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hospital and visit Mom.”
    “Why don’t I give you a hand and then we can drive over together?” It was Thursday and, while he’d talked to Rosie on the phone, he hadn’t seen her since they’d brought her in Monday.
    She laughed. “Sure, now you show up to help. All that’s left is to wrap the garland around the damn pole.”
    “Good, let’s wrap the pole and grab some lunch before we hit the road.”
    They made quick work out of merrying up the place and then she grabbed her hoodie before jumping in his truck. She looked the barbershop over and nodded. “That’s better.”
    It was definitely cheerful. She didn’t plug in the lights when she wasn’t going to be around, but the garland had plastic candy canes hung in it, and all kinds of Christmas vinyl cling decals were stuck to the massive pane of glass. “Ho ho ho. Let’s go eat.”
    They went to the Trailside Diner, not only because it was really the only place to go, but because he hadn’t seen Paige in a while. She lit up when she saw them walk through the door, her dark ponytail bouncing as she half jogged over to hug each of them.
    “How’s Rosie?”
    “She’s getting better,” Katie said. “She’s starting to get grumpy, which is a good sign.”
    “Oh, good. When is she coming home?”
    Katie shrugged. “She’s not sure yet.”
    “When I talked to her on the phone yesterday,” Josh said, sliding into a booth, “she said her lungs weren’t as clear as they wanted yet. And she still has no appetite.”
    Paige sighed. “Even though she’s getting grumpy, it’s best if she stays there, then. They won’t let her vacuum or clean the ovens, at least.”
    “Katie’s going to move into the lodge for a little while to make sure she’s not cleaning our oven, either.”
    “Really?” Paige asked, but she arched an eyebrow and drew the word out, like reeeeeeaaaaally . He wasn’t sure what that was about. The Northern Star was practically Katie’s home. She didn’t sleep there and she wasn’t there every day, but she’d more or less grown up there.
    “Yeah, really. What’s Mitch up to?”
    Paige glanced down at the rings on her left hand and smiled. “He’s finishing up some advance work on a job in Southern California so when he comes home in a few days, he won’t have to leave again until the middle of January. One more week and then he’ll be home for a whole month.”
    “Be nice to have him around for a while,” Katie said.
    “I can’t wait.” After glancing around the diner, Paige pulled her order pad out of her apron pocket. “You guys know what you want? Gavin whipped up some amazing baked mac-and-cheese for the dinner special last night and, trust me, it’s even better reheated.”
    Gavin hoped to go to culinary school someday and Paige let him try out new recipes on the diner’s customers, provided the ingredients weren’t too expensive and tofu wasn’t on the list. Josh had liked some dishes more than others, but taking a chance on the kid rarely steered him wrong.
    “I’ll give it a try,” he said. “With a coffee.”
    “Ditto,” Katie said.
    When Paige brought their drinks and went to see to the other diners, Josh leaned forward. “So, I’ve been wanting to ask you something. It’s probably personal, but…it’s kind of relevant to me. Maybe.”
    Katie gave him a look he couldn’t quite decipher, but after a few seconds, she shrugged. “Ask. I’ll either answer or I won’t, as usual.”
    “It’s about Andy, actually.” He saw her expression change. It was subtle—her mouth tightened and her eyes narrowed just a little—but it was obvious she knew more about Andy’s story than she’d let on before. “What’s the deal there?”
    “The deal is that he pissed her off a long time ago, but she forgave him and now they’re actually friends.”
    “Gee, I couldn’t figure that out from the fact she didn’t talk to him for like thirty years and then she forgave him and now she’s knitting