"It's just a little mud, for God's sake! No need to make a Federal case out of it!"

"Just a little mud to you! I've got three groups coming in tomorrow and now I have to mop the kitchen floor that I just cleaned yesterday. Bob, I've been telling you for 40 years to wipe your feet when you come in!"

Arriving at the back door of the Thyme & Tide, Allison stopped dead in her tracks to see her employers, Bob and Peggy Beldon, going at it hammer and tongs.

"You act like I don't do a damned thing around here!" Bob growled in his deep voice.

Peggy was furiously wiping down the kitchen countertop with a damp dishcloth. "Well, I'll be getting the house ready for our guests today while you're sitting in a boat with Jack, so-"

"Yeah, you're so put upon," Bob sniped. "Might I remind you it was your idea to start this B&B in the first place!"

"Go jump in the Sound!" Peggy retorted, turning her back on her husband. He cast her a last, baleful look, then brushed past Allison on his way out the door. He slammed it behind him, causing the glass panes to rattle in their frames.

Allison felt her face flush hot. She had never seen her two bosses acting this way before, and it scared her. She looked down at the ceramic-tiled kitchen floor and observed Bob's big boot prints stamped in mud from the door to the refrigerator and back. Having worked for the Beldons for more than a year, Allison could picture Bob, who liked to get up early to do some weeding in his big vegetable garden, tromping in to get a cup of coffee, heedless of the gunk stuck to the soles of his worn work boots. It had happened before – but in those instances, Peggy had only sighed, rolled her eyes and reached for the mop. Today was different.

Allison still stood inside the door, not sure what to do. The scene she'd witnessed was a painful reminder of similar battles she'd witnessed between her parents before their divorce. Were Bob and Peggy going to split up? The idea created a lump in the young teen's throat. She had come to look at the Beldons as surrogate grandparents, so kind and supportive when she was living with her parents' angry sniping at home. Now they were doing the same thing.

"Um …" she began quietly. Peggy whirled around, apparently not having noticed her young employee's arrival. Allison saw that her face was red and tears pooled in her blue eyes. Peggy quickly dabbed at them with her dishtowel and gave Allison a wan smile.

"Sorry about that," Peggy said with exaggerated cheer. "Somebody woke up grumpy this morning."

Allison tried her best to smile back at her. She wished she knew what to say to Mrs. Beldon to fix whatever was wrong. Mostly she wished she hadn't seen the ugly confrontation between the couple.

"We've got several groups coming in tomorrow, so we'll need to hustle a bit today," Peggy continued. "Could you strip the beds in the Rose and Violet rooms, and make sure the bureaus are dusted and the rooms are tidy?"

Allison nodded. "I'll get right on that, Peggy." She started to leave, but then paused and glanced back at the beautiful blond lady who had come to mean so much to her. "Is everything okay?"

Peggy smiled again, a little warmer this time, and walked over to Allison. She gently placed an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Don't you worry," she murmured, giving her a quick hug. Looking up at her, Allison noticed Peggy glance out the kitchen window. Following her gaze, she observed Bob, clearly still in high dudgeon, stomping across the yard to his woodworking shop. "We've got a lot to get done today," Peggy said now. "So we'd better get started, hm?"

It took Allison the better part of an hour to get the guest rooms in ship shape. When she came downstairs again, she was surprised to find Peggy standing behind the marble kitchen countertop, furiously rolling out dough into a large, thin disk. The mud tracks had been cleared away and the floor was gleaming again.

"I-I finished upstairs," Allison said, slightly intimidated by the force Peggy was exerting on her rolling pin. The mistress of the house looked up briefly. "Thank you. Could you throw the bedding in the wash? And the area rug in the foyer could use a vacuuming."

"Okay." Allison frowned slightly. "Are you making kringlers?"

"Yep." Peggy ran the rolling pin over the dough again, thinning it down still more.

"That's a Christmas cookie, isn't it?"

"Usually." Peggy was breathing a little hard from effort and paused to push a loose strand of blond hair from her forehead with the back of her hand. Seeing Allison's puzzlement, she smiled slightly, almost to herself. "It's a kringler kind of day," she said, as if that were all the explanation needed. Shrugging, Allison headed for the laundry room.

It was such a beautiful spring day that Allison decided to take her bag lunch outside. There was a large oak tree at the corner of the yard that she especially liked to sit under and daydream while she ate her peanut butter sandwich and chips. On her way across the lawn, she spied Bob and Jack standing in the doorway of Bob's woodworking shop. Bob looked hot and sweaty, obviously having been laboring as hard on whatever project he was working on as Peggy was on her cookies.

"You're sure you can't sneak away for an hour or two this afternoon?" she heard Jack ask.

"Nah. Going to have to take a rain check this time," Bob answered. "I've been meaning to get to this project for a while now."

"Well, it's a beauty. Special order?" Jack asked.

"Nope, it's something I'm making for …" he hesitated slightly. "… for the house."

Allison heard Jack chuckle. "Well, I'm sure the house will love it."

"Yeah, yeah," Bob grumbled in slightly embarrassed way. "Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

Allison heard their laughter fading as she moved out of hearing range. She didn't really understand what they were talking about, but she had the feeling it wasn't about woodwork. Allison pondered the curious situation while she nibbled her lunch. She was very fond of both her employers, though she felt closer to Peggy. Truth be told, she was a little intimidated by Bob. He was such a large man, with a tendency to seem gruff. He often questioned her about her schoolwork, nodding with satisfaction when she was able to report she was maintaining her B average. Allison knew Bob was a truly good man. A caring man. She also sensed there was some darkness deep within him that he fought to hide from those around him. Once she had stumbled upon him standing on the front porch, gazing off into the distance with an expression so bleak and distant that it made Allison's heart hurt. She remembered one of the older ladies of the neighborhood commenting to her mom that Bob had had "some trouble after the war." Allison didn't know what war they were talking about, but if it had caused the deep pain she viewed on Mr. Beldon's face as he looked outward, over the rolling landscape toward the distant sea, she thought it must have been a bad one.

At that moment Peggy had stepped outside and called to him. He had turned, his face breaking into a wide, almost boyish grin. Bob always lit up when he saw his Peggy, as he referred to her. And Peggy's eyes always shone with pride and love when Bob came into a room. Until this morning. Allison suddenly found she had no appetite for the rest of her sandwich.

By 2:00, when Allison finished dusting the woodwork in the living room, Peggy was carefully forming very thin strips of her dough into delicate bow shapes and arranging them on baking trays. As delicious as they were, Allison couldn't help but wonder if the fussing needed to product this particular pastry was worth it. It was especially surprising that Peggy was devoting all this time to a single batch of cookies when she was so stressed about impending arrivals only a few hours ago.

Mrs. Beldon's mood seemed to have improved. Allison heard her humming softly to herself as she sprinkled sparkling sugar on top of the bows. When Allison came to report she'd finished in the living room, Peggy gave her a genuinely happy smile. She was pulling a tray of freshly baked cookies out of the oven. After letting them cool a minute, she gently lifted them from the pan to the cooling rack with a large spatula. "Want a sample?" she asked Allison.

"Sure!" Allison picked up a still-warm cookie. The aroma of vanilla and sugar made her mouth water. She took a bit and discovered they were as delicious as they smelled. Out the kitchen window she suddenly saw Bob headed for the house. He was carrying a long, rectangular wood object.

"Hey, Peg!" she heard him call. "Come out here and see this!"

To Allison's surprise, she saw Peg's features light up at the sound of her name on her husband's lips. She hurried outside, followed by Allison. Bob had set his burden on the picnic table on the patio immediately outside the kitchen. It was a windowbox, constructed of sturdy redwood and decorated with graceful scrolls of molding. Bob had used some kind of burning tool to etch tiny hearts and small flowers into the wood. The artistry was surprisingly fine and intricate for a man with such large hands. Along the bottom was inscribed a single line: "Peg o'My Heart."

"Oh, Bob! It's so wonderful!" Peggy gushed, throwing her arms around her husband's neck. Allison saw him smile almost shyly at her praise. He shrugged self consciously.

"You've been asking for a box for the kitchen window for a while," he said. "I decided today was a good time to get it done. I'm sorry it took so long."

Peggy ran her finger over the smooth contours of the box. "I love it," she said. "Some things are worth waiting for." She and Bob exchanged a glance that spoke a language Allison didn't know, but hoped someday to learn.

"Come in the house and I'll get you something to eat," Peggy said, snaking an arm around her husband's waist.

"I better not. I'm covered with sawdust," Bob said sheepishly.

"So what are you going to do about it, turn the garden hose on yourself?"

Bob grinned. "Nah, I thought I'd just go jump in the Sound."

The sound of their laughter made Allison's heart soar.

"It's okay," Peggy said, urging him toward the door. "I've mopped the floor twice already anyway. Third time's the charm."

They walked into the house hand in hand. Bob stopped short as the aroma of fresh baking hit his nostrils. He looked down at Peg, eyes twinkling. "Kringlers?"

She shrugged. "Well, you know it's-"

He joined her and they finished in unison: "-a Kringler kind of day." More laughter, soon muffled on Bob's part as he stuffed his mouth with two cookies at once. "Ooomph," he moaned between bites. "That is sooooo good."

"Are you going to stand here and eat them all?" Peggy teased. "You'll have a bellyache."

"Never!" Bob declared. "Your Kringlers are ambrosia of the gods. They could never make me sick." His fingers hovered over the cooling rack, twitching as he pondered which cookie to claim next. Then, seeing his wife's wry expression, he paused. "Maybe I'd better take a shower first. Then I can give these my full attention."

"Good idea," Peggy nodded. She reached up to rub a crumb from the corner of his mouth. His big hands slid around her slim waist and he pulled her close, then lowered his lips to hers. Allison's eyes widened at the passion of the kiss – she didn't know old people did that! Suddenly remembering they had an audience, Bob pulled back from his wife and made an embarrassed little grunt. "Well, er," he glanced toward Allison, who made a pretense of wiping down the dining room table, as if she hadn't seen anything at all. "I'll go take that shower." Allison saw him bend toward Peggy and whisper in her ear, barely audible. "I think it better be a cold one."

Peggy waggled her eyebrows at him. "Not too cold." Allison thought she saw Bob blush a little, and it was so cute she thought she'd die. After he left the kitchen, Peggy turned to the teen.

"I suppose you're wondering what that was all about."

Allison tried to look innocent, but Peggy's knowing gaze made her grin. "I guess Bob really likes Kringlers, huh?"

Peggy picked up a Kringler for herself and one for Allison and the two females leaned against the kitchen counter, munching.

"A few months after we were married, close to Christmas, Bob and I had our first real, big fight," Peggy explained. "He went stomping out, just like he did this morning. I was sure the marriage was over. I didn't know what to do … so I started baking. I chose Kringlers because they are such a fiddly recipe and I knew it would take my mind off my troubles. A few hours later, just as the last batch was coming out of the oven, Bob came back. He had a big Poinsettia for me. And I had Kringlers for him."

She smiled at the memory. "It's hard to say you're sorry," she told the young girl. "But actions speak louder than words. Ever since then, whenever we have a tiff – which isn't often, I'm happy to say – I get out the rolling pin and start taking out my frustrations on that poor lump of dough. As I cut the strips and form the bows, I think about all the things I love about Bob, everything we've had together over the past 40 years. Bob usually goes to his wood shop and does the same thing. By the time we're both finished, so is the fight."

"That's really sweet," Allison said softly. "I wish my mom and dad did that." She looked at Peggy. "Would you … would you teach me how to bake? I want to learn how you do things. For when I'm older."

"Absolutely," Peggy said, pulling the girl into a hug. "I'm making pies tomorrow. How 'bout I show you the secret to my prize-winning flaky crust?"

Late that afternoon, as Allison headed home to start her homework, she saw Bob attaching the new windowbox to the ledge under the kitchen window, where Peggy would see the flowers as she did the dishes. Peggy had dug a few bright geraniums out of one of the beds and arranged them on the ground near the box, ready for planting when the box was affixed. Even from a distance, Allison felt she could see Bob's smile, as bright as the beacon from the lighthouse, and the warm glow of love in Peggy's eyes. The Beldons were happy again, and all was right in Allison's world.