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bar, where she took a metal hanger off a coat tree and started unraveling the wire, mostly keeping her back to him. He could tell she was in a bad mood and he knew he should pick up his coffee and leave. But damn it, he did care about her. A lot. A lot more than he should. He needed to smooth things over before leaving.
    “Hey, Mags,” he said, pushing off the stool and strolling down the bar toward her. “I talked to Jenny last night. She said something about us having a party for Pop here.”
    She didn’t look up at him, grimacing as she wrestled with the hanger in her hands. “Aye. I talked to her yesterday, too. She was thinkin’ late June. In a few weeks.” She grunted in frustration when she couldn’t untwist the rigid wire.
    “Can I help you with that?”
    She held out the hanger and crossed her arms over her chest when he took it. His strong hands untwisted it quickly and he handed it back to her.
    “Thanks,” she said, straightening out the rest of it until it was one long piece of mostly unbent wire. “I can manage the food and drink. She said somethin’ about you and Lars being in charge of decorations and guests and such. I did some research yesterday and you know, at some of these parties, they have slideshows with pictures. You know, sort of a movie of the person’s life.” Her voice warmed up and she grinned at him. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
    He nodded, feeling relieved. She still looked a little green, but her smile reassured him that they’d get over the speed bump of last night and everything—but a few new memories that he’d keep well hidden—would go back to normal. “Real nice. Maybe Lars and I can get our hands on Pop’s old pictures without him noticing.” He gestured to the wire in her hand. “What’re you doing with that?”
    “Oh, just some mail slipped behind the back counter. An envelope. I keep meanin’ to caulk the crack closed, but I keep forgetting.”
    Nils stepped behind the bar, following her to the place where several envelopes lay tangled in the cord of an old-fashioned push-button phone. He gestured for the wire and she handed it to him. “Here?”
    “Yes. Thanks, Nils.” She turned her attention to the other side of the bar where a customer ordered a Café Americano and two chocolate-chip scones.
    A photo slideshow was a damn nice idea. Jenny had to know where Pop kept all the old albums from when they were kids, from when their Mamma was alive. Heck, he might even be able to find some photos of their grandparents back in Sweden before they’d emigrated to Montana. He fished the hanger down the crack between the wall and the counter and pulled it up to reveal a crisp white envelope. He read the return address as he placed it on the jumbled pile with the other envelopes: Marcona Electric. Huh. Wouldn’t have been good to lose that one, he thought, thinking of Maggie walking into the café one morning only to find the power off.
    He glanced over at her as she chatted cheerfully with an older couple from his church, her slim arms spread out over the copper bar. She was tiny compared to him; she barely came up to his shoulder fully straightened, with trim hips and a narrow waist. He stared at it for a second before she looked back and caught him, raising her eyebrows playfully before returning to her customers. He huffed once, quietly. He was like a grizzly bear, freakishly large and clumsy next to her spritely fairy-like build. He bit down on his bottom lip, forcing himself to look away from her. His eyes caught the electric bill again, and he decided to shove the hanger down the crack one last time, just to be sure no other bills had gotten lost.
    He heard the sound of wire scraping back and forth as he toggled it, clean and clear, before snagging on something far over to the left side where the wall and counter almost connected. He pulled the hanger up and let it slide down gingerly against the wall again. Yep. There was definitely something back there.