I yawned. “Did you see how pale she got when she said that? She’s definitely not over being rescued from her rental in that nor’easter. The last thing she needs is to be all by herself in a tiny trailer that rocks and rolls on a windy night. I think she’ll feel safer in the house.”

John yawned. “Okay, then. Johnny gets the trailer. Polly stays where she is—”

I yawned again. “She can’t. She’s in Carol’s old room, which will become the office, at least I think it will. My parents’ room is the farthest room away from the construction dust—I think that’s the safest place for her.”

“And I was hoping that’s where we could sleep,” John said.

“I don’t think I could sleep there,” I said. “I haven’t set foot in that room since we went through my mother’s things after she died. Sometimes I can even feel her presence when I walk by the closed door. Carol promised she’d help me set it up as a guestroom once we get through the renovations, but until then—”

John put his arm around me, kissed the top of my head.

He yawned again. “I think we’re running out of rooms. So where exactly are you and I going to sleep?”

“I’ll show you.” I was so tired that it took every ounce of strength I had to stand up again. I reached out a hand to John, helped him up.

The old maple treads creaked as we clunked our way down the center staircase. My father and a group of women were playing pinball on John’s prized pinball machines.

I looked at John to see if that bothered him. He shrugged, like a preschooler who still wasn’t crazy about the idea but was learning to share his toys.

The kitchen was in pretty good shape. The dishwasher was running, and the dishes that couldn’t fit were rinsed and stacked neatly on the counter. Somebody had even emptied the trash and put in a fresh bag.

We dished out food for the cats, and John grabbed a treat for Horatio.

When I opened the fridge, a nice stash of leftovers had been neatly wrapped in plastic wrap and left behind. Hosting Thanksgiving dinner definitely had an upside.

I pulled out the apple pie I’d made, fed a forkful to John.

“Mmm,” he said in his polite voice after he finished chewing.