“I swear there was a witch.” She squints at me. She isn’t buying that story. I pause right on that darn moose stepping-stone and stare at her while the drawstring does its very best to slice my wrist off. I don’t need it anyway.
Saffron just shakes her head at me. “Go in now and get dressed. Y ou are helping me prep for tomorrow.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I lay on the Southern accent as thick as I dare.
“That won’t work on me, Wren,” Saffron states as I pass her, the hair on my neck sticking up because I know I’m in trouble.
I’m a thirty-year-old woman, and I’m in trouble.
Why does that make me feel loved?
CHAPTER 23
“Please don’t,”Arlo grumbles as he sips his cup of milk. Yes, milk. Arlo isn’t drinking tonight. Wearing his very best flannel and non-holey jeans, he looks handsome, and I can’t stop staring at him.
“Oh, don’t be shy, little brother,” Autumn shouts across the table, a turkey carcass sitting between us. “Tell them how you broke your ankle.”
“Why?” Arlo wipes off the milk in his moustache. “It’s hardly a story worth mentioning.”
“Oh no. It’s absolutely worth mentioning,” Seraphina counters.
Lark and I just watch in complete contentment as the siblings banter around the table. Arlo and Saffron sit at the head. Across from me, Lark sips her milk with barely a hint of the pie she consumed left on her plate.
Willow sits beside her. Autumn, Sera, and Paris are to my right with Robin. The empty chair between us…well, it’s occupied.
By Cooper. Saffron even got him a little bib to wear and made him a plate. Apparently, the residents of Silent Springs take their pets seriously. Kayden should have sat there, but he sat underthe table with a collection of cars and army men. Not a single one of us batted an eye, not even Robin as he slowly fed him strips of turkey that Cooper snatched out of his hands.
After my walk of shame, I made pie. For the first time in my life, I made pie.
I baked!
Granted, Saffron walked me through it, but it felt right, and I adored spending hours in the kitchen with her and Lark while Arlo dropped in every so often to steal a taste of food. He claimed he was the official taste tester, and not one of us disputed the fact, letting him enjoy his moment.
Thanksgiving began early with drinks in the parlor and little snack sandwiches. Then, when Willow showed up after everyone else, we went straight to the dining room. Willow isn’t what I expected. Observant and slightly shy, she’s been completely content to just listen to the banter and soak it in, throwing in little zingers that make all the Larson siblings chuckle. She looks just like the rest of her siblings, but she’s a perfect combination of the twins. Dark hair frames her delicate face, and she has those baby blue eyes they all possess. She looks most like her mother, even dressing in a long, flowing skirt and lace top with a heavy scarf.
The atmosphere in the room swells with love and warmth, and I’m so glad Paris decided to celebrate. I don’t miss the little touches of assurance Robin gives her in comfort either.
“What do you say, Birdie?” Arlo nudges me back to the present, because clearly, I’m not living there right now.
“Tell them.” I sip my coffee and eye him over the rim. He stares at me for a moment, and his lips twitch.
“I broke my ankle on a sliding board,” he says with a dare and an arched brow.
I quickly swallow my coffee and just manage not to spit it all over him.
My brother guffaws. “How, man? Just how?”
“Well, it was one of those old sliding boards over by the pond, the slatted kind.” He rubs his thumb against his bottom lip, brushing away the last of his milk, and I picture him in a Santa Claus suit—I can’t unsee that now. “My shoelace came loose and got caught in the slat, ripped my foot right out from under me.”
“And you make fun of me for being clumsy?” I point out, still picturing him in all red.
Maybe in just little red shorts… And now I’m blushing.
Abort all thoughts.
“Wren here broke her finger on a trash bag,” Robin says around a mouthful of pie. Saffron gave up on plates with him and shoved the pie pan under his hungry mug.
“She did,” Lark chimes in.
