“What in the world is wrong with you? You and your dad have a fight? I’d think it was Dr. Coop, but since you refuse to even see the poor man—”

Cait cut him off. “Do you have something for me?” He was holding a piece of paper.

He handed it to her. “Forey wants you to go to the grocery for her and deliver it all as quickly as your old Jeep can move. Double pronto.”

She looked at the list. Two twenty-five-pound bags of unbleached white flour. Four twenty-pound bags of white sugar. A dozen boxes of brown sugar, both light and dark. “Why does she want me to do this?”

“You are asking me about women?”

Cait sighed. “I have to...” She couldn’t think of what she needed to do.

“Polish your empty desktop? That thing is so clean dust is afraid to land on it. Go! Get those nutritionally murderous items and deliver them. And why don’t you stay and talk to Forey? Tell her whatever it is that’s making you jump at every little sound.”

“I don’t—” His look cut her off. She couldn’t make someone who’d changed her diapers believe a lie. “Okay, okay, I’m going.”

As she quickly ran the errand, her mind never left her problem. What if...? How would she...? Maybe she should...? All questions she couldn’t answer.

She hauled the bags into Forey’s kitchen, but Forey was nowhere to be seen. “I got everything,” she called out.

The back door opened and in came Forey. Behind her was Kelly.

Caitlyn wanted to scream in frustration. This was it. The showdown. This was when a Hatten revealed all.

Forey began chatting about what she was going to bake. “And Kelly agreed to help me. Wasn’t that sweet of her? Are you all right? You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” Cait whispered.

Kelly raised her head and they locked eyes. In that moment, Cait knew it was going to be all right. There wasn’t going to be a huge, horrible fight with everyone screaming at each other. No tears of agony and accusations.

“I’m not getting enough Kansas sunshine,” Cait said. “Hello, Kelly.”

“Hi,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for helping Cooper while I was away. He told me what Betty Lewis did to the files.”

Forey spoke up. “I can’t figure out why you hired her in the first place.”

“You try to hire a temp and you’ll find that you get what you can.” Kelly looked back at Cait. “Thank you.”

The last time she’d seen Kelly, there had been a frigid coldness in her eyes. A mother protecting her son. But that was no longer there. Her eyes seemed to be saying that Cait was welcome to whatever she needed.