Normal. Easy. Exactly what I needed.
I was helping Dad scrape down the grill when Mom’s voice cut through the general conversation.
“So, Cameron. Who’s Emily?”
My hand slipped on the wire brush. I caught myself before dropping it, but Dad caught the fumble.
“What?” I kept my eyes on the grate.
“Emily.” Mom’s tone was innocent, but I wasn’t buying it. That was her I’m-digging-for-information tone. “The girls cannot stop talking about her. Every phone call, it’s Emily this and Emily that. So, who is she?”
My neck felt hot. “She’s my neighbor.”
“Your neighbor.”
“Yeah. She’s been helping out with the girls while you’re recovering.”
“Oh, how lovely.” Mom shifted in her chair. “That’s very kind of her.”
“She’s a princess!” Audrey’s voice rang out from somewhere in the yard. Of course she’d been eavesdropping.
She came running up the deck steps, Alice right behind her.
“She’s a real princess, Grandma. We tested her and everything.”
Oh god.
“A princess.” Mom’s eyes sparkled with barely contained amusement. “How wonderful. And how did you test this exactly?”
“With frozen peas!” Alice bounced on her toes. “Under the mattress. Well, under the sheet on the daybed. And she felt them right away, so that means she’s definitely a princess.”
“The Princess and the Pea.” Mom nodded seriously. “Very thorough.”
“She’s really pretty,” Audrey added. “And she knows everything about baseball. And she makes the best cupcakes, with butterflies on them.”
“She sounds remarkable.”
Silence fell over the grill. Everyone was looking at me. Dad had abandoned all pretense of cleaning. Travis was grinning into his beer. Erica had that look on her face, that meant she was filing away information for later interrogation.
“She’s just helping out,” I said, my voice a little strangled. “It’s temporary until Mom’s back on her feet.”
“Of course.” Mom’s smile was far too knowing. “Just a neighbor helping out. How fortunate that she happened to live next door.”
“Yeah. Fortunate.”
“And she’s good with the girls?”
“They love her.”
“Clearly.” She glanced at Audrey and Alice, who were now demonstrating the proper way to test for princesses using couch cushions. “It’s not easy finding someone you trust with your children.”
“No. It’s not.”
“This Emily must be someone very special.”
The way she said it, it was like she knew I’d been lying awake at night thinking about gold-flecked brown eyes and the sound of Emily’s laugh.
“She’s nice,” I managed. “The girls like her. That’s what matters.”
