“No.” To add emphasis, Carolee shook a finger. “That’s yours, and you earned it. Why don’t you go on up for a little bit, get some rest?”

“Too much coffee.” The combination of fatigue and caffeine made her feel like an exhausted hamster who couldn’t stop running on its wheel. “Maybe later. But Avery’s opening today. Maybe I’ll run over, talk to her.”

“You do that.”

Time with a friend was as refreshing as a nap, Hope thought as she crossed Main. And she needed opinions, advice, commentary. She rapped on the glass door and waited for Avery, hair clipped back, bib apron in place, to come out of the closed kitchen.

“Hey, what’s up? I thought you had a full house.”

“Carolee’s got it for now. I’m taking a break, and boy, do I have a load to tell you. I wish Clare was around.”

“Good stuff? Juicy gossip?”

“All of that and more.”

“Come on back and spill it. We had a run on pizzas last night, and I’m prepping more dough.”

“I’m grabbing a Coke. I shouldn’t have any more caffeine, but I have to function.”

“Rough night?”

“All of that and more.” She walked in the back where Avery stood at the stainless steel worktable cutting dough for the rising pans. “First, there was The Pill.”

“Birth control pill?”

“You have a one-track mind. The Pill in the form of one Lola Redman.”

“Oh, I know the type,” Avery said when Hope elaborated. “We get them. You can’t deal with the public and not. Did I tell you about the guy last week who—Sorry, your story time.”

“And there’s more. I’m trying to decide if I tell it chronologically or in order of impact.”

“Impact.”

“Even then it’s hard to judge. So I’m going with sex.”

“You had sex?” Avery fisted flour-covered hands on her hips. “When did you have time for sex since I talked to you last?”

“I didn’t have sex. I’m going to have sex. Thank God. Next Tuesday night.”

“You’ve made an appointment for sex.” On a pitying look, Avery let out a sigh. “Only you.”

“There are logistics involved,” Hope pointed out. “We don’t have any bookings Tuesday night. I can’t have sex when I have guests.”

“Why not? You have an apartment with a door and a lock on it. I suspect, call me crazy, some of your guests have sex behind their own closed doors.”

“True, but I don’t want to risk it the first time. We could have another group who wants to party until one in the morning. I’d like more privacy.”

“Are you planning to raise the roof?”