Abigail smiled and swept her gaze across the horizon. Both Chihuahuas were running so fast their feet barely connected with the ground before lifting up again. A handful of other dogs roughhoused nearby, but all seemed happy and friendly despite the muffled growls that rose into the air above the park.

“Remember to live,” Abigail said thoughtfully. “That’s what they helped me with. It might be different for you, though. Oh, sure, I didn’t believe it at first either, and I can tell from your expression you’ve got more than a couple doubts about the situation, but just… trust it, okay? Can you do that?”

Harmony shrugged, and when Abigail’s face crumpled she quickly turned that shrug into a nod—a hesitant one, but agreement all the same. The two women hadn’t been close growing up, and Harmony doubted they could be close now, but it did seem like the pastor’s daughter wanted to help.

“How long have you been married?” she asked, groping for a change of topic in hopes Abigail wouldn’t pry deeper into her life or the events had heralded her return to Charleston.

“What makes you ask that?” Abigail responded, keeping her eyes glued to the Chihuahuas as they jumped into the fray with the bigger dogs.

Harmony pointed toward the baby. “You said this is Owen, right?”

Abigail’s face fell, but only for a moment before she righted it again. “Oh, right! Well, I’m not married at the moment, but I am engaged. Just recently, as a matter of fact. Do you remember Gavin Holbrook from school?”

She pictured the tall, handsome jock from her youth. Many of the girls had harbored not-so-secret crushes on Gavin, but not Harmony. She’d talked herself out of crushing on anyone back then, and she wished she’d have continued the habit into adulthood, too. There never was any use setting herself up for future disappointment.

Still, she was happy for Abigail that she’d managed to find a small bit of happiness in this crazy world. But she was also a fair bit confused.

“Didn’t your father raise a fuss about you being unmarried and—?”

Abigail rushed to correct her. “Oh, no, no, no. That’s a whole big story. I’ll tell it to you sometime, but today is about you and Muffin, not about me and little Owen here.”

“Ok-ay,” Harmony said slowly, stretching the word apart into two long syllables. Even though she was curious, she knew it wouldn’t be fair to press the other woman about her past when she herself wanted to keep everything in her life a secret.

“But first, can I ask you something?” It seemed she needed a fresh topic change again, and her visit to the church had taken up far more time than she’d planned. It was time for Harmony to ask for help—better Abigail than the pastor, she supposed.

Abigail turned to her with a warm smile that looked so much like her father’s. “Sure. You can ask me anything.”

Harmony tried not to flush with embarrassment. She hated asking for help, but occasionally it was necessary. “Do you know where I might be able to rent a room for the next couple months?”