“No, I never did need any of that. I had a brace for a couple of days, one of those lightweight, wraparound things, and then I was fine. Just couldn’t straighten it out for a time, but exercise and using it helped.” She patted the knee. “I never did have any pain afterward, and I was up and about the very next day. Stretching the leg out full took longer. But then, I admit to you ladies, I wasn’t regular with the exercises they gave me. I’d recommend you do them exactly as they tell you to do and be consistent. If they say five times a day, do them five times a day.”

Hannah would have preferred to leave then, but courtesy required that they stay for tea and compliment the cake.

Mary told them about her family settling in Weaverville in the mid-1800s. “My family’s cemetery’s just up the hill behind the big Baptist church on Main Street. The family gathers there in October for a picnic and to clean up the place a bit.”

Half an hour later, Hannah and Grace graciously took their leave.

Roberta, whom they visited next, was an old friend of Brenda’s. They had grown up together and been roommates at the university in Chapel Hill. Roberta was a no-nonsense kind of person, with whom Hannah connected immediately. There was no chitchat and they got right to the point. She had had both knees operated on at the same time, and recommended that Hannah do the same.

“Get it done and over with,” she said. “I was restricted in what I could do for a while and one knee just seemed to get better faster than the other, but I could get around. I was never bedridden. It took a while to get my stride back. I’m a hiker, maybe Brenda told you, and I thought I’d never be off tramping the woods with my hiking club, but see”—she stretched out both legs—“fit as a fiddle. Yesterday I hiked five miles round-trip. That surgery was the best thing I ever did for myself. Without it, I’d have been a cripple. You won’t regret it, Hannah, however you decide to do it. The doctor makes the difference, and as far as I’m concerned, you have the best knee man in Asheville.”

On returning home, Hannah called and scheduled surgery on both knees. She would get it over with in one fell swoop as Roberta had. As she hung up the phone, it rang. It was Max.

“Hannah, I’m here at the house. Sarina’s having a bad time of it. Anna called and since you weren’t at work, I thought I’d better get on home.”

“I’ll be right over.” Hannah called to Grace, who had gone upstairs to her bedroom, “Gotta go. Sarina needs me.”

Max met Hannah at the door. “What did the doctor say?”