Grace drew her legs up under her. “You’re almost as stunned about their arrival as Zachary is about all that’s happened to him, aren’t you, Hannah?”

“You’ve got it right. Things were going so smoothly for Max and me, so easy and happy. Seems to me, we get reprieves in life, as if we’re allowed to rest and prepare for the next difficult challenge.”

“It appears that way. Surely, they’re not going to stay here? Why would Zachary suddenly want to stay in Covington when he hates cows and the dairy business?”

“I sometimes think that Max has held on to the dairy in the hope that Zachary would have a change of heart and return. Why would a man of seventy-seven continue to operate a dairy, with all the problems with milking machines, the health of cows, delivery trucks, and on and on? Without Jose, he couldn’t do it.”

“After the baby comes, Zachary will probably take his wife and child and leave,” Grace replied.

“I’d hate to see Max get his hopes up again and get hurt.”

“It’s out of your hands, don’t you think?”

Hannah’s knee bounced up and down, up and down. Grace rarely saw her this agitated. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“Let Zachary and his wife settle down, get over the exhaustion they must feel, and gather their wits about them. Then, see what happens,” Grace said.

“Can’t do much else, can I?”

Grace leaned over and placed a hand on Hannah’s knee. “You can be gentle with Max and give him time. He loves you very much. It’ll all work out, Hannah, you’ll see.”

“I wonder.”

“Nothing’s going to change with you and Max, not the way you two love one another.”

“Thanks, Grace. I needed to hear that.”

3

Gossip and News

Hannah returned to Max’s house, leaving Grace as restless as she had been and with no plans for the day. Bob and Martin were participating in a golf tournament and had stayed the night at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. Grace puttered about the kitchen. She wiped off a shelf in the fridge where milk had spilled, and unloaded the dishwasher from the night before. So deep in thought was she, so concerned for Hannah and Max and what the future might hold for them, that when the phone rang, she jumped.

Velma Herrill, her neighbor, was on the line. “How you doing, Grace? How’s Bob?” A pause, then Grace replied, “Bob’s busy with golf, eh? That’s fine, just fine. You busy today?”

“No, not busy at all,” Grace replied.

“How about meeting me for lunch in Weaverville?”