Madeleine hadn’t been here since she and Hæra had stopped by after their pledge on the beach. She hadn’t been avoiding the place, exactly. It wasn’t a crime not to patronize a restaurant, and she’d made up for her earlier mistake, so everything was squared away.

Except it wasn’t.

Sending a thank-you note for their gift would have been enough. And yet, Madeleine found herself here in person to extend her gratitude. Was this what they called “full circle”?

The bell jangled when she opened the door, and Arjun looked up from the register. She’d timed her visit to avoid a morning rush, and the café was otherwise empty. An audience would make things awkward. “Good morning,” Madeleine said shyly.

He smiled. “Hello there. No need to hover in the doorway.”

“Right, right.” Madeleine slipped into the café, face hot.

“What can I get for you?”

Her planned words deserted her. While she struggled to find them, Madeleine glanced at a nearby corkboard, papered with notices for events all over Orkney: music performances, livestock exhibits, art classes. Hæra could go to all of those things if she wanted, after Madeleine was gone.

Madeleine cleared her throat. “Ah, actually, is”—she was going to say Jeremy—“your husband here too?”

At the word husband, so bald and bold, her spine tingled. She kept looking Arjun in the eyes. Hopefully her smile didn’t look forced or weird.

“Sure,” Arjun said cheerfully, so it must not have. “Oi, love! Visitor!”

Love, somehow, seemed even balder and bolder. And more beautiful. Madeleine’s face must be tomato-red now.

Jeremy emerged from the back, wiping down a wet carafe. “Visitor?”

“The lady from New Orleans.” Arjun raised his eyebrows at Madeleine. “Stopped by here a few weeks ago with a friend.”

Jeremy’s expression said he needed no reminding—that he remembered perfectly well who she was, after she’d snubbed him once and made a veiled apology later.

If Hæra were here, she’d stride confidently up to the counter and just start talking. Madeleine could take a page from her book. She threw back her shoulders and walked forward. “I wanted to thank you for the food you sent to that same friend,” she said. “After Jonathan Rendall died.”

Any amusement in Arjun’s eyes faded into sympathy. “Poor old fellow. Never did meet him, but everyone was talking about it.”

Hæra would have asked, If you never met him, why did you send us food? Madeleine had to put her own spin on it. “It was kind of you to send those rolls when you didn’t know him. Or Hæra, really.”

“Arjun said she made quite an impression,” Jeremy said dryly, and added, “Oof” when Arjun elbowed him.