A mostly empty bowl of popcorn rested on his stomach. “How’s it going?” he asked, turning off the television. He passed Sam the remote and tossed popcorn to Fluffster. When Kate got on the floor and opened her mouth, he laughed and attempted a few dunk shots on her as well. The dog sniffed around and cleaned up the misses. Yawning, Jack rose. “Naptime. See you guys.” He trudged out of the room, just as Caleb returned from the kitchen, carrying a plate and two forks.

Kate threw herself on a dingy couch and stretched, hands reaching toward one end, toes pointing toward the other. “All mine. You guys have to share those two little couches.”

While Sam and Caleb got into a conversation about a professor, Maggie and Linnie shared the plate of Greek food. Afterward, Linnie stood and wandered around, stopped by the coffee table to flip open an abandoned physics textbook, then picked up some playing cards spread there. She absently turned them all in the same direction, tapped them into a tight pack, cut the deck, and neatly wove the cards in a way that made them look zippered. She added a flourish at the end by springing the cards together. “The faro shuffle.” She smiled. “A trick.” She left the deck on the table and fell back, sprawling next to Maggie.

Kate, still hogging a couch, patted the cushion. “Up. Up, Fluffster!”

The dog ran out of the room.

With a screech of his name, Kate shot off the couch and pounded after him.

“Stay downstairs, Kate!” Sam called.

Maggie heard Kate’s feet on the stairs and waited for Sam or Linnie to order her back down. They didn’t. She sighed.

Linnie looked distracted. She got to her feet again and went to the window just as the sun found a crack in the clouds. The light appeared to rush down to meet her. Fingerprints and grime smeared the panes, but the shine sifted through the smudges, and licked Linnie’s hair into a radiance, like threads of precious metal. She lightly touched the glass, then, almost violently, whirled around. “Okay.” She slapped her hands on her hips. “Where is it?”

Sam stopped talking midsentence and stared at her blankly.

“I’m not talking to you,” she told him impatiently.

“It?” Caleb asked, confused. But then his eyes widened, and his lips began to curl into a smile.

“Oh!” Sam grinned. “It.”

“Yes. It.” Glaring outside again, she folded her arms and added witheringly, “I know you still have that thing, Caleb. You probably planned to save it until my dying day. God forbid you give up hope.” She flicked him a pitying glance, but there was a grudging affection in her voice when she added, “Forever hopeful Caleb.”

He winked at Maggie. “It’s in my room.”