“I almost got it,” she says, drawing the words out as she goes.
“Do you need help?”
“No.” A few more seconds of silence, then she shouts, “I did it!”
“Great job, Squirt! How many is that?” I ask, knowing she had a bag of twelve to do.
“Um, three.” She sounds a little deflated.
“It’s okay, baby. We don’t have to use all of them. We still have the spiral hearts to hang from the ceiling and the stickers to put on the bathroom mirror. I’m sure we will have plenty of decorations.” We bought way too many, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her no. When I told her I was planning a special night for her Sissy and I needed her help, she was so excited she put almost everything she saw in the basket.
“You got the flowers, right?” she asks me, and I nod.
“I sent some to her at work today and there’s more over there on the counter. I just need to put them in the vase with water. You can help me with that when you’re done with what you have in your hand.”
“Okay.” She giggles excitedly. “What about a present? Did you get Sissy a present? Boys are supposeda get girls presents for Valtine’s Day. It’s in the rules.” The way she says that with her little hand on her hip makes me think she’s been listening to the women at the clubhouse. I heard a few of them coaching Carter through his first Valentine’s Day crush and what he should do to impress the girl. All of them adamantly telling him to “not ask the guys they don’t know shit about romance.”
“I have her present right here in my pocket.”
“Can I see it?” She looks up at me, batting those little lashes, and I almost cave,almost. But I know better. As excited as she is, my little accomplice will let slip what I bought, and it’ll ruin the surprise.
“How about we let Ever see it first, since it’s for her? You can see it after she opens it, okay? You wouldn’t want Ever to open your presents before you did on your special day, would you?” Her little face scrunches up in disgust.
“Noooo.” She giggles.
“Okay, then. Let’s get this finished up before Miss Liz comes to take you to the farm for the night. I hear Caleb is waiting for you to brush and feed the horses today.”
“Yeah!” she squeals, jumping up and down. “Do you think I could get my own horse? Mr. Caleb said I could keep it at his farm with his horses so it won’t gets lonely.”
Oh, he did, did he?
“How about we see about a new house first with more room and a big fenced-in backyard you can play in? What do you think?”
“Does it have a playhouse and a swing set? Every backyard needs a playhouse and a swing set.”
“Oh, it does, huh?” I tease.
“Uh-huh. It’s in the rules.” She says with such conviction.
“We’ll have to see about that.”
Little shit.
The doorbell rings, and Kaylie takes off running to answer it. “No running in the house!” I shout, but there’s no real force behind my words. When she opens the door, Liz and Caleb are both standing there. Liz opens her arms and Kaylie runs right into them for a hug.
“You ready to go, sweet girl? Do you have your bags and Winston?” Liz asks, brushing Kaylie’s hair back off her face.
“Yes!” Kaylie pulls out of her embrace and runs down the hall to her room where her things are packed and ready on her bed.
“No running!” All three adults shout at the same time.
“Sorry!” Kaylie calls back.
“She’s been bouncing off the walls all day waiting to go see the horses,” I explain.
“Looks like a party store threw up in here.” Caleb laughs. “Kaylie helped with the decorations, I see.” They’re both smiling as they take in the scene before them.
I rub the back of my neck with my hand and shrug. “She wanted to be a part of Everly’s special night, and since she wasn’t going to be here to see any of it, I let her help set the scene. She seems very pleased with her choices.”
