“Come on, now. A little triple-chocolate never hurt no one,” Frankie cajoled.
“I said—” Evelyn opened her mouth to put him off, but Frankie was faster. He was trying to give her a bite but ended up all but shoving the entire cupcake in her face.
Everyone froze.
Then Thea let out a strangled laugh. I couldn’t help it and joined in. Frankie winced, slowly letting go of Evelyn’s shoulders as chocolate dropped onto her perfect white shirt. “I’m sorry, I?—”
“Oh, my God,” she mumbled around the cupcake. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
My eyes went wide, and my gaze snapped to Thea in shock. Thea only laughed harder. “We tried to tell you, and I wouldn’t steer a sister wrong.”
“It’s incredible. What the hell was I thinking? Carob isnotthe same thing.”
A huge grin spread across Frankie’s face. “She said the h-word.”
“I know,” Thea whisper-hissed.
Frankie threw an arm around Evelyn’s shoulders again, guiding her away from the table. “This is just the beginning. We’re hitting up the trampoline next.”
Evelyn looked up at him with wide eyes and chocolate all over her face. “We are?”
“Damn straight.”
As they disappeared, Thea collapsed into me. “Who would’ve thought all it took to melt the ice queen was Frankie’s charm and one of your triple-chocolate creations?”
I shook my head, watching as Frankie hoisted Evelyn onto the trampoline, and she started…jumping. “Maybe this is the breakthrough she’s been needing.”
“God, I hope so. Otherwise, I worry for her kid.”
I did, too.
“Mooooom!” Luca yelled, running toward me with a water gun. “We’re playing water tag hide-and-seek. You gotta play with us!”
“It’s the best, Miss Sutton,” Keely called, firing a shot in another kid’s direction.
I should’ve said no. I needed to watch the table. I was in a sundress and sandals. But I threw all that out the window. Because my kid wouldn’t ask me to play with him and his friends for that much longer. So, I grinned at Luca. “Where’s my weapon?”
He giggled and handed me a ridiculously over-the-top water pistol. “We have to the count of a hundred to hide, and then everyone’s fair game. Tag as many as you can. Ready, set, go!”
I didn’t wait. I took off running across the field and toward the trees. I could use them to hide. I wasn’t about to embarrass my kid and get knocked out in the first five seconds. I slipped into some forest cover, trying to see where everyone was headed.
Two went by the trampoline, and another three headed into the party, weaving between players, parents, and Coach Kenner. But Luca, my smart boy, went for the hives because he knew most kids would be too scared of the bees to venture there, and he could sneak back around to surprise them all.
A laugh bubbled out of me as I watched him pump a fist in the air. But the laugh caught in my throat as someone grabbed me by the hair and yanked me backward, clamping a hand over my mouth. “Did you miss me, Blue Eyes?”
51
COPE
I liftedthe bottle to my lips and took a swig of local ale, the hops playing on my tongue. It wasn’t as good as the taste of Sutton, but it was good enough. I could still see her after our stolen moments earlier this afternoon.
Her head tipped back, the sun catching on her blond locks as she laughed full-out as Lolli caught us coming downstairs afterward. That was something I’d noticed lately. Sutton laughed harder—and more often—these days. There were fewer shadows in her eyes.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.”
I jolted slightly at the sound of my mom’s voice. I glanced down, seeing her eyes shine with tightly held emotion. “Mom.”
She wrapped an arm around my waist and squeezed me tight. “Ever since the accident, you’ve had shadows. It made sense, but knowing how much you were hurting killed me.”
