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“I missed yours, and everything else.” With a sigh, she laid her head on his shoulder. “Thanks for looking out for everything while I was gone.”

“I want to hear all about it. What’s this?” He gestured toward the easels. “Art class?”

“Cleo’s idea of an afternoon playdate. And it was actually fun. A good way to shake off the traffic and travel.”

“Let’s have a look.”

He kept her hand in his as they crossed the lawn. He came to Cleo’s canvas first.

“You did this in an afternoon?”

“It’s not finished, but I had the concept in mind for a while.Light Over Poole’s Bay.”

“It’s terrific, seriously. You did this?” he said to Sonya.

“And it is finished. Cleo’s going to do the full bloom, so I decided to doBetween Seasons.”

“You should play more. If I could do this, I’d play all the damn time.”

“That’s when play becomes work,” Sonya reminded him. “Let’s get all this inside.”

“Owen’s bringing Pye?”

Trey nodded as he helped them break down. “He had a few more things to do, so he’ll pick up dinner.”

“Great. We can take all this up to my studio. I’ll clean the brushes, Son.”

As they started up, so did the banging.

“There she goes. Did she do much of this while we were gone?” Sonya asked.

“She lets you know she’s pissed. Nothing major the last couple days. More when you come up to the third floor. We checked the studio closet every night,” he added, “just in case, but nothing.”

“I looked before we went outside, but take another look now, Sonya.”

“Nothing yet.” Sonya closed the closet door.

“I’ve got the brushes,” Cleo said again. “Go pour me a glass of wine.”

“How’s your mom?” Trey asked as they started down.

“Wonderful. It was so good to see her, to have that time with her.”

“And Boston?”

“I asked Cleo how she felt when we got there, and she said exactly what I felt. She said she felt like a visitor. And when we got to the house, I realized that would always be home. How lucky I was to have all the memories of growing up in that house, to know it’s a place I’ll always be welcome. And what a difference a few months can make, because other than Mom, I missed Boston so much less than I thought I would.

“I missed this guy more.” She bent to rub Yoda. “And you,” she added, giving Mookie the same treatment.” Then straightened. “And you.”

She paused at the music room, looked at the portrait. “I missed this house with everything in it. Except…”

“Goes without saying.”

When they went into the kitchen, she saw the pet treats, a ball of string, and Yoda’s ball on the island.

“Somebody missed the pets,” Trey told her. “The first night you were gone, when we came in, those were there, plus all the cabinetdoors were open, the counter stools, the chairs turned over on the floor.”

“Poor Jack. What did you do?”