The house plans. The house plans were her only hope. Her life raft in her ocean of despair. She eyed the ideas for the addition, spread across the kitchen table, bleaching in the sunlight. Two bedrooms simply didn’t work for a family of four. She shifted in the kitchen chair, trying to lean closer to the plans without disturbing Adam, resting his cheek against her shoulder.

Initially, they’d planned merely to add a ground-floor master bedroom and bath, but Grant thought that as long as they were adding an extra room on the first floor they ought to add another room onto the second floor—an office slash guest bedroom. They’d add a walk-in closet. They could throw in another bathroom upstairs as well, thereupon turning a miniature house into a small one.

Glass bricks, Suzanne thought, inspired. Yes. They could build the exterior wall of the master bath with glass bricks, to bring in light. She reached over Adam’s shoulder for the pencil to sketch in the idea.

“Mommy, don’t.”

Then, at the side door, a welcome sight: Allison with a paper cup in each hand and a white paper bag between her teeth. She looked like a dog with a bone in her mouth. She set everything on the counter. “You should have seen the look Lucy gave me, asking for paper cups. But how else was I going to bring them over?”

Suzanne, who was not a hugger, wanted to hug her.

“Oh my gosh, the bulletin board,” Allison said. “Did you know little Petey Smith isn’t toilet trained and that Phillis Ray is addicted to Ambien? And Jay Gatsby killed a man.”

“What?”

“It’s crazy. She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t get sued.” She lured Adam off Suzanne’s lap and sat him down at his little wooden table with the lemon bar she’d brought him.

“Can I watch a movie?” Adam said, testing the waters.

Suzanne set him up at the TV with a nature program. The camera panned a great forest. The trees were aflame with autumn colors, golden, brown, red.

“There were rumors she might take it down, but she just put it on the porch. It’s been great for business. She’s even changed up the menu. That’s Lucy for you! Started offering Deforestation Decaf, Leave ’Em Standing Lattes, and white-frosted gingerbread cookies shaped like houses. She added a drink size too: now you can get small, medium, large, and White Elephant.”

“Genius.”

“There was even a reporter there! No kidding! She was interviewing Nina. The woman kept trying to get her to talk about the trees, but Nina kept telling her how Willard Park is such a great place to live. I hope she finishes up in time for the shoot.”

“Shoot?”

“I’m doing her holiday card in a little while. Want to come?”

“No.”

“Promises to be entertaining.”

“I’ll pass. How was yoga?” Suzanne said.