Whatever she wanted, I would make it happen.
“No problem.” He walked a little past where we were standing and called out, “Happy birthday, Calliope!”
Calliope popped up with something in her hand and smiled at Apollo, giving him a comically big wave. “Thank you!”
Apollo gave a small wave and went back to his car.
I walked closer to Calli and found that she was wiping something clean with her shirt.
“What is that?” I asked.
She held up something metal and squealed. “I found your Gremlin Bells!”
I caught her as she threw herself at me, the tinkling of the bells sounding right behind my ear as she wrapped every limb that she could around me.
“Did you now?”
“Yes.” She brought the bells in front of my face, pieces of ash falling between us. “See?”
“I do,” I confirmed, blowing out slightly to keep me from inhaling the ash. “Where do you want to go eat for your birthday?”
She sighed. “I’m not a big going out and celebrating person. Plus, I still have that interview in an hour and a half.”
I knew that but…
“Just you and me,” I swore. “We can go anywhere you want.”
She tilted her head. “Anywhere?”
“Anywhere.”
She slowly slipped her legs from my hips, then held the bells out to me. “How about you put these on. I’m going to have to go shower.”
I smoothed my hand down her hair, taming the flyaways as best as I could.
It seemed slightly impossible, though, due to the humidity.
The rain had started to melt the snow thanks to the temperature hitting nearly sixty today, and that’d only ramped up the humidity level to a hundred.
“Did your sister loan you enough clothes?”
“She gave me everything I’ll need,” Calli sighed. “I don’t think they’re loans, either. I think she went out and bought it all. That was what took her so long to get here. I think what happened was she ran to the mall first thing this morning the moment it opened. Then she tore all the tags off and stuffed everything into the suitcase she’d brought with her.”
I dropped my hand from her head and caught her hand before guiding her out of the ash that had once been her house. “She loves you.”
“I know.”
“And she has the money to blow, so let her.”
Calli snorted. “She’s been trying to buy me a new wardrobe since this all happened. I just know that she had a grand time today.”
“I say let her.” I stopped at the carport and said, “I’ll be in in a bit…” I studied her. “Do you think you can do a hairstyle that’ll survive the bike? I’d love to take it out since it feels so nice out.”
She thought about it for a long second before saying, “I think I can make it work.”
And she did.
Forty-five minutes later, she came out of the bathroom fully dressed and ready to go. She also looked killer in a pair of high-waisted black pants, a red sequined belt, and a red long-sleeved top that covered everything from wrist to neck. Her hair was up in a sleek ponytail on the top of her head, and she reached for the sweatshirt on the bed next to my hip.
