“It does make me sad. But it makes me happy too.” He stares at the cap. “I’ll be sure she knows that.”
Eli nods and turns to slip back out the door.
“I wish we’d bet on those fairy wings.” Aaron chuckles and gives me a wink.
It’s only then that I realize that Eli had had two large misshapen appendages sticking out from his back.
“Told you Kerry-Anne is persuasive. It’s that cherubic smile. Gets you every time.”
He walks toward the front door, and I follow him. “Where are you going?”
“To give my daughter her mother’s hat, and to talk to her about Lynda as much as she wants. Want to come along?” He stands in the open doorway and looks back at me, waiting.
“Well, they’re at my house,” I remind him.
“C’mon,” he says, and he rocks his head in the direction he wants me to go. As I walk by him, he grabs my hand and stops me. He stares, hard, into my eyes, and his well up with tears. He blinks them back, but not before I notice. “Thank you for going with me today.” He gives my hand a tight squeeze and I squeeze his back, trying to swallow the lump that’s suddenly in my throat.
“You’re welcome,” I manage to croak out.
I follow him to my cabin and walk in to find a beehive of activity. Gabby is with Sam, Kerry-Anne, and Trixie at the table, and they’re putting the finishing touches on their wings. Glitter, glue, and scraps of paper litter the table. Miles sits in his bouncy chair on the floor next to the table.
Aaron walks over to Sam and pulls Lynda’s old cap down over her hair. She looks up, unsure of what’s going on. “I heard you need a fishing hat,” he says quietly.
She pulls it off and looks at the front of it.
“It was your mom’s.”
“Really?” she asks, and I can see the appreciation for the small, intimate gesture in her gaze when she looks at him.
“She wore it all the time,” he says. He runs a hand down her hair, and then she pulls the hat on. “She said it was her lucky fishing hat,” he goes on to explain.
Eli pretends to sulk. “If she gets any luckier, she’ll skunk me every time.”
“I skunked him today, and I didn’t even have a lucky hat,” she croons.
“I heard.” Aaron leans down and air-kisses the top of her hat. “You’ll kill it tomorrow.” He looks down at the table. “Did you guys make some fairy wings for me?”
“Do you want some?” Sam asks. “I can make them.”
“Of course I want some. How about if we do it together?” He sits down next to her as Trixie and Kerry-Anne migrate away from the table, leaving them alone.
“Gabby taught them to play jacks,” Sam explains to him as she starts to measure out a pair of wings for Aaron. Trixie and Kerry-Anne settle down on the floor where they can bounce the ball easier.
“Your mom was good at jacks. She could do tensies without blinking an eye,” Aaron tosses out casually. He watches as Sam’s face lights up, and then he shoots me a wink.
I grin, and I go to find something to cook for dinner. I guess we’re having company. And they’ll all be wearing fairy wings.
10
Eli
“Knock, knock!” someone calls from outside the cabin door just before it opens. Katie pokes her head inside. “Sorry, I should have waited for you to invite me in,” she says with a wince.
“You’re at the lake,” Jake says from behind her as he walks in. He’s carrying a big basket full of food. “No one waits for an invitation at the lake.” He walks into the kitchen and sets the basket on the counter. He starts to unload it.
Up until that moment, Bess had been rifling through our cabinets looking for enough food to feed everyone. Even I knew that we didn’t have enough for that. Unless you counted crackers and cheese, Bess wasn’t much of a snacker, not to mention that we haven’t been to the store since we got here.
Jake walks over close to Bess and leans down to ask her quietly, “How’s he doing?”