“This will be your third great-grand, right?” Leah asked.

“Our fourth,” Rudy answered.

Tess jabbed him with an elbow. “Our third.”

Rudy bobbled his fork. It clattered onto the floor. “Oops.”

“Rudy,” Tess scolded.

He scooped up the errant fork and held it out in front of him like a flower as he approached the coffee bar to ask for a replacement.

Tess gave a long-suffering sigh.

Leah told herself to eat her waffle and her two strips of crisp bacon more slowly. Breakfasts at Sugar Maple Kitchen were meant to be savored.

Tess took a ladylike sip of coffee. “Update me, please, on Dylan’s college applications.”

“He’s decided to pursue a degree in art, but so far he’s only submitted one college application. One!” She could bemoan Dylan to Tess and Rudy because she was certain of their adoration of her brother.

“Even I know that he ought to have a portfolio of applications, so to speak,” Tess said. “Some schools that are aspirational, some practical, some you can be sure he’ll get into.”

“Precisely.”

“Don’t lose heart. Everything is going to turn out beautifully for him.”

“It’s hard to see how, with him so . . . recalcitrant.”

“The main thing is to find a school that suits him, a place where he’ll be appreciated and inspired to learn.”

“I agree, of course. It’s just . . .” She blew a tendril of hair out of her way. “He’s maddening!”

“Leah,” Tess said.

Leah met the older woman’s eyes.

“It will work out. You’re doing an excellent job.” The force of Tess’s will was not to be quibbled with. “It will work out.”

Rudy sank into his chair. “I’m just going to keep this here from now on.” He stuck the new fork behind his ear. He grinned at Leah, and she smiled back. He looked both ridiculous and cute.

“Rudy,” Tess warned.

Cowed, Rudy held the fork properly, then regarded his plate with awe. “I’d love some chocolate sauce to top this off.”

“Absolutely not,” Tess replied. “You’re borderline diabetic.”

Leah spotted a familiar face leaving the to-go line. “Connor!”

His expression brightened when he saw her. He neared, carrying a drink holder with two coffees in one hand and a bag of pastries in the other.

“Bringing breakfast home to your mom?” Leah asked.

“You guessed it.”

She introduced Connor to Tess and Rudy, who both sized him up with ill-concealed interest.

“Connor grew up here,” she told the older couple, “then went to college in California and stayed on the West Coast for several years.”

“I love Disneyland,” Rudy announced. “So much fun!”

“He started teaching art at the high school,” Leah explained, “the semester after I started there.”

“What brought you back to Misty River?” Tess asked.

“I came back to help my mom after she was diagnosed with ALS.”

“Ah.” Rudy’s demeanor radiated empathy.

“How’s your mom doing?” Tess asked.