Hazel glances at me with a questioning gaze. “Of course,” I reply. “We’d love to visit. Haze and I have lots of travel plans.”
“We do?” Hazel asks.
“We do,” I confirm. “Cape Cod, Boston to spend Thanksgiving with my family, and I was thinking we could go to Sleepy Hollow to spend some time with Jess and Kane, plus the Blade and Arrow team there. Maybe we could hit San Antonio to visit Matt and Isla. They wanted to come, but with the new baby…”
“That… sounds really nice.” Her expression is one of pleased surprise.
“You guys can stay with us when you come to Sleepy Hollow,” Jess says. “We’ve got plenty of room. It’ll be so much fun. We can go into the city for a day, see a Broadway show, visit a museum or two…”
“I’d love that,” Hazel tells her.
“If you come before Christmas,” Jess adds, “you can see the tree at Rockefeller Center. Although I think the tree in Sleepy Hollow is just as nice.”
I hug Hazel against my side and press a kiss to the top of her head. “We could definitely find time for a trip to Sleepy Hollow before Christmas.”
“Hazel.” Frank rounds the bar and gestures for Hazel to come meet him.
Hazel flashes me a worried look. “It’s fine,” I murmur. “I promise.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Then she plasters on one of those strained smiles and walks tentatively towards him.
“Frank,” she starts. Her voice quivers a little. “I’m so sorry. I?—”
“Don’t you apologize,” he interrupts. Then he pulls Hazel into a hug. He holds her for several seconds before letting her go. “You have nothing to be sorry about, honey. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Wendy moves to Frank’s side. “Frank’s right. There’s nothing to apologize for.”
I reach for Hazel’s hand, and she clutches it hard. “But your arm,” Hazel tells Wendy. “And the windows. And the—” Her gaze jumps to the flawless mirror behind the bar.
She gasps.
In white letters across the bottom it says,Welcome Back, Hazel.
“Frank.” Hazel’s voice cracks. “What?—”
“Honey.” He pats her arm. “I know you’ve been through a lot. And we understand if you need time. But whenever you’re ready to come back…” He stops. Clears his throat. “We miss you, Hazel. It’s not the same without you here.”
“You’re family,” Wendy adds. “And we love you.”
Hazel stares at the two of them. Tears fill her eyes. “I love you guys, too.”
“So you’ll come back?” Frank asks. “When you’re ready?”
“Yes.” Hazel nods. “How about next week? Would that work?”
“Of course it would,” Wendy replies. “I’ll put you on the schedule.”
Hazel turns to me and gives me a watery smile. “Do you think… Could you bring me to work? And pick me up?”
My heart squeezes. “Absolutely, sweetheart. I’d be happy to.”
And in the meantime, I’ll install some extra security here, too.
“Hey, are we going to start the celebration yet, or what?” Ronan calls out. “I thought we were celebrating Hazel? Where are the toasts? And I’ve been waiting to try the special Hazel-themed ale.”
Ronan catches my eye and gives a quick lift of his chin. I raise my chin at him in thanks before looking back at Hazel.
“Hazel-themed ale?” she asks. “Toasts?”
