Nora was Megan’s seven-year-old niece. When Megan’s sister and parents died in a car accident, she’d become the little girl’s legal guardian. Since then, they’d developed a close bond that was like any mother-daughter relationship.
When Nora walked into the living room, Cassie smiled. “Did you manage to lick the bowl clean before Megan arrived?”
Nora sat on the sofa, gazing up at Cassie with big, blue eyes. “I had lots and lots,” she whispered. “Megan said I’m going to have a tummy ache.”
“Is it sore now?”
“No. Maybe I didn’t have enough.”
Cassie thought the possibility of that was extremely low. Nora had been alone in the kitchen for more than ten minutes with the leftover dessert. A lot could happen in a little girl’s life in that time. “You probably had just the right amount.”
When Megan and Sam came back into the living room, they were holding a huge birthday cake.
Cassie’s mouth dropped open. “Where did the cake come from?”
“Megan baked it today,” Sam said as they placed it on the coffee table. “It’s was hidden in her truck. Happy Birthday!”
Candles sparkled from the top of the white frosting and glittery pink roses cascaded down the sides. It was the most beautiful cake Cassie had ever been given.
Nora jumped up and down. “There are twenty-one candles. I counted them for you.”
Megan grinned. “We decided thirty-one would become a fire hazard.”
Sam waved her hand above the flames. “Talking about fires, I think you should blow out the candles before the smoke alarms start beeping.”
Cassie looked at the excitement on her friends’ faces and sighed. There was so much love in the room that it made her heart swell with pride.
She knelt beside Nora. “Would you like to help me blow out the candles?”
“Yes, please.”
“We’ll count to three, then blow them out. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready,” Nora squealed.
“Okay. One…two…three!” Cassie blew as hard as she could.
When Nora extinguished the last two stubborn flames, everyone clapped and cheered.
Cassie enjoyed the moment. The last few years had been a roller coaster of ups and downs but, through it all, she’d had her dad and friends beside her. A woman couldn’t ask for much more than that—especially when she only had twenty-one candles on her cake.
If Megan, Brooke, and Sam used the same number of candles on her fortieth birthday cake, they’d move to super-friend status in a heartbeat.
Now all she had to do was pick the pieces of candle wax out of the frosting and they’d have a cake fit for a queen. And knowing Megan, it would taste divine.
Noah saton the veranda of Acorn Cottage, listening to Cassie’s friends sing her happy birthday. He’d forgotten how sound traveled at night, especially when there was nothing around except a glistening lake, acres of trees, and a sky full of stars.
The sound of their laughter reminded him of the birthday parties he’d enjoyed at Shelter Island. His mom would make a cake and smother it in delicious frosting. If Noah and Jack were lucky, they’d help the birthday person blow out the candles. When they were really lucky, their dad would relight the candles so they could blow them out again.
A longing for things he couldn’t change overcame him. After his parents died, no one’s birthday had been the same. His grandparents did their best to make the day special, but nothing could alter the fact that the two most important people in Jack and Noah’s lives weren’t there.
“Excuse me. Are you Noah?”
He almost fell off his chair. Noah turned toward the child’s voice, blinking twice to make sure he wasn’t imagining the little girl standing on the edge of the veranda.
“I am. Who are you?”
The little girl held a red-haired rag doll in front of her and sent him a dimpled smile. “I’m Nora and this is Dolly. Did you hear us sing happy birthday to Cassie?”
