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she told him. “Thanks for coming to help with the remodeling.”
    The men shooed them out of the kitchen after they ate. “Brody and I always did clean up at home,” Ian said. “Go somewhere and talk writing.”
    Tessa stopped to give him a quick peck on the cheek, and then she and Harmony settled in the sunroom at the back of the house. Ian had installed a heater to take off the chill. Tessa’s flowerbeds and herb gardens were buried now, but the yard was still pretty with its white picket fence and bird feeders. The fence poked above half a foot of snow.
    Harmony did her best to perk up her friend, but Tessa looked done-in. Neither of them would win any beauty pageants tonight. Tessa’s copper hair was scraped back from her face with a hair band. She hadn’t bothered with makeup either. Harmony asked, “How’s the book coming? Are you unstuck? Middles are my nemesis.”
    Tessa wrinkled her nose. “My hero’s being a real jerk right now. He’s supposed to be. He’s stupid-jealous, and I’m ready to smack him.”
    Harmony laughed. “How soon before you like him again?”
    â€œTwo more chapters, if he lives that long.”
    â€œIt’s never a good idea to kill off the love interest halfway through a book.” Harmony tilted her head, studying her friend. “Maybe you’re trying to do too much. You’re baking on weekends for your bakery, but you make desserts for Ian’s lodge, too. There’s only so much time and energy to go around.”
    Tessa blew out a frustrated breath. “That’s the thing. The resort’s closed right now. I don’t have to worry about afternoon teas. I should have more energy, not less.”
    Harmony didn’t have any answers. Finally, she said, “Let’s call it quits early tonight. You cooked for me. You don’t have to entertain me. Get some rest.”
    Tessa fidgeted, unhappy. “You came all this way to see me, and I’m fizzling on you.”
    â€œWe’re friends. Through thick and thin, good and bad . . .”
    Tessa laughed. “Thanks, but I’ve looked so forward to seeing you. I’m bummed.”
    â€œYou’ll see me tomorrow, and every night for a month. We can manage.” She went in search of Brody, and they drove home early.
    He parked the car, and she waited for him in the lobby, like she always did. When he clomped into the foyer and left his boots on a floor mat under the coat hooks, he seemed restless, at loose ends. Finally, he asked, “This is going to sound a little strange, but there’s a large screen TV in the library. I don’t suppose you’d let me watch the beginning of your Harry Potter movie, would you? Then I’ll know what’s happening when we watch it with the kids tomorrow.”
    â€œOnly if you let me watch it with you.” She shouldn’t. She should go to her room and pound out three pages. But it was only three pages. She’d get them done. She’d never missed a deadline, and she wasn’t going to start now. “Aiden talked so much, I couldn’t keep track of things.”
    His eyes lit up. “I’ll make popcorn while you get the movie.”
    She headed up the stairs, and he headed to the kitchen. They settled on the sofa in the study and watched up to where Hagrid gave Harry the snowy owl as a familiar.
    Brody shook his head. “Kids’ movies aren’t like I remember them.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œThat poor kid gets treated like crap, and his enemy wants to kill him.”
    Harmony took the last bit of popcorn and emptied her wine glass. “Every Disney movie kills off the mom or parents in the first five minutes. Sometimes sooner. How else can the kid be the hero? And a stepmother’s never nice to them. Kids like to think they can overcome anything.”
    He stretched his legs and leaned back to get more comfortable. His