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aUniversity of Washington T-shirt, and the purple in it brought out the blue in her eyes.
    â€œYes, ma’am,” April said.
    â€œDo you have a minute?” Gram said.
    â€œOf course,” she said. She sent Todd a quick and friendly smile that was more “you poor thing” than “I’m sorry for what you’re going through” before she stepped around the rest of us and walked with Gram toward what I assumed was her office.
    â€œThanks for the minute, Miz,” Roy said. “You on your way, Betts?”
    â€œI’ll be there in a few. I won’t be late,” I said, but I was looking at Todd. I debated asking him to stay and talk, but it was clear that he wasn’t in the mood. I caught his eye a moment and we both nodded before he took off out through the front swinging doors.
    â€œSee you there.” Roy gathered the few folders he’d brought with him as well as a toolbox I hadn’t noticed he’d placed under the butcher block. It was an old rusted box pocked with dents. I’d seen it at the barn many times. As he lifted the box, the lid opened and two long wrenches fell to the ground, causing enough metallic clunking and clanging to make everyone jump.
    â€œSorry, folks. Sometimes the latch works, sometimes it doesn’t. I really should get another one,” Roy said as he crouched to clean up the tools.
    â€œWhy in the world did you even bring it to our breakfast meeting, Roy? The noise was so loud I thought we were being attacked,” Lynn said.
    The noise hadn’t been quite that loud, but it had been startling.
    â€œSorry, Lynn,” Roy said distractedly. He was looking in the toolbox as if for something specific.
    I was about to ask him what it was, but he suddenly closed the box, picked it up, and stuffed the whole thing under one arm before he hurried out of the kitchen.
    Lynn watched him go as if she was expecting him to say something else to her, probably hoping for another apology. When he didn’t offer anything else, she looked at me.
    â€œBetts, what are we preparing tomorrow night?” she asked.
    â€œI think we’re frying some green beans. It’s a simple but really good recipe,” I said.
    â€œFrying green beans? No cheese? I thought all our dishes would include cheese. I can’t imagine a more contradictory food item—frying something healthy like green beans. That makes no sense. Hopefully you and Miz will come up with something that will finally taste good enough to eat.”
    â€œI hope so,” I said. I wasn’t going to once again explain to Lynn that the name for the class was just for fun, but that not all vegetables truly needed cheese to taste good. Besides, doesn’t frying anything make it taste better? But I refrained from going there.
    Lynn tsked and then turned to leave. “Come along, Derek.”
    Derek didn’t ever apologize for his mother—either vocally or with shoulder shrugs or help-me glances. He just nodded and obediently followed behind her.
    A moment later, the only ones left were Paul and me.
    I quickly started picking up dishes and moving them to the sinks.
    â€œLet me help,” Paul said as he reached for the same plate I was reaching for.
    His hand lingered a little too long on mine.
    â€œSorry.” He smiled, pulled his hand away, and then reached for another dish.
    I smiled briefly and continued to gather. Before long, we were at side-by-side sinks, rinsing and placing dishes into a dishwasher.
    â€œBoy, that Lynn is something,” Paul said. “She’s just never happy about anything.”
    I gave a little shrug but didn’t say anything, though not because I thought he was flirting. It wasn’t wise to speak badly about any student, particularly with other students. Under the cover of darkness when Gram and I could confirm without a doubt that we were alone, we might have a bad word or two to say, but rarely.
    After a