From the author:
This excerpt comes from the second half of the book. Anyone who is super careful to avoid spoilers may want to read the book first. There was a surprisingly controversial bit in an early draft of this scene where Noah brings a get-well gift of spiced peach bread. Other characters referred to it as cake, because it was sweet and delicious. Some of my beta readers thought this was confusing and possibly a continuity issue, as though I forgot what he brought as I was writing. Others thought it was funny that his gift was sort of "misinterpreted." There was a whole discussion about whether or not something needs to have frosting on top to be considered cake. In the end, I chose to edit out the mentions of cake and use words like treat and dessert where characters thought it was too sweet to be called bread.
From the book:
“It’s a spiced peach bread.” Flowers were the most common gift for this sort of thing, but that felt inadequate for someone who practically lived in a greenhouse. Sarah had told him her mom liked peaches. He held it up for Mr. Franks to take.
Noah got waved inside instead. “Bring that in here.”
He followed the older man, who led him into the kitchen and tapped the table.
“Set that down and then have a seat,” Mr. Franks insisted. He turned to open a cupboard. When he pulled out a plate, it became clear he intended to immediately cut into the bread.
The chair was louder against the floor than Noah expected as he pulled it out to sit. He hadn’t seen Mary Franks yet and hoped the noise didn’t disturb her.
“Mary’s napping right now.” Mr. Franks cut a corner out of the square pan and set it on a plate before he sat down opposite Noah. “She didn’t sleep too well last night. I’ll just sample this for her.” He brought the fork to his mouth. He nodded approvingly and took another quick bite.
Soft footsteps brought Noah’s attention to a door on the other side of the room. Mary emerged – slowly – wearing a thick pink robe. “Noah!” she said. “I could tell we had a visitor. It’s nice to see you.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No. I’ve been awake for a while. I just needed some motivation to get out of bed.”
“How are you feeling?” Noah asked.
She waved a hand to dismiss his concern. “I’m just fine as long as I don’t move or breathe,” she said with a smile.
Noah returned the smile. It was nice to see she could remain upbeat through the pain.
A chair moved towards her as if by magic. Noah was pretty sure the magic was actually Mr. Franks’ foot. He jumped up while she lowered herself into the chair inch by inch.
“I’m going to cut you a slice of this delicious [treat] the boy brought.” He took out another plate and fork as he spoke. Then he picked up the knife. “Let’s see. This’ll be your share.” He positioned the knife as though he planned to give her only a tiny sliver before he cut a piece similar to his own.