Hollie crinkled her nose. “Sorry about that.”
Cade, thank goodness, remembered his manners. “Thank you, Miss Hollie.”
She reached out and gently stroked the top of Cade’s fluffy hair. Laurel had motherly muscle memory, things she did without thinking. Like gentle swaying, comforting with soft hands, humming, and offering reassuring smiles. Hollie’s ease with Cade was exactly that—maternal instincts mixed with years of practice. I couldn’t pull my eyes away as she smiled. “I’m just glad I was able to help.”
Cade beamed up at her.
She dropped her hand. “Have you ever had a cake pop?”
The girls, right behind Hollie, chimed in. Izzy said, “They are thebest.”
“We got you a pink one!” Nora added.
Izzy dug around in the brown paper bag and drew out something that looked like a lollipop. “Here!”
Cade took it, and spun the stick around in his fingers, curiously inspecting it. “Thank you.”
Nora climbed up on the bed like it was hers. “Does your throat hurt?”
Cade lifted a shoulder. “Not really.”
“Did it hurt when you were choking?”
“Yes.” Cade touched the tip of his tongue to the pink frosting.
“Were you scared?”
Hollie glanced at me. Mouthed,sorry.
I wavedits finethen settled back into a chair and tapped my straw against my thigh to scrunch the paper down.
Hollie stepped across the room, sitting in the chair beside me. “They’re going to interrogate him. Hope that’s okay.”
“It’ll be good exposure therapy.”
Hollie’s eyes went wide.
I rushed to reassure her. “He’s fine, just kind of quiet. Being forced to talk now and then won’t hurt him.”
“Quiet’s not bad.”
“No, it’s not bad at all. I think most of the time he stays silent so he won’t miss anything. You can watch him soaking it all in.”
She clucked. “Which is terrifying, right?”
I huffed in agreement. “Yeah. You can’t hide much with kids.”
Hollie’s gaze drifted over to the bed where now three kids sat, Izzy shuffling Go Fish cards like a poker dealer from Vegas. “My girls have never known a stranger. They talked to the flight attendants so much that the pilot let them into the cockpit once we landed. We were the last off the plane.”
“Did you get a picture?”
“Of course.” She smiled. “Nora has told me no less than five times today that she wants to fly an airplane when she grows up.” She popped her straw into her cup then took a long sip. “Mmm. Precious caffeine.”
“Parenthood got me hooked.” Following suit, I lifted the straw to my lips. She watched, waiting for my reaction. A sweet, nutty flavor burst over my tongue. I raised my brows, impressed. “Wow.”
“You like it?”
“That…tastes like dessert.”
