“I don’t have pancake mix, but will you settle for an egg and cheese sandwich?”

I slid onto a stool at the counter. “Sounds perfect. Can I have—?”

“Extra cheese on yours? Already done.” He placed a plate in front of me with a bagel sandwich that looked like it had more cheese than egg.

“You know the way to my heart.”

He grinned. “You want OJ or coffee?”

“OJ, then coffee.”

“Coming right up.”

Ford set down a tall glass of orange juice before settling onto the stool next to me. “So, what do you want to do before work today?”

I tore off a bite of bagel and then proceeded to rip it into small, even shreds on my plate. “I was thinking about going to visit Violet. Maybe you could come with me?” I flicked my gaze up to Ford. “Is that too weird? I just don’t want to feel like we’re hiding something.”

He reached over and squeezed the back of my neck. “It’s not weird. I’d love to go with you.”

The tension in my shoulders eased a bit. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as I’d thought. I had been sure that I would be swamped by guilt this morning, but I hadn’t. I felt…happy. At peace. Like so much of my life was slipping into place. But I wanted to make sure Violet was still a part of that life, even if she was gone. “Thank you.”

“We’ll stop at the florist and pick up some flowers to take.”

I picked up my sandwich. “They have to be potted.”

Ford turned, studying me. “Why?”

“I kind of have a thing about cut flowers.”

“Okay…” Ford took a sip of coffee and waited for me to explain.

I set my bagel back on the plate. “After Violet died, our house and my hospital room, they were full of flowers. So many, I lost count. Don’t get me wrong, it was kind of people to send them. But they all started dying around the same time. And soon, my hospital room, and our house, they looked exactly like what they were. Shrines to the dead and damaged. Every time I looked at them, I remembered that Vi was gone. What I had lost. I wanted to remember the life she lived, not everything else.” I gave a little shrug. “So, no more cut flowers.”

“That’s why you put all of the pots at Vi’s grave.”

I nodded. “I like having something to tend there, too. It gives me something to do while I talk to her. And it feels like, I don’t know, like I’m taking care of her somehow.”