“What are you doing baking cookies?” Erin scolded. “You should be resting.” She grabbed an oven mitt from the table, took the hot tray and set it on a cork mat so she could hug her grandmother.
“I’ve been doing nothing but resting since I got out of the hospital. Oh, it’s so good to see you.” Gran’s hazel eyes became watery and she dug into her pocket for a tissue. “But you shouldn’t have quit your job to look after me. You’ve got your own life to live.”
“It hasn’t been much of a life lately, to tell you the truth. I’m glad to be here.” She hugged her again. “Really glad.”
Gran held her at arm’s length. “I like your dress. That smoky blue matches your eyes. You look good.”
Erin grinned. “Who wouldn’t in one of Geena’s designer outfits?”
“You’re lovely enough to have been a model, too, except that would have been a criminal waste of brain power.” Gran picked up a spatula and scooped the hot cookies off the pan and onto a rack. “Before I forget, as soon as you’ve settled in, go down to the bank and see Jonah Haines. I wouldn’t have suggested you do that on your first day home, but Jonah’s a hard man to pin down. He’s always in some important meeting.”
“Sure. Do you have some banking that needs to be taken care of?”
“No, he’s looking for an assistant manager. Edna Thompson mentioned it when she brought around a casserole after my little spell.”
Assistant manager. It would beat flipping burgers at the Burger Shack. Erin dug a finger into the bowl of cookie dough. “Thanks for putting in a good word for me.”
Gran batted her hand away from the bowl with an oven mitt and smiled indulgently. “Erin, there aren’t enough good words in the Bible to describe you. But you never did learn to keep your hands out of the cookie dough.”
Something brushed Erin’s ankles. She glanced down to see a fluffy gray kitten with enormous blue eyes staring up at her from the black-and-white linoleum floor.
“Well, hello there. Who are you?” Erin crooned. She picked up the kitten and rubbed its soft fur against her cheek. The kitten meowed and climbed onto Erin’s shoulder, digging her sharp little claws into Erin’s skin through the thin fabric of her cotton-knit dress.
“That’s Chloe,” Gran said, rolling lumps of dough into balls and placing them on the cookie sheet. “Kelly brought her over to give me company.”
The front door opened and a woman called, “Gran? Erin?”
“Speak of the devil,” Erin said with a grin, then yelled, “we’re in the kitchen.”
Small feet raced down the hallway. “Auntie Erin. Auntie Erin.” Kelly’s youngest children, twins Tammy and Tina, charged into the room and flung themselves at Erin’s knees.
“Hi, kids,” Erin said, crouching to hug her blond, brown-eyed nieces. Tina’s features were a little finer, Tammy’s hair a fraction darker; otherwise the girls looked alike. The kitten scampered off Erin’s shoulder and into Tina’s arms, getting tangled in the little girl’s long hair and making her giggle. “How are you guys? Where are Robyn and Beth? And your mom?”
“I’m bringing up the rear, as usual.” Kelly, her shiny chestnut-brown hair swinging around the shoulders of her navy-blue suit, bustled into the room. “Robyn and Beth are playing at friends’ houses for the afternoon. I’m dropping these two off at day care on my way to work, but I had to stop in and say hi.” She threw her arms around Erin. “It is so good to have you back.”
Erin, half a head taller, embraced her sister. Even though they saw each other every few months, the time apart always seemed too long. “Do you have to go to work today?”
Kelly tilted her head in a gesture of apology. “I’m trying to close on a riverfront property. If I can nail this deal it’ll be my third sale this month.”
“Fantastic,” Erin said, then noted with surprise her grandmother’s pursed lips. “Isn’t it, Gran?”
“Kelly knows my thoughts on the subject. I’ve said all I’m going to say.” Gran slid the tray of cookies into the oven, then went to the fridge for a jug of lemonade. She set it on the table along with a couple of cookies each for the children, admonishing them kindly, “Sit up at the table so you don’t spill crumbs on my clean floor.”
“Gran thinks I spend too much time working and not enough with my kids,” Kelly explained, then added with a shrug, “I stayed home for fifteen years. It feels great to be out there, earning some money.”
“I can understand that.” Kelly’s two older girls, Robyn and Beth, were in grade four and grade two, respectively. Kelly had started back to work six months ago, when the twins turned three, but Erin hadn’t heard about this small friction between her sister and Gran. “How does Max feel about you working long hours?”
“He’ll get used to it. He’ll have to.” Kelly bit into a fresh cookie. “These are delicious, Gran, but you’re supposed to take it easy. Erin, you’re going to have to keep an eye on her. See that she doesn’t do too much.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“You girls! I’m not an invalid.”
“Hello? Who’s just spent time in the hospital? You need to take care.” Kelly wrapped one arm around Gran’s waist and carried on speaking to Erin. “I had to give up coaching the junior girls’ basketball team at the YWCA. If you’re interested, the position’s still open.”
“I haven’t played in years.”
“That won’t matter for an ace player like you.” Kelly glanced at her watch. “Come on, kids. We’ve got to go.”
Amid clamors of protest from Tammy and Tina, Erin walked her sister to the door. “When can we get together? I have an appointment at the bank, but that won’t take all afternoon.”
“Drop by the office. I’ll be in from two o’clock on.” Her smile turned sly. “The new fire chief is coming by to pick up the keys for his rental houseboat.”
“New fire chief?” Erin said, disentangling the kitten’s claws from Tammy’s sweater. “What happened to Chief Roland?”
“He retired in July,” Gran explained as she slipped each of the children another cookie. “Steve Randall’s been acting chief since then. He applied for the position but didn’t have enough experience.”
“So who’s the new guy?” Erin asked.
“A total babe,” Kelly said, rolling her eyes dreamily. “If I weren’t married… I met him last winter when he came to interview for the job and look at rental houses. He’s a widower from Los Angeles with a young daughter. You’ll have to check him out.”
Erin shook her head. “I’m not interested in meeting anyone.”
“You’ll be interested in this guy,” Kelly predicted. “See you later.”
Erin and Gran waved them off from the porch.
“Why don’t you go on upstairs and put your things away,” Gran said as she closed the door. “I’ll clean up the kitchen.”
“You’ve exerted yourself enough for one day,” Erin said firmly, taking Gran’s arm and leading her to her first-floor bedroom. “I’ll clean up after my appointment at the bank. And I’ll make dinner