She carried a little paper bag with red tissue sticking out of the top.

“Happy almost Christmas,” she announced.

Teresa recognized them immediately.

She touched Hannah’s arm and said she was glad to see them.

Hannah told her about the hospital job and the apartment, and Teresa looked relieved without making their progress seem like a performance.

They ordered three full dinners.

Hannah paid for her own and Sophie’s meals, and Nathaniel let her.

It was one of the small ways he showed that he understood what independence meant to her.