She released the counter and took a cleansing breath.

“Hope?”

No response.

Linnea walked into the dining area, ignoring the peanut butter sandwich lying on the floor. “Hope?” she asked as she gently smoothed the hair, damp from sweat and tears, from her face. “I have an idea.” Linnea lowered beside the chair so her face was near Hope’s. “Let’s make eating time fun. Like a game.”

Hope turned her head. Linnea was sorry to see that her dark lashes were wet and her brown eyes rimmed red.

“How?”

The question gave Linnea courage. “I was thinking. Why should I decide what you eat for lunch? Or dinner? Why don’t we decide together? We could make a spinning wheel of your favorite foods. You could spin it, and where it lands will be what food you get to eat that day. Like…” She made a show of tapping her cheek in thought. “Let’s say you spin the wheel and it lands on chicken nuggets. Then you get to have chicken nuggets. If it lands on pizza, you get pizza. See how it works?”

Hope smiled with interest, then said, “But you don’t make it like Mommy does.”

“Right,” Linnea said. “You’ll have to help me. Show me how to do it the way you like it.”

“Me? I can cook?”

“Do you want to?”

Hope thought about that a moment. “Yes.”

“Okay, then. And you know what? Not only will we cook together, when I go online to order the food, you can help me. That will be fun, won’t it?”

The little girl beamed with anticipation. “I help my mommy shop.”

“Okay. Let’s go shopping right now. On the computer! And later, we can make the game board. I’ll have to figure out a way to make the spinning board.”

“Ooh! We have one at school.”

“Good, then you can help me. Now, for today’s lunch, do you think we can fix up any of these?” Linnea gestured to the items on the table.

Hope scrunched her nose and shook her head resolutely.

“I was going to make myself a banana smoothie. Do you want one?”

Her eyes lit up. “Yes, please.”

Linnea smiled and thought that maybe this was going to be okay after all.

EACH DAY FOR the next week, Linnea and Hope walked to the oak tree in front of John’s carriage house with all the excitement of an egg hunt. And John never disappointed. It was the highlight of Hope’s day. It was a simple game, but one that encouraged a child’s wonder and awe. John had left a pack of Wrigley’s Doublemint gum, two shiny pennies, and a roll of gray twine. Linnea thought the gifts a bit random, but Hope treasured them because they came from John. The man loomed large in her imagination.

“Can we go now?” Hope called out from the kitchen table.

It was a struggle to contain Hope until she finished her breakfast.

“Wash your hands,” Linnea said.

She helped the little girl climb up on the chair by the sink to wash her hands. Today Hope was leaving John a gift. Linnea had dug through her drawers and pulled out a supply of travel soaps and shampoos that Hope thought would make great gifts.