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And here I was, back in the house I’d grown up in I pulled back the co when I smelled the homemade lavender laundry soap ardens in the backyard were thick with spicy scent

She forgot to leave me a note on the door, but she made sure I had fresh sheets

I slipped between thehtstand, and watched as the shadows becah the back ,the sequins dance in the blue ribbon I’d won in the pudding contest at the county fair The dolls on the shelf above the desk were still lined up, their shapes changing a bit as the ht settled over theain I could hear the crickets, ending their first sy they’d only take a brief intermission before their till-dawn concert continued I flipped and flopped in the twin bed, taking co had changed

The nights I spent in this roo to relax and will et a few hours in before the alarht on cue, that last train fro down the Hudson sounded its lonely horn On its way to Grand Central in the city, that sound ht When I knew everyone else was asleep, and I couldn’t pretend anymore that I wasn’t the only person still awake

I hated that sound

I flopped one in to pull me under I still couldn’t believe I was back here

But only for the summer And then I’d take Grace Sheridan up on her promise to introduce me to some better people to cook for

And if I was lucky, I’d find some company in the meantime

When I woke the next one, and I was immensely thankful not to be officially on the diner work schedule yet, since led to feel even reain--so I called in reinforcements Literally

My best friend Natalie and I had o ere both freshhteen year olds, away from home for the first ti and Pastry Technique class the first day of school Natalie and Clara both left ACI after their fresh the passion for food as I did, but we’d reh ere spread across the country Natalie returned to her hometown of Manhattan, while Clara headed back to Boston

"Girl What’s up?" Natalie answered on the second ring

"Oh, the usual Cooking Sharpeningcooking in New York or so in Bailey Falls," I said, preparing