“You don’t sound all that sympathetic, I have to tell you.” Reggie pointed the spatula at her. “Keep it up and I’m giving Emily all the bacon.”
“I’ll be good.” She didn’t sound convincing.
His dad said, “Me too.” A pause. “And then there was the time I caught him in his room with a ruler, measuring—”
“Dad.”
“His biceps. What did you think I was going to say, son?”
Maggie choked on her tea.
Reggie finished cooking as fast as he could. Best to get his family out of here before his father started remembering all the other crap he’d done that was best forgotten. Or worse, somehow brought up Amy and Rachel in casual conversation.
That he could really do without.
***
Emily looked at Reggie’s sisters and wished she had some. Jeezy-peezy, she really needed to get some magic seeds. But maybe she’d get some for sisters instead of brothers. Frank tugged on his rope, so she tugged back.
Nadia and Lisa looked at each other. Then they looked back at the house. They nodded to each other and motioned for Emily to join them at the far side of the yard. The women crouched down, so Emily crouched as well, which caused them to laugh.
“Yeah?” Emily said.
Lisa put a finger to her lips. “Shh.”
“Okay,” Emily whispered. “Why are we whispering?”
“Because we have questions. And we don’t want our brother to hear us.”
“Oh.” That made sense.
Nadia petted Frank, who rolled on his back, exposing his belly. “He is so flippin’ cute.”
“He is,” Emily agreed, mentally adding “flippin’” to her vocabulary.
“Nadia, focus.” Lisa looked at Emily. “So, kid, what do you think of Reggie?”
“He’s awesome. He’s my favorite person. Well, next to Frank.”
“Frank’s not a person,” Nadia said.
“He is,” Emily defended him. “He’s just shaped like a dog.”
“Nadia, hush.” Lisa glared at her sister before smiling back at Emily. “We like Reggie too.”
“He’s fun. He showed me how to lift weights. And when he came for dinner, he made me a Shirley Temple.”
The sisters exchanged a glance. Nadia’s eyebrows rose. “Dinner?”
Emily told them all about her shared meal with Sherry and Reggie.
“Well, now. That sounds like it was fun.” Nadia smiled.
“It was. A lot.” Emily frowned. “But I really need those seeds. Or is it a pill? Sherry doesn’t know. I don’t think her dad does either. Babies don’t come from pills.” She snorted. “Pills make you feel better. But things grow from seeds.”
“That’s true.” Lisa nodded. “I once tried to grow a watermelon from a seed. Didn’t work. But my dad grows things from seeds all the time.”
“Really?” Emily needed to talk to Mr. Harry.
