“No, I probably got it from her. She had a big influence on people.”
“You do, too,” I tell her.
She looks perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“People start smiling and just generally perk up in your presence.”
Her face turns pink. “They do not.”
“Yeah, they do. You just can’t see it.”
Something like shy pleasure flickers across her face. She turns her head and watches the children on the playground. “What else do Lily and I do the same?”
“When you eat something sweet, you both close your eyes after the first bite. It’s like you’re savoring it or trying to commit it to memory.”
She laughs.
“And you both dab your napkins at your mouth in the same dainty way.”
She laughs again. “We probably got that from Miss Margaret. I don’t remember, but I bet Brooke did the same thing. It sounds very Southern and ladylike.” She smiles at me. “You notice way too much. I’m going to be too self-conscious to ever eat in front of you again.”
“Oh, I hope not. It’s all adorable.”
Her eyes go soft. I look into them longer than I should, then my gaze travels to her lips. In another lifetime, I would have leaned in and...
“I lost-ed my mos’ special treasure of all!” Lily runs toward us, sobbing.
Quinn holds out her arms, and Lily races right into them.
“I lost-ed Sugar Bear! I left-ed him at the ’state sale!”
Good gravy. I’d just thought about kissing Quinn! I didn’t act on it—Iwouldn’thave acted on it; the thought was framed in terms of “before I was married”—but still, it was wrong. I shouldn’t be having thoughts like that—period, no excuses.
“We’ll go back and get him,” Quinn says.
“What if someone else took-ed him?” Lily’s eyes are large and fearful. “What if they thought he was their treasure an’ bought him?”
I think of the love-worn brown bear, flattened from hugs and missing a tiny piece of his ear. It’s more likely Sugar Bear ended up in the trash.
“I have a feeling he’s just fine,” Quinn says. She gives me a small smile over Lily’s head.
“Is it one of your knowin’ feelin’?” Lily persists.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“Mommy used to say Auntie Quinn sometimes knows things through her feelin’s.”
I wonder if Quinn knows what I was thinking. I’m afraid she does, because a moment ago, I could have sworn the light in her eyes said we were on the same page.
“I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure,” Quinn says to Lily. “Where do you think you left him?”
“I don’ know.” Tears run down Lily’s cheeks.
“We looked at the toys and then at the women’s accessories,” Zack says. “He’ll be at one of those two places.”
“Let’s hurry up an’ go get him!” Lily takes both our hands and pulls us toward the car.
“Do you want me to drive so you can call the people running the sale?” I ask.
