“You know me. When in doubt, I’m a burger man.”

* * *

Sugar Slade’s evening was turning out less jovial, but relieved just the same. After finding out Hoover had been captured, and what condition he’d been in, she couldn’t help thinking about what cute little boys he and Truman had been when she married into the family. She wanted to remember them the way they were, not what they’d become.

So she took her Bible outside as twilight was approaching and read aloud her favorite passages to the owl sitting in the tree by her porch, and to the rabbit hopping across her yard on its way home, and to the birds flying in to roost for the night. And when she was through, she closed the Bible and looked up, just in time to see the sun fall below the horizon.

The sky lit up in a vivid wash of purples and pinks, and then as it grew darker, it faded into black. Sugar sat as the night grew colder, waiting for the first star, and when she saw it, she nodded.

Her day was complete.

* * *

By the time Lovey closed up for the night, she’d heard so many stories about what had happened to Melissa, and how she got away, and when Sully found her, that she made up her mind to go talk to her in person right after the breakfast rush tomorrow. Sometimes she felt like the world passed her by because she was always in Granny’s. And then she reminded herself that Blessings and Granny’s were the lifesavers she needed. The town and the business were her family, and she loved what she did. There wasn’t a lot to complain about.

* * *

Night had come to Blessings, and Sully was asleep, curled up on his side and spooned against Melissa with his arm over her waist when he heard a car door slam, and then a dog begin to bark. A few moments later, the dog was quiet.

Someone came home, Sully thought.

Melissa was his home, and he’d come so close to losing her today. She stirred in her sleep and began to mumble. When he felt the tension in her body, he pulled her closer.

“You’re safe, baby. You’re safe, and you’re home.”

She sighed, and then she was still.

He closed his eyes, and the next time he woke, it was morning. He blew her a kiss and then eased out of bed and went across the hall to shower so he wouldn’t wake her. As soon as he was dressed, he went downstairs to start the day. Coffee was first on the to-do list.

By the time Melissa came down, he had pancake batter made and was frying bacon. She stood in the doorway watching him, and then he looked up and saw her standing there.

“Hey, sweetheart!” He left the bacon long enough for a quick wake-up kiss, then hurried back to the skillet. “How long have you been standing there?”