of friendship this morning?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.” Sarah disdainfully wrinkled her little nose and held up a white paper sack. “In addition to the healthy stuff, I’ve brought cinnamon rolls.”
Sage shifted her gaze to Nic, who was studying her worriedly. Ali Timberlake gave her a tentative smile and asked, “Shall we go to the kitchen?”
Officially out of sorts at this point, Sage murmured, “Can I stop you?”
“Nope.” Sarah flashed a smile that had more teeth than was friendly. “This is an intervention.”
An intervention? Sage closed her eyes. Wonderful. Just flippin’ wonderful.
“Yeah, an intervention. Ali’s made a special trip for it.”
Ali smiled reassuringly. Sage sighed and followed her friends to the kitchen. Celeste’s brow knitted in a frown. “It’s freezing in here.”
“The heater can’t keep up. I’m having a new system installed, but Jimmy Turnage is backed up. No telling when he’ll get around to me.” Since her table only seated four, Sage grabbed her work stool from her studio, placed it at the table, and snagged the first cinnamon roll out of the sack. She took a bite of the sinfully sweet roll, savored the taste for a moment, then faced the proverbial music. “So, dare I ask why you concluded that an interference—”
“Intervention,” Sarah corrected.
“—was appropriate? What, you found out about my dark chocolate M&M habit?”
“Dark chocolate is good for you.” Celeste smiled her thanks to Sarah as she served them all a mug of fresh, steaming coffee, then continued, “Actually, sweetheart, a guardian angel whispered in my ear that your light was on most of the night again. As your friends, we are concerned.”
A guardian angel? More likely somebody up for a midnight snack. Although Sage’s cottage was isolated from town, her lights shone like a lighthouse beacon across Hummingbird Lake, especially in the off-season, when hers was one of the few occupied lakeside residences.
“You’ve lost weight, and there’s not a makeup on the market good enough to cover the dark circles beneath your eyes,” Nic added, snagging a carton of strawberry yogurt and a spoon from the center of the table. She crossed her legs, gave her blond ponytail a toss, and settled back in her chair. “Believe me, I know. Since the twins were born, I’ve tried every combination of foundation and cover-up out there.”
Ali selected a banana while gazing longingly at the cinnamon rolls. “The girls tell me you haven’t come to quilt group since before Thanksgiving, Sage. That’s not like you.”
Even as Sage opened her mouth to defend herself, Sarah went in for the kill. “Most telling of all, you haven’t said word one about your gallery showing in Texas. You’ve gone out of your way to change the subject or ignore the question when someone asks about it. Did you think we wouldn’t notice?”
Nic touched her forearm and asked, “What happened in Texas, Sage?”
“It was a man, wasn’t it?” Sarah asked. “Who was he? What did he do? Did he hurt you, Sage?”
Nic set down her yogurt. “Honey, are you pregnant?”
At that, a laugh burst from Sage’s mouth. She understood why Nic’s thoughts would go there. A year ago Nic had had her own Christmas season soiree and ended up the mother of twins. “I wasn’t hurt or impregnated. Nothing bad happened.”
“Then what happened, dear?” Celeste asked. “You haven’t been yourself since you came back from your show. Is it career-related trouble?”
“No.” Sage recognized that concern, not nosiness, lay behind her friends’ questions. While she appreciated that they cared, she had no intention of sharing the full story. She’d never told anyone the entire nightmare—not her colleagues, not her therapist, not even her sister. She simply couldn’t.
So she gave them what she could. “But you’re right, I haven’t been myself. My sleep cycle is all out of whack and I’m not sleeping well. When I do sleep I have horrible dreams, and that exacerbates the problem. I’ll get back to normal eventually, but in the meantime …” Sage shrugged. “I’m cranky.”
“Can’t you take pills to help you sleep?” Sarah asked.
“I could. I don’t want to go down that road if I can avoid it. In the past, they’ve turned my nightmares into Nightmares.”
“Is there anything we can do to help you?” Sarah reached across the table and touched Sage’s arm. “We’re worried about you.”
As the others nodded their agreement, warmth washed through Sage. She loved these women. She truly did. “I’m okay. No need to worry. Just bear with me a bit. One of my sister’s favorite sayings is