Peanut was sitting in the outer lobby waiting for a to-go order and talking to Lovey when they walked in.

“Melissa!” Lovey cried, and came out from behind the register to greet her.

Peanut stood up and shook Sully’s hand.

“Girl, it’s good to see you up and about,” Lovey said.

“And I need to thank you for the food you sent to the house after it happened. It was wonderful.”

“You’re welcome,” Lovey said.

“How’s that search going?” Peanut asked.

Lovey frowned. “I’m sorry. I don’t hear so good anymore. What search?”

“I’m searching for—”

Before Sully could finish, a loud bang came from the kitchen.

Lovey groaned. “Even with my bad hearing, I heard that. Sorry. I need to see what happened,” she said, and off she went, calling out to one of the waitresses. “Wendy! Two customers are waiting to be seated,” she said, and kept going.

Wendy hurried to the lobby. “Your order is nearly ready, Mr. Butterman,” she said. Then she smiled at Melissa and Sully and grabbed two menus. “Follow me,” she said.

“Could we have a booth, please?” Sully asked, as they entered the dining room.

“Absolutely,” Wendy said, and seated them at the closest one and took their drink orders, leaving them to check out the menus.

* * *

It was almost 4:00 p.m. when Sully took Melissa home.

As they were getting out, Melissa looked toward the house.

“There’s a note on the door,” she said. She pulled it off as they went inside. “It’s from Ruby and Rachel.”

“Rachel Goodhope?” Sully asked.

“Yes. She and Ruby are bringing some food by around six. Yay. I won’t have to figure out what to cook tonight or tomorrow.”

“You have really good friends here in Blessings, don’t you?”

“Yes. This is home.”

Sully ran a hand down the side of her face, lifting a stray strand of her hair from her cheek. “Your parents aren’t still living, are they?”

“No, they’re not. They both passed when I was in junior college. Dad died of cancer, and six months later Mom died of a heart attack. I always said it was because Mom was so heartbroken without him. They didn’t even live to meet Andy.”

Sully’s heart hurt for her all over again. “I’m so sorry.” Then he sighed. “I keep saying that, don’t I? You might not need a hug, but I need to hug you.”

Melissa saw the empathy on his face, and she was beginning to like the hugs. She walked into his open arms and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Sully felt her body curve to fit his and fought the longing for more.

One hug led to a kiss on her forehead, and then a kiss on her cheek, but Melissa was the one who turned her head and caught the third one on her lips.

It lasted longer than it should have, but it wasn’t enough. Sully reluctantly ended it, then cupped her cheeks, looking long and hard at the flush on her face and the glitter in her eyes.