“I’m sure you have a suggestion.”

“It’s your house.”

He regarded her stonily. “Give me a hint.”

“The wagon doesn’t have a toilet or running water, so don’t put it too far away.” She called into the hallway over her shoulder. “Cody, is the plumber’s truck out there yet? I have to talk to him.”

“Just pulled up,” Cody called back.

“What kind of wagon?” Blue asked as April disappeared.

“Something Mrs. O’Hara talked me into in one of her many e-mails.” He grabbed his coffee and the doughnut to go outside. Blue picked up a powdered doughnut and followed him through a refurbished laundry room to the side door.

When they reached the yard, she extended the powdered doughnut. “I’ll trade you.”

He took a big bite out of his glazed one, handed it over, and grabbed hers. “Okay.”

She gazed down at it. “Once again, I’m forced to live on other people’s leftovers.”

“Now you’re making me feel bad about myself.” He sank his teeth into the fresh doughnut.

They walked around the back. Blue studied the overgrown garden with her artist’s eye, imagining it alive with banks of color, maybe an herb garden by the iron pump, old-fashioned hollyhocks against the side of the house, a rope clothesline with laundry snapping in the warm breeze. Gonna take a sentimental journey…

Dean inspected a shady area just beyond the garden. Blue joined him. “A covered wagon?” she asked. “A paddy wagon?”

“I guess you’ll see.”

“You don’t know yourself, do you?”

“Sort of.”

“Show me the barn,” she said. “Unless there are mice.”

“Mice? Hell, no. That’s the only barn in the known universe without them.”

“You’ve been very sarcastic all morning.”

“Gosh, I’m sorry.”

Maybe he was covering up his grief. For the sake of his soul, she found herself hoping.

A flatbed truck pulled in, carrying what looked like a small covered wagon heavily wrapped in black plastic. She stayed where she was while Dean walked over to talk to the driver. Before long, the man was slapping him on his injured shoulder and calling him “Boo.” Finally they got down to business. With Dean directing, the driver backed the flatbed toward the trees and began unloading the wagon. Once they’d jimmied it into position, he began stripping away the black plastic.