“You okay?” Sloane said softly, appearing next to her.
Charlotte blinked, then smiled as she closed the car door and adjusted her black hat over her ears to block out the cold. “Of course.”
And she was. There had been no major mishaps on the flight or on the twisty ride to Winter River from the Colorado Springs Airport, despite her history of motion sickness. Her luggage hadn’t been lost, her violin had survived its own journey in the plane’s overhead compartment, and she hadn’t even spilled her tiny plastic cup of tomato juice during the flight’s turbulence.
Yes, she was just fine, kicking December’s ass more than halfway through the month.
“Snickerdoodle, no!” Nina shouted when she was about ten feet away from the group. Her dog—a lovely black labradoodle with short curly hair and a sweet face—broke away from his owner and lumbered toward…
Charlotte.
Before she could even react, a pair of paws loomed in her vision and planted themselves on her chest. She let out a surprised “Oof!” as her back hit the car’s cold metal side.
Snow and mud from Snickerdoodle’s paws coated her black wool peacoat.
“Oh my god, Snick!” Sloane said, tugging at the monster’s collar. “Get off, you idiot.”
“I’m so sorry,” Nina said, hurrying toward them. She had short silver hair that framed her pale face and wore a Christmas sweater with so many sparkly bits and bobs, Charlotte wasn’t sure where to focus. “He never does that.”
“It’s okay,” Charlotte managed to say between Snickerdoodle’s licks. She laughed, cupping the dog’s face between her hands.
“You’ve got a new best friend,” Nina said, laughing as she joined in tugging at Snickerdoodle’s collar.
It took both Berrys to get the dog off Charlotte, but he finally relented, settling at her feet and staring up at her with, well, puppy-dog eyes, like he expected her to give him a treat for the minor assault he’d just inflicted on her.
Charlotte brushed off her coat, but that only made a bigger mess of the snow-and-mud mixture.
Score one point for December.
“We’ll get that dry-cleaned, dear,” Nina said, gathering Charlotte in her arms despite the mess. “I’ve got plenty of winter gear you can borrow in the meantime.”
“Thanks,” Charlotte said, going a little stiff, but trying not to show it. Nina smelled like cinnamon and butter.
Nina patted Charlotte’s cheek and moved on to Manish, who picked Nina up in a bear hug and twirled her around. Charlotte watched him, Elle too, both of them so easy with parents not their own. So easy with everyone.
“Is Deli here yet?” Sloane asked once her mom had finally greeted everyone.
Nina shook her head. “About twenty minutes behind you, give or take. She’s bringing a friend too, so we’ll have a full house.”
Sloane lifted a brow. “Like afriendor a friend?”
Nina laughed. “A friend. She assures me. Though I do need to talk to you about—”
“Mom, god, no. At least let us get in the door and get a drink before Operation Marry Off My Daughters commences, will you?”
Nina’s mouth snapped shut.
Charlotte tilted her head at Sloane. “Your sister’s name is Deli?”
Nina brightened at that, cackling like it was some sort of joke, but Sloane’s mirthful expression fell. Charlotte realized right then that she should know the answer to her own question, that Sloane had most certainly mentioned her older sister’s name to Charlotte in the past, probably more than once, and Deli was some sort of nickname. In this moment, though, Charlotte couldn’t remember for what.
“They’ve called each other silly nicknames their whole lives,” Nina said. “Adele calls Sloane here Noni. When her sister was born, Adele was only eighteen months old, and she couldn’t say Sloane’s name correctly until she was around four. By then, Noni had stuck.”
“Adele,” Charlotte said, closing her eyes. That was right, she remembered now, though too little, too late. Sloane had turned and busied herself emptying out the back of the SUV so they could release their poor Lyft driver.
Soon, suitcases and instruments littered the front walk, and Charlotte was eager to get inside, get a moment to herself in her room, but as soon as their car made it down the drive, another one appeared, this one a silver sedan.
“Oh, that’ll be Adele,” Nina said, lifting her arm and waving. The driver honked the horn. “God, what was her friend’s name again?”
