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youth pastor’s wife, burst in. Her hair was in two loose Laura Ingalls Wilder braids and the yellow sundress she was wearing made her look like a daffodil.
    I hadn’t seen her since the gift opening on Sunday. I’d been thinking about her, though, because Bernice had made me promise I’d keep an eye on her over the summer. Annie was a first-time mom and having two babies had to be an adjustment. I’d loved Annie the minute I’d met her, which had been at Faith Community Church the day after I’d met Bernice for the first time. Bernice had told me later she’d never set foot in a church until that morning. It was through Annie and Elise’s influence that Mama B had become a Christian, but she’d also said it had had a lot to do with the message I’d left on her answering machine. Which made me think of another one of Grandma Lowell’s favorite sayings.
    God’s timing may not match ours, but it’s always perfect.
    “You’re twin-less,” I said as Annie wrapped me in a hug. She smelled like a combination of baby powder and men’s cologne, probably from snuggling with her favorite three people.
    “Stephen took the afternoon off so I could sneak out for an hour. When I left, he was practicing his Sunday school lesson on the twins, but he wanted me to invite you over for dinner after church on Sunday. He’s going to grill chicken and I’m practicing potato salad this week.”
    Practicing potato salad?
    “That sounds great. What can I bring?”
    “We got an ice-cream maker on our last anniversary,” Annie said. “The old-fashioned kind. I’ll buy the ingredients if you figure out how it works.”
    The phone rang and I leaped toward the counter to answer it. That’s another thing Bernice had forgotten to warn me—the boss and only employee of the Cut and Curl—about. I didn’t know how she made it through the number of appointments scheduled in a day with the phone ringing constantly.
    “Cut and Curl.”
    “You sound like you own the place,” a teasing voice said.
    “Mama B!” I’d been wondering if she’d call. I’d been dying to check in on her but she was on her honeymoon so I’d resisted the temptation. “Where are you?”
    “I don’t even want to tell you. It’s too embarrassing.”
    “Can you see the Eiffel Tower?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    I looked past Annie and saw Prichett’s water tower in the distance. It was shaped like a giant Q-tip. For some strange reason, I didn’t feel the least bit envious.
    “Guess who’s here? Annie.” I said I was impulsive. Sometimes I even answered my own questions.
    “Is that Bernice?” Annie crowded into my personal space but I didn’t mind. All of us—Elise, Annie, Bree and I—missed Bernice already and she hadn’t even been gone a week. I held the phone away from my ear so we could share the conversation.
    “Hi, Annie. I’m glad you’re there because I have a confession. I shipped Nathaniel and Joanna some things.”
    “From France?” The wonder in Annie’s voice made me smile.
    “Yes, France. And I think there’s something from London, too. I’m losing track.”
    “Bernice, you can’t spoil them like that.” Annie made a face at the phone.
    “Yes, I can. And we haven’t been to Italy or Greece yet. I found a silk scarf for Esther today. If I tuck it into the next outgoing batch, will you make sure she gets it?”
    Esther Crandall lived in the Golden Oaks Nursing Home. Another one of Bernice’s friends I’d promised to check on over the course of the summer.
    “Sure. Now I’m going to back out of this conversation so you and Heather can talk.” Annie made a kissing noise into the phone and handed it back to me.
    “How did you survive Mrs. Kirkwood?” Bernice wanted to know.
    “I think the wounds are finally healing.”
    Bernice laughed. “I knew you’d charm her.”
    “Charm her?”
    “Did she schedule another appointment?”
    “Unfortunately, yes.”
    “There you go.”
    We talked a few more minutes and I told her