It was with pleasure that she heard Grace’s car pull in. Anna tipped back her hat, rose, and offered a welcoming smile. ‘‘Hi, there.’’

‘‘Hello, Anna. I thought you’d be at work.’’

‘‘Took a mental health day.’’ Oh, yes, misery here as well, she mused. And not quite as well coated as Ethan’s. ‘‘You didn’t bring Aubrey with you.’’

‘‘No. My mother wanted her today.’’ Grace ran a hand up and down the strap of the oversized bag over her shoulder. ‘‘Well, I’ll get started and let you get back to your gardening.’’

‘‘I was just looking for an excuse to take a break. Why don’t we sit down on the porch a minute?’’

‘‘I really should get the first load of laundry in.’’

‘‘Grace.’’ Anna laid a gentle hand on her arm. ‘‘Sit down. Talk to me. I count you as one of my friends. I hope you count me as one of yours.’’

‘‘I do.’’ Grace’s voice wavered. She had to take three breaths to steady it. ‘‘I do, Anna.’’

‘‘Then let’s sit down. Tell me what’s happened to make you and Ethan so unhappy.’’

‘‘I don’t know if I can.’’ But she was tired, bone-tired, so she sat down on the steps. ‘‘I guess I made a mess of everything.’’

‘‘How?’’

She’d cried herself dry, Grace thought. Not that it had helped. Maybe it would help to talk things over with another woman, one she was beginning to feel close to. ‘‘I let myself assume,’’ she began. ‘‘I let myself plan. He picked me flowers,’’ she said with a helpless lift of her hands.

‘‘Picked you flowers?’’ Anna’s eyes narrowed fractionally. Rabbits, my butt, she thought, but filed it away for later retribution.

‘‘And he took me to dinner. Candles and wine. I thought he was going to ask me to marry him. Ethan does things stage by stage, and I thought he was leading up to proposing.’’

‘‘Of course you did. You’re in love with each other. He’s devoted to Aubrey and she adores him. You’re both nesters. Why wouldn’t you think it?’’

Grace stared for a moment, then let out a long breath. ‘‘I can’t tell you what it means to hear you say that. I felt like such a fool.’’

‘‘Well, stop. You’re not a fool. I’m not, and I certainly thought it.’’

‘‘We were both wrong. He didn’t ask me. But he loved me that night, Anna. So tenderly. I never believed anyone would feel so much for me. He had a nightmare later.’’

‘‘A nightmare.’’