Jimmy pulled out the plastic container and held it up for the jury of one. “Two,” he said.

Susan acted unfazed by the proceedings, her face a blank slate.

“There are two cookies in this box, which, for some reason, was hidden behind the toaster.” He put the container in the box and placed it before her on the counter. Without a hint of a smile he said, “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Only that . . . I meant to eat those, too,” she said.

Finally Jimmy bobbed his head, raising his eyebrows. “Oh, there will be consequences.”

She lifted her hands and waved her fingers at him. “Consequences? What kind of consequences?”

He took the wet dish towel from his shoulder and flicked it at her, the end cracking like a whip.

“No, Jimmy! Seriously, stop it!”

He moved around the island and she ran from him, laughing. “No!”

“You promised!” Jimmy said, snapping the towel again. “Listen, you owe me an entire box of cookies all for myself and you can’t have any of them.”

She stopped in her original position and Jimmy went back to holding the towel normally. “I’m going to get you a box of cookies right now. I’m going right this minute!”

Smiling, he said, “You don’t have to go right now. I can be patient.”

She added cookies to her list. “That’s okay. I have to pick up some diapers and some wipes and a few other things.”

Jimmy had gone back to drying. He held a yellow dinner plate in his hands but stopped and turned slowly, looking for an explanation.

Susan smiled. “Umm, for the Millers’ baby shower. It’s on Saturday.”

“Oh,” Jimmy said, resuming his drying. He put the dish in the drying rack and turned to the sink.

Susan had practiced how to bring up what she was about to say. She’d run through the scenarios in her mind of when might be best to broach the topic. Now seemed as good a time as any.

“That kind of reminds me. They don’t have a crib yet. And I was thinking that maybe we could give them ours.”

When Jimmy finally turned and looked at her, the same proverb came to mind.

“Each heart knows its own bitterness . . .”

He took a deep breath. “Could we take a little time to think about that?”

She saw the pain in his eyes. She could hear it in his voice too. “Of course,” she said, smiling. “Because I would only want to do that if you wanted to do that.”

He nodded and folded the dish towel for no reason.

“Okay, I’m going to go to the store and get you a very large box of cookies,” she said, pausing. “And thank you for doing the dishes.”

“Love you,” he said as she walked away.

“Love you,” she said.