”

She was in the kitchen getting out the griddle when Addy and Spook burst through the door, the girl laughing, the dog yipping and bouncing.

“I won!” she announced.

“Won what?”

“I challenged Spook to a race up here and I won.”

He sat at her feet, tongue lolling in a doggy grin.

“He thinks he won.” Ginny nodded at him. “You better get him a puppy treat after accusing him like that.” She pinched a large piece off the sausage for each patty. “You can start the egg and milk to dip the bread in. I use a pie pan.”

This time she let the tears drip. French toast and sausage was one of Fred’s favorite breakfasts. Today they would have it in celebration of him. “Make sure you pour orange juice too.”

“Okay. Grandma, you’re crying again.”

“Nope, just drippy eyes.” She sniffed and smiled through her tears. “Please hand me a tissue.”

“Your hands are all greasy. You want me to wipe your nose for you?” Concern wrinkled her forehead.

“You think you can?”

“Grandma, I babysat the neighbor’s baby, and he doesn’t like to have his nose wiped. I’m sure you’ll hold still.”

Ginny snorted, then burst out laughing. “I can’t believe this.” She held still so Addy could finish her self-assigned job. “Thank you. Shoot, and I can’t even hug you.”

“Sure you can, just don’t wipe your greasy hands on my shirt.” They reached for each other, amid more laughter and tears.

Am I crying because I am sad or because this is so very crazy? Surely the latter.

Chapter Eighteen

You know, this is the first time I’ve been on a date in, oh, ten years or more.”

“Really?” Roxie leaned her head back on the car seat. “Let’s see. My husband died sixteen years ago, and the last years when he was fighting cancer for his life, we did not do any dating. So that means, if you don’t count husband-wife date nights, not that we called them that back then, I’ve not been on a date for…ah, let’s talk about something else.”