“Emily!” He pulled her into a hug before she could even extend her hand for a shake. “It’s so good to finally meet you! The girls talk about you constantly, so it’s nice to put a face to the name.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Mom eased carefully out of the truck, smiling at my dad when he handed her the crutches. “Emily, sweetheart, it’s wonderful to meet you.” Her voice was soft, but her eyes weresharp as they took in every detail. “I’m Janice. I’m sorry for not hugging you, these crutches make everything complicated.”
“Oh, no problem. It’s so nice to meet you too.” Emily’s tone was gentler, more careful. “How are you recovering?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Slow, but fine.” Mom waved a hand dismissively. “The doctor says I’m healing beautifully, which means absolutely nothing when I still can’t walk without these things. But tell me about you. Cam says you’re taking art classes?”
And there it was. Mom’s signature move, turning the conversation away from herself.
We’d started making our way slowly toward the gate when I heard a child’s voice shriek, “Daddy!”
Alice came barreling across the parking lot at full speed, Audrey right behind her. They crashed into my legs, both talking over each other about something that had happened at Erica’s.
“Hey, monsters.” I scooped them up, holding them close and breathing them in for a brief moment. Man, I missed them when they were away.
“Emily!” Alice yelled, making me wince as she wriggled to get down.
“Hey there, Alice.”
“I didn’t know you were coming today! Are you sitting with us?”
“I sure am!”
“Yay!”
Erica and Devin came up next, pushing a stroller that looked more like a spaceship, followed closely by a very harried-looking Travis and Brooke, trailing their three kids behind them like a distinct weather system.
The noise level went up several decibels.
Emily looked a little overwhelmed, so I moved closer, somehow managing to keep my hand from going around herwaist. “Everyone, this is Emily. Em, this is my sister Erica, her husband Devin, their baby boy Levi there in the stroller. That big lug is my brother Travis, and that’s Brooke, his long, loooong suffering wife.”
“Hey now!” Travis objected, but with a grin on his face.
“Emily!” Erica stepped forward. “I have heardsomuch about you!”
Emily gave a nervous laugh. “Oh boy. That sounds scary.”
“No, no. It’s all good, trust me.” Erica waved a hand. “The reviews are glowing. I heard you’re a world-class face painter, that you know everything about baseball, and that you love to bake cakes.”
Cakes.
My head snapped toward Emily.
She looked at me at the exact same instant, a slow flush creeping up her neck.
Oh yeah, she remembered what happened the last time she’d tried to bake a cake.
I cleared my throat, forcing myself to look away before I did something stupid like drag her back to the car.
“I, um. I try,” Emily managed, her voice a little breathless.
“Alright, everyone. If we don’t get in now, we’ll miss the game!” Trust Dad to get everyone hustling.
Before I could even attempt to play traffic cop, the kids had swarmed. Audrey and Alice effectively hip-checked their cousins out of the way, positioning themselves on either side of Emily like a personal security detail.
As we headed toward the gates, I heard Leo whisper to Audrey, “Shedoeslook like a princess.”
