Mason is wearing the same green T-shirt he was wearing the night before, and his hair is mussed to perfection. Which I notice for informational purposes only. “Wait, did you not sleep?”

He shakes his head, grabbing the bag and offering me a jelly doughnut. “Not really. I stayed up most of the night researching. Once I found the newspaper archive, I couldn’t stop. I found obituaries, stuff about Frederick’s business, I even found an article talking about Lily winning a prize for her gardening. Here, you should put a pack of sugar on your jelly doughnut.”

“Willow?” My mom suddenly appears on the steps, causing me to nearly drop the doughnut Mason handed me. She’s dressed for the day in her typical outfit, laptop tucked under her arm.

“Mom, I thought you were working at a coffee shop.”

She looks tired this morning, her eyes red-rimmed. I think again about her kneeling at the willow tree. Being here is taking a toll on her, that’s for sure. “I wanted to catch you before you two go on the tour.”

“The ghost tour? We—” Mason starts.

I step on his foot in the most subtle way possible. “We didn’t realize it, but House of Seven Gables doesn’t open until later.”

Mason doesn’t miss a beat. “Did you know they added a secret staircase to the house to make it more like the one in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book? It’s also the oldest mansion in North America.”

Mason, as it turns out, is an excellent person to have in your corner, should you ever have to lie.

“I did know that,” my mom says, her tired eyes landing on him. “I’ve taken that tour a time or two myself. It was a popular field trip choice.”

I feel a slight stab in my chest. My mom went to school here. Would I have ever known that if it weren’t for Sage leaving her the house?

Mason grabs the bag from his steps. “Would you like a doughnut? I have glazed, chocolate frosted, Boston cream, cinnamon, strawberry, and a bunch of drinks, but I think they’ve all gone cold….”

“Boston cream, please.” He hands her the doughnut, and she takes an enormous bite. I can’t remember the last time I saw her eat junk food, and it’s a tiny bit shocking to watch. She lets out a little sigh, crumbs on her mouth. “Thank you. This is heaven.”

“No problem.” Mason turns and smiles at me. “We could walk around first? Go see the Friendship on the pier? It’s a replica of a ship from the 1700s.”

“Sounds great.”

My mom has that smile again. Oh well, let her think this is about a crush. I’ve got bigger things to worry about.