I leaned my head back to look up at him with narrowed eyes. “Don’t think you can sweet talk your way into getting some enchiladas.”

“You’re a harsh woman, Rose Gardner.”

“Yeah,” I teased. “Remember that the next time you insult a woman’s dinner, whether she cooks it or not.”

“I have so much to learn.”

“You’ve got that right.”

Mason helped me set the kitchen table. We sat down to eat, and Maeve and Mason told me stories about their family home, which had played a part in many of their beloved memories. Maeve got a little teary-eyed, but took one look at my worried face and shook her head. “Nothing stays the same, Rose. Sometimes you have to recognize when it’s time to move on. I’m good with selling the house. These are happy tears.”

I kept a close eye on Mason. He seemed impartial to his mother selling his childhood home, but I knew it had to affect him in some way. Later, Maeve went up to take a shower, and while Mason and I cleaned up the kitchen, I asked him about it.

“I’m fine with it.”

I studied him, and he gave me a soft smile.

“Believe it or not, I am. I think I said goodbye to that house after my father died. I came home for the summer after my junior year at Duke, and I didn’t feel like I belonged there anymore. That’s why I got my own apartment when I came back to Little Rock for law school instead of moving in with Mom to save money.”

I thought about my own childhood home. I’d lived there until a couple of months ago. Now I could hardly stand to walk through the door when I went there to visit Violet. But Mason had grown up in a totally different environment.

He noticed my struggle to understand. “With Dad gone, everything changed. The three of us no longer knew our parts. Mom and Savannah figured theirs out while I was at school. When I got home, I didn’t feel a sense of belonging anymore. It was like there wasn’t a place for me there.” He looked down at the bowl he was drying. “It wasn’t intentional, and they were the ones stuck there with the memories. I understood.”

“So what did feel like home?”

He didn’t answer for several seconds. Finally, he set the bowl, which had to be drier than dust at this point, on the counter and turned toward me. “Honestly, I’ve never felt truly at home since before my father died. Not until I moved in with you.”

I closed the distance between us and softly grabbed his face, pulling him down to give him a gentle kiss. “I love you.”

He straightened and grinned. “I love you too.” Then he glanced at the clock on the wall, and his smile faltered. “I have to go out in a bit.”

Part of my elation faded. “Why?”

Something I didn’t recognize flickered in his eyes. “It’s work-related.”

It was close to seven-thirty. I knew nothing was going on at the courthouse, and he’d started to bring work home so he wouldn’t be gone so much.

“Are you going to see Joe again?” The last time he took off after dinner, he’d returned with a busted lip after confronting Joe about paying off the nursery’s debt.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I swear.”

“Does it have to do with that deputy that showed up earlier?”

“Partially.”

I waited for him to elaborate, and he sighed.

“Rose, I can’t tell you what it’s about. Ask me anything you want to know about my personal life, and I’ll be an open book. But most of what I do at work is confidential. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I just can’t.”

“I know.” I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

He tugged me against his chest and rested his chin on my head. “I might be gone for a while, so don’t worry about waiting up.”

I couldn’t imagine what he could be up to, but it was pointless to ask. I couldn’t help wondering about the deputy’s visit, but part of me didn’t want to know. The person who had first uttered “ignorance is bliss” knew a thing or two about life.

Mason left shortly after we finished, giving me a long kiss goodbye on the front porch. “I love you, Rose. No matter what happens, remember that.” Then he left before I could answer.

As I watched the taillights of his car disappear down my drive to the road, I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my gut that Mason was involved in something dangerous.

***

Mason didn’t get home until after midnight. Muffy and I were already in bed when Mason stripped and climbed under the covers, pulling me close.

When we got up the next morning, he seemed reserved, but was more like himself after he showered and dressed.

The moving men planned to show up at Maeve’s by nine, so she left by eight-thirty. I offered to come with her and help, but she insisted she’d be fine until the movers left, telling me I should come by later in the afternoon like we’d originally planned.

I walked out with her when she left and let Muffy romp in the yard. When I went back inside, I found Mason in his office staring intently at something on his laptop.

I stood in the doorway, watching him. “Don’t you need to get to the courthouse?”

“Not this morning,” he said without looking up as he continued to type. “I was supposed to be in court at nine, but the judge called a recess, so I decided to do some work at home.”

“What’s got your rapt attention?” I asked, moving closer to his desk.