Batty couldn't for the life of her think what she should do for Rosalind. So she brewed a cup of Earl Grey tea. She felt like some heroine in a Jane Austen novel, but Rosalind did enjoy a nice cup of tea, every now and then. As the water boiled, Batty nearly cried thinking of all the times Rosalind had made a cup of tea for a morose Batty. But no, this was no time for Batty's tears.

When Batty brought the mug to Rosalind's bedroom, she expected to find Rosalind prostrate on the bed sobbing into the pillow. Instead Rosalind sat in a tiny chair in a corner. She was holding her phone in her hands, as if it were an injured bird.

The master bedroom of Birches was wide and airy. The walls were painted a crisp white. The duvet on the full-size bed was light green with tiny white flowers. There was a painting on one wall of three birches buried deep in the woods somewhere.

Seashells lined the windowsill.

Batty perched delicately on the foot of the bed.

"I made you some tea," Batty said. "Earl Grey."

"Thank you," Rosalind said. "It's sweet of you, especially since I've been so crazy lately."

"No, not crazy," Batty said. "Just a little...different."

"He's probably talking to his mom right now," Rosalind said. "She'll hate me. And Nick, Nick will think I'm such a bitch."

"Never," Batty gasped.

"But I am," Rosalind said. "To call off a wedding a month before, when I've had plenty of time to reconsider. And to not even be sure if I should call it off. But now I guess I have no choice. He says he won't marry me. And Tommy always means what he says."

Tears sprang to Rosalind's eyes, and Batty watched in awe as Rosalind just swallowed them. She pulled the tears back in, they never spilled over. Batty didn't know such restraint was humanly possible.

Batty was not strong like Rosalind. She had always known that. But now she had to find strength from somewhere. She thought of the most powerful songs she had ever sang. She thought of the summer she had been Elle Woods in a community theater production of Legally Blonde and had to wear that awful blonde wing but had belted out "So Much Better" for a standing ovation. She thought of the witch in Into the Woods declaring it was the last midnight, the last curse.

"Listen," Batty said. "You deserve to make the choice. If you want to call off this wedding, it's off. We can stay here, and I won't let anyone into this house that you don't want to talk to. You and Skye can move in together in Boston, and Jane will pack up all your things and bring them to you. And Skye will call all the guests and tell them it's off, no questions, no comments. Skye will be great at that. Skye might even enjoy it."

Batty stood up and looked down at Rosalind, her beloved Rosalind, who stared up at Batty like she had just beamed down from outer space.

"And if you want the wedding, well then you'll get it," Batty continued. "Jeffrey and Skye will drive to Boston and kidnap Tommy and bring him here and make him listen to you. We'll make you two talk. Jane could even help write you a speech so you say what you need to say. And I'll call Mrs. Geiger and Nick and say that Tommy had a brief aneurysm or something, or it was a prank, the wedding was never getting cancelled."

"Thank you," Rosalind whispered. "I just don't know."

"That's fine," Batty said. "You don't need to choose right now, you can just sit here and think and we'll do whatever you want. You just need to know that we will be here to help in anyway."

Batty exhaled and sat back down again. She thought to herself that not even Jane could have delivered a better pep talk.

"Ok," Rosalind said. "For now, would you sing for me?"

"What?" Batty asked.

"I want you to go into the living room and pick out the saddest songs you know," Rosalind said. "And just sing them while I sit here and listen."

So Batty wandered into the living room almost in a daze. And she began to sing "Travelling Alone." When she had finished that, she sang "Liability," then "Someone Like You." She paused for a second, and then started with "He Stopped Loving Her Today."

When Jeffrey and Skye returned from their hike, Batty was on "Hurt."

Rosalind was standing in the doorway to her room and watching Batty sing.

Batty didn't know how Rosalind could endure this onslaught with such stoicism, but Rosalind had asked this one thing of her. Rosalind had never demanded anything from Batty, and so Batty would do this. She would sing for Rosalind.