you cut your hair!”
“Uh-huh.” Alison bit her lip. “Cut it and colored it, too. What do you think? Too big a change or what?”
“I think it’s wonderful! You look gorgeous!”
“Well, not gorgeous, but I finally figured that it couldn’t hurt to try and improve on Mother Nature. And talk about gorgeous…” Alison cocked her head and her gaze swept Wendy from head to toe. “You look terrific!”
Wendy’s smile tilted. “Yeah. Right.”
“I mean it. You haven’t gained an ounce, for which I just might not forgive you. No gray hairs in those red curls—and please, do not, I repeat, do not bother telling me women don’t get gray hairs at our age. Two years ago, and wham, there they were, silver threads among the gold. Not that the rest was gold then, but you know what I mean.”
“You used to talk about going blond when we were in our junior year, remember?”
Alison rolled her eyes. “Do I remember? How could I forget? There I was, everybody telling me I looked like Barbra Streisand—”
“A compliment,” Wendy said, falling into the old dialogue as if they were still in high school.
“Yes, if you’re la Streisand,” Allie said, picking up her end of the conversation with the same ease. “I may have her nose, but it doesn’t work on my face.”
“You don’t still believe that.”
“What I believe is that we’re going to turn into instant snowmen if we stand here much longer. Let me grab that duffel. My car’s in the first lot. Want to wait for the bus or—I mean, the bus stop is right—”
“I can walk.”
“Well, sure, but—”
“And I can carry my own bag.”
“I know, but—”
“Allie, listen. Let’s get this out of the way right now, okay?”
“Oh, hell. Wendy, I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t. I just want to set the record straight. I’m strong as a horse. Honestly, I am. I spent years in rehab. I still do hours of exercise each day. I can walk. I can carry stuff. I can do anything I want….” Her mouth twisted. “Anything but ski.”
Her voice broke on the last word. Horrified, she covered it with a cough. She’d only meant to let Alison know that she could handle the truth, but her emotions were right there on the surface. Well, why wouldn’t they be? The long flight, too much sitting still, and under it all, the persistent worry that the surgeon she’d come so far to see wouldn’t help her….
Alison was looking at her as if she didn’t know what to expect next.
Wendy smiled. “You know what?”
“What?” Allie asked cautiously.
“How about we get out of the snow? That terrific haircut’s getting plastered to your head.”
“Yeah. Good idea.” Alison cleared her throat. “So,” she said briskly, “you up for a stop at the Barn?”
“The…?” Wendy looped her free arm through Alison’s. Dipping their heads against the wind, they crossed the roadway and headed for the parking lot. “You mean the Burger Barn? Is it still there?”
Alison clucked in dismay. “Is it still there, she asks. Certainly, it’s still there, only a ten-minute detour on our way to town. Of course, you’re probably not into juicy, charcoal-broiled hamburgers and hot, crisp, salty fries after all these years of gourmet dining in gay Paree, but I thought, if there was the teeniest possibility that you were interested…”
“Gourmet dining?” Wendy laughed. “Not on a teacher’s salary. If I never see another hunk of cheese or sausage, it’ll be too soon.”
“You mean Mademoiselle DuBois was wrong?” Alison unlocked the car door and Wendy tossed her things into the back seat. “I thought it was supposed to be fromage and saucisson—much more exotic sounding.”
“Cheese and sausage are cheese and sausage, whether it’s French or English,” Wendy said. “Trust me.” She shut her door and looked at Alison, who was buckling her seat belt. “The Burger Barn would be paradise. Just tell me that the fries are still greasy.”
“Cholesterol City,” Alison said cheerfully.
“Does a straw still stand up in a chocolate shake?”
“Scout’s honor, nothing’s changed.”
“Great,” Wendy said, but in her heart, she knew that everything had.
* * *
ALISON TOOK THE LONG WAY home.
It was a pretty road that wound into the Taconic Mountains before they fell away into the more subdued contours of the Berkshires. The scenery, at least, was still the same. Cozy old houses, rolling pastures, deep forests mantled with white, and everywhere the sense that time had reached this place and decided to pause for a while before moving on.
Wendy sighed and laid her head back. “I’d forgotten how peaceful it is here.”
“Peaceful’s the word, all right.” Alison raised an eyebrow. “On the other hand…”
“What?” Wendy looked at her friend. “Something exciting happened in Cooper’s Corner?”
“Well…yeah, you could say exciting.”
“Don’t tell me. Let me figure it out.” Wendy put on an innocent look. “Philo and Phyllis Cooper decided to give up gossip.”
Alison laughed. “I said `exciting,’ not `unbelievable.’“
“Well then, you’ll have to tell me. What new and exciting stuff happened?”
“Well, Bonnie Cooper—remember her? Bonnie was on a date with a guy in New York and they witnessed a mob hit.”
Wendy sat up straight. “You’re kidding!”
“Cross my heart, it’s the truth. Oh, and we had a visitor go missing, too.”
“Somebody hiking in the fall?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. This was a guest at the B and B, and he—”
“What B and B?”
“Remember the old Cooper place? Twin Oaks?”
“Sure. Big house, up on the hill across from the green.”
“Uh-huh.” Alison glanced in the mirror, signaled a turn. The sound of the engine deepened as they started up a hill. Ahead, the red taillights of a snowplow blinked hypnotically in the haze of the falling snow. “Old man Cooper died and left
