“Oh, please. I scramble eggs and flip flapjacks. This—” He paused to load up his fork with a heaping bite that contained a little of everything. “—Is much more impressive.” He even made a series of loud, appreciative sounds to prove his point.

Both dogs whined and shook their fluffy butts but stayed sitting where Harmony had instructed for them to wait.

“I’m glad it meets your approval.” Virginia noticeably relaxed now that she had Nolan’s good opinion. “Now, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

Harmony kicked him under the table to remind him of their deal.

“Oh, ouch, um…” Nolan, who was terrible at being subtle, swallowed his bite, took a sip of sweet tea, and then started over. “I came by to ask Harmony on a date, and she invited me in for your famous home cooking instead.”

“Oh, Harmony,” her landlady said with a sigh. “While I do appreciate the company, you’ll have a much more enjoyable courtship without me tagging along as your third wheel.”

“Point taken,” Harmony said peaceably, wracking her brain for a change of topic.

But before she could come up with something satisfactory, Ginny spoke again. “You two do make such a nice couple. I could see the chemistry between you right away. Look, even your dogs are just smitten with each other.”

Everyone glanced toward Muffin and Pancake. The two of whom had decided to lay down and cuddle up in each other’s warmth as they watched for any stray bit of food that might be dropped from the table.

“They sure are,” Nolan said, and then everyone laughed as both dogs tilted their heads in the same direction, almost like a synchronized dance—never mind that the little dog’s entire body was still smaller than just the great Wolfhound’s head.

“Love is funny like that,” Virginia said. “If you’d told me all those years ago that I’d wind up married to Mr. Clementine, I’d have argued with you until I was blue in the face. Yet here we are, more than thirty years later, and still just as happy as the day we said ‘I do.’”

Harmony smiled and nodded. In all the time she had been living with Virginia, she had not even met the man once, and he’d only called to talk to his wife a handful of times. While she loved Mrs. Clementine dearly, Harmony often asked herself whether her new friend was in denial or simply trying her best to hide her collapsing marriage from others. Harmony did what she could by praying for them each and every night.

If their relationship, however, showed what happily married looked like, then she was definitely better off alone.

Chapter 24

Harmony

The next day started to feel normal again despite the scare Alan’s appearance had been given to everyone. Jolene, of course, rushed to tell her version of the run-in with Harmony’s ex, but Nolan mostly hung back in the kitchen and focused on his work. Once they’d finished their closing duties, he offered to escort Harmony back to Virginia’s house.