Nessa awoke before daylight with so many things spinning around in her head that she couldn’t grab hold of one before it slipped away and another thought took its place. She couldn’t go back to sleep, so she got out of the narrow bed, tiptoed down the hallway so she wouldn’t wake April, and stopped dead in her tracks. Even in the dark, she could see that the sofa had been put to rights and the bedding was folded neatly on the coffee table.

April had left, and from the lack of the aroma of coffee floating through the house, it was clear she hadn’t even bothered to make a pot before she sneaked away in the night. Now that Nessa didn’t have to be quiet, she went to the kitchen and made coffee in the old percolator with blue cornflowers on the front.

“Next week, when we go back to Paris, I’m going to buy a drip machine,” she declared.

“Why?” April came inside through the front door. “That old thing makes the best coffee in the whole world. It’s strong enough to melt the enamel off your teeth and has enough flavor to make you want a second cup.”

“Where have you been?” Nessa eyed her carefully. “I thought you’d left when you weren’t on the sofa.”

“I told you that I’m not going anywhere.” April’s tone was icy cold. “Not necessarily because I’m all sentimental about being here, but the truth is, I don’t have anywhere else to go. My life has brought me full circle right back here to face my past. I guess it’s a good thing. We’ll see in a few weeks or months. So I hope you weren’t giving thanks that I was gone and hoping you might wind up having this place all to yourself.”

“Where were you?” Nessa asked.

“I couldn’t sleep, which isn’t unusual. I can’t remember ever sleeping without nightmares, and once I’m awake, I can’t get back to sleep. I went down to the waterfall. We got too busy last night to go, and it’s always been where I go to think,” April answered. “I’m just really glad that creek can’t talk.”

“I’m jealous that you got to spend so much time down at the falls when you were a kid. I used to draw the falls and write poems about it. My writing and the art were horrible, but I missed it so much.” Nessa poured two cups of coffee and headed toward the front door. “Let’s watch the sunrise. They’re always so much brighter in the country than in the city.”