When they entered the hallway leading to the swinging bar doors, the perfect silence was broken by rustling and whispers. A child giggled and was quickly shushed.
Rance paused in front of the louvered doors.
“Hold on,” Andy murmured. “Granny, go on up with Lani so you can see.” He moved in behind the two of them. “Okay, we’re set.”
Rance let out a nervous chuckle. “Here goes.” Pushing through, he yelped as balloons of all colors rained down amid cheers and laughter.
But not just balloons. Lani held open one door and Andy held the other, which wasn’t easy when they were laughing so hard. Plush animals followed the balloons, bouncing off Rance’s head, shoulders and arms. Bears, tigers, monkeys, dogs, kitties, rabbits and a couple she couldn’t identify descended from above and created a menagerie at his feet, except for a snake that dangled from his shoulder Then a small turtle plopped down with just the right trajectory to land on his head. And stay there.
As the group clapped and cheered, Beau stepped up brandishing a confetti cannon.
Rance sighed. “C’mon, bro. I’ll end up with it in my?—”
Beau glanced over his shoulder at the noisy group. “Should I spare him?”
A roar ofnoooosealed the deal.
“Gotta do it, little brother. The people have spoken.” Grinning, he aimed the black tube a couple feet over Rance’s head. With a dramaticboom, confetti shot skyward and drifted down, covering the guest of honor in a rainbow of color. The crowd went wild.
“Wow.” Lani struggled to get her breath back as she glanced at Andy. “Does this happen a lot?”
“This was more elaborate than most, but yeah, the McLintocks like to celebrate.”
“Pure craic it was.” Granny took a lace-trimmed handkerchief from the pocket of her dress and dabbed at her eyes. “Laughed so hard I got tears in m’eyes.”
“Go on in,” Andy said. “But watch your step.
“Granny, you go ahead.” Lani held back to let her have a bit of the spotlight. Her parents had mentioned that Granny had been an instant hit with the little ones.
Mav broke from the crowd and charged toward Rance, arms outstretched. Zach followed, also aiming for Rance until he caught sight of Granny. Then he changed course.
Lani edged into the room just as Rance scooped Mav into his arms. “You did this?”
“We did, Uncle Rance! Uncle Rrrrance, Rance, Rance!” She giggled and plucked the turtle off his head. “Look! It’s Squirt!” She waved the toy in his face and continued to jabber at top speed.
Meanwhile Granny leaned down to greet Zach, who stared up at her, his gaze adoring. “Hiya, lad. Did ya help make all this?”
He nodded. “That’s my snake.” He pointed to the plush reptile still hanging from Rance’s shoulder. “His name’s Jack. And that’s my monkey, and that’s my kitty, and that’s— oh, no, here come Susie and Jodi. They’ll try to take my stuff.”
“We can’t have that, can we, boyo?” Granny looked up. “Can ya hold these for a minute, Lani? I have business ta take care of.”
“Sure thing.” She balanced Granny’s stack on top of her own.
“I’ll take some.” Andy relieved her of several. “You need to see this. That woman’s the best arbitrator I’ve ever met. Zach’s a bit shy and those two little girls, Susie and Jodi, go after his toys. Granny’s showing him how to stand up for himself without getting into a fight with them.”
“That’s awesome.” While the adults converged on Rance and Mav, Granny quietly redistributed the plush toys so that the two girls had what was theirs while Zack had a pile of his and Mavs. It sounded like she was using different voices to make each of the animals talk, which turned frowns and scowls to smiles and giggles. “Do you know she used to be a teacher?”
“I do. I’ll bet she was terrific. She understands kids.”
“Not only kids. People. But I also just discovered there’s a will of iron under that sweet smile.”
Andy chuckled. “Tried to argue with her, did you? I’ve?—”
“Hey, there, you two.” Beau strolled over. “It appears you have the goods. Need help distributing those manuscripts?”
“Thanks.” Lani instinctively put a protective hand over the stack. “We’d better find out how Rance wants to do it.”
“Perfect.” He looked over at his brother. “Hey there, bro! When do we get our books?”
