“Two nights away,” Roman said, letting out a long breath in the passenger seat of Celine’s van. “You’re sure about this?” “It’s a little too late to not be sure.” Roman turned to Celine with a scowl, but she was grinning as she focused on the highway ahead of them. In the back seat, Aidan […]

“What do you think of this one?” Cleo was in the middle of brushing her teeth, but she leaned over Edie’s shoulder to look at the listing on their laptop. It looked nice enough, but her response was too garbled to get that across. So she held up a finger and went back into the […]

Andrew’s belongings were piled in the living room of the small flat above the shop. Boxes and boxes he’d never seen before, yet all of them held the things he’d surrounded himself with for years before coming back to New Winslow. He sat on the sofa that he and Noah had lugged up here a […]

Noah hated city driving. He hated driving in Worcester, but oh, he hated driving in Boston even more. He didn’t even really like being in Boston. It was too crowded, too stuffed full of buildings and people and noise and things. He could see why Andrew loved it so much, but it just exhausted him. […]

After a shower and a quick cup of tea with Andrew, Noah felt like he was almost back on even footing again. Not completely, but almost. “I’m heading over,” he said to Andrew, putting both mugs in his kitchen sink. “What are you doing tonight?” Andrew laughed. “Good question,” he said. “I’ve got work to […]

Andrew waited until they were alone in the car before saying anything to Noah. “You alright, then?” he asked as he pulled away from Iris’s shop. “Hmm?” Noah said, looking out the window at some men doing construction on one of the insurance shops downtown. “Yeah, fine.” “Good.” Noah didn’t say anything else and Andrew […]

As soon as Dr. Degas left, Noah turned back to Iris. “Do you really think someone is trying to reach me?” “I do.” “And is this what you did to Liv?” he demanded, that same aggression returning to his voice. Iris’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “No, that was completely different.” She looked […]

Andrew had opened the Limerick this morning, worked the morning shift, then hurried straight over to Iris’s shop to spend the afternoon working there. Dr. Degas and Roman had both said they were available this afternoon, so rather than meet in the evening when the shop was closed, they’d decided to talk in the early […]

Roman was trying not to think about the fact that he was missing Jamie’s track meet. Celine was there, and so were the little ones. If he hadn’t gotten out, he’d be there. It was the sickening flip of his old situation, where away games just didn’t exist for Roman. But now, not only was […]

By mid-afternoon, Mia was getting restless. Olivia had to keep her away from the equipment, but the gated off play area was not as appealing for the toddler as she’d hoped it would be. Though she should have known that nothing could compete with knives and ovens when it came to excitement. Still, the books […]