Heat rushed to Cynthia’s face and tickled the back of her throat, making her cough. “Mom!”

She grinned and nodded. “Aha! I thought so.”

“You and Dad both. How is that even possible? I didn’t think you guys paid that much attention.”

“Darling, we pay all the attention.” She checked next to a line item and straightened a fork. “Now, go freshen up. They’ll be arriving soon.”

The cherry trees outside the residence gleamed in the sunshine like flocks of fattened flamingoes propped atop toothpicks. Rick stood next to the window and watched one of the trees dance in the wind. Pink petals floated down like falling feathers.

He heard Cynthia’s approach, identifying her from the heels that she wore. He steeled himself for the way she looked in her blue dress, for the way her eyes shone and the way her lipstick made her lips look lush and full. Properly prepared, he turned and looked at her. She hesitated slightly before she came all the way into the room.

He’d sat next to her at lunch. They’d chatted with everyone around them, but this was the first time they’d found themselves alone since her hotel room the day she left Katangela.

“I’m glad you were able to come to lunch,” she said. “It’s good to spend so much time with you.”

He silently agreed. This moment made all the formality of the morning worth it. “How have you been settling back in?”

She shrugged. “I feel lazy. This is the idlest I’ve been since high school. I’m ready to get back to work.”

She fidgeted with her feet, rolling her heel back and forth. He wondered if she realized it. He met her eyes and said, “So, last time I talked with you, you’d quit your job. Have you found something else? Somewhere to serve?”

“No. I’m working on getting my mind and heart back to normal before I try a new job.”

He appreciated her wisdom. He looked back out the window. “This is it for us. We go on leave starting tomorrow.”

She stepped closer to him. “Where will you go?”

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Home. Kentucky. It’s been too long.”

She rested her hip on the window seat. “Do you have a hard time going home?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s my refuge.” He thought about his parents’ brick house two blocks from his high school. Even though the little town changed every time he left it, it always still seemed the same. “It’s the place where I let all of this go. Nothing chases me there. I relax, connect with friends, family. It’s like a haven from the rest of the world.”

A shadow crossed her face. “I don’t know what to do to capture that.”