“Feel like a cupcake?” I asked my sister.
She smiled. “Maybe.”
We made our way in just as Hannah was telling Helen she’d cleared it with someone named Kiran to use his s’more filling idea for her chocolate cake.
“S’more filling, huh?” I asked, and Hannah tipped her eyes up to me. Her entire face burst into a smile, unlike her mother, who actually frowned.
“My best friend, Kiran, said I could have it even though it was supposed to be for his birthday.”
“Are you celebrating a birthday?” I asked her.
“Next Saturday. That’s not tomorrow. That’s another seven days. I’ll be five,” she told me seriously.
“Wow. That’s pretty old. You sure you’re going to be able to keep playing rock and roll songs with those ancient fingers of yours?” I asked.
She actually giggled. “I’m not old. Grams was way older, and she could play anything I asked her to.”
She was right. Elana could play almost anything. By ear. She’d had a natural talent, and I’d been lucky to be able to learn from her.
Hannah saw my sister Cass and the baby. She flung her arms around Cassidy’s legs, causing Cass to wobble with the force of it. I stuck out a hand to balance her.
“Cassidy!” Hannah cried. “You had your baby!”
Cassidy smiled. “Yep, would you like to meet Chevelle?”
She bent so Hannah could look into the little sling she had wrapped about her. Hannah smiled at the sleeping baby.
“He’s all smooshed,” Hannah said.
“Yep, but babies like to be snuggled tight.”
“I mean, his face is all smooshed.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. When I turned back to Tristan, her face was a flare of red from her daughter’s words, but Cassidy was chuckling, too.
“He does look a little smooshed, doesn’t he?” Cass said, looking with adoration at her son’s face. His nose was pushed up a little and his cheeks were sort of wrinkly. Like he hadn’t quite grown into his tiny body yet.
Hannah’s smile wavered as she asked Cassidy, “Is it okay to order the chocolate cake with the s’more filling? Mommy said we could.”
Cass pretended to think about it and then loud-whispered, “Just don’t eat the whole cake in one sitting.”
Hannah rolled her eyes, her top hat wiggling on her head. “I’m not going to eat the whole thing, silly. Just a piece.”
“Well then, I think it’s perfectly acceptable. Maybe even a slice for breakfast the next morning.”
Hannah looked at my sister like she had four heads. “No. No. No. Oatmeal is the healthiest breakfast!” She leaned in and said quietly, “Mom made me put jam on it this morning, but I ate around it.”
I was definitely missing something. I looked over at Tristan again and saw worry etched across her face as she watched her daughter and Cass. It took my heart and squeezed tightly. It made me want to fix this for her like I’d tried to fix the issues with the festival.
“What are you two up to this morning?” Tristan asked us, changing the subject.
“Just needed a breath of fresh air,” I said.
Cassidy looked at me funny, but I ignored it. I knew from painful experience that I couldn’t talk in the open about any plans I might have. If I did, it would be all over the Internet in the blink of an eye. People would be gossiping for days about why I would be buying a business in my hometown. I didn’t need that kind of attention right now. Plus, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to buy it.
“You haven’t forgotten my lesson, right?” Hannah asked, and my heart about wrenched from my chest at the expression on her face. Loss. Fear. Hope. All tangled in a face too young for any of it.
“No way. I have plans for those feisty little fingers of yours,” I told her, and I did. It was the first thing that had been on my mind this morning. “I just have to drop Cass off at the house, and then I’ll be back.”
