“The three of you aren’talldoing the snowball fight, are you?” she asked.
“We’re ateam, Miss Lawrence,” Eloise said proudly. “We’re playing as a team.”
“Cool, an allegiance,” Cash Law said, grinningat the kids.
“What’s an allegiance?” Maya asked.
“A team,” Allie said, rolling her eyes. “Except that if all three of you make it to the end, then you’ll have to go after each other for the big prize.”
“If all three of us make it to the end, we’ll share,” Timmy said firmly. “We already decided.”
“Exactly,” Eloise added. And both girls nodded.
The prize was an enormous and surprisingly realistic horse stuffed animal, so it would be a tough thing to share, but he didn’t think there was any chance of it actually being an issue, so he let it go.
Ash chuckled as the thought about how sweet it was that they had a plan. The fact that they’d already decided to include each other no matter what touched him.
“Well, if you’re determined to make it to the end, let me give you some advice,” Cash said, leading the kids just into the park and crouching, presumably to demonstrate his snowball making technique.
“Nice guy,” Ash said, feeling a little surprised.
“Weird, right?” Allie said, her eyes on her brother. “You’d think after all those years on top of the world, he’d be full of himself. Instead, all he wants to do these days is hang out with his son and noodle around on his guitar.”
“His son is a teenager, right?” Ash asked. “The one he found on social media? I read about that.”
“Last Christmas,” Allie said dreamily. “What a wild ride that was. But Cash only tours on the east coast now, so he spends most of his time here, which is just how he wants it. Makes the rest of us happy too.”
“You guys are super close,” Ash said.
“Yeah,” Allie laughed. “For better or for worse.”
She stopped smiling suddenly and he couldn’t help noticing that her right index finger stroked her left ring finger gently through her glove.
She’s wearing my ring,he thought to himself with a sense of greedy satisfaction he hadn’t earned yet.
“My family isn’t super close,” he told her, hoping to distract her from worried thoughts about their situation. “I was an only child and my parents both worked a lot of hours. My grandfather was the one I spent the most time with.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Allie told him.
“Anyway, I want things to be different for Maya,” he said. “Even though it’s just the two of us. For now.”
Allie looked down at her hand again and he wanted to kick himself for reminding her about what might or might not be in the cards for them.
“It’s really nice that you’re spending so much time with her,” she said softly. “That will matter more than how big your family is or where you live. We can tell at school when a kid has the confidence that a grownup will listen. It means the world.”
“Thank you,” he said, moved.
A makeshift wooden stage had been set up in the park, and someone on it began speaking to the players, letting them know the rules and lavishly describing the prize.
Ash glanced over to see Maya, Timmy, and Eloise clinging to each other’s hands. Maya was trotting in place and the other two didn’t seem to mind a bit.
“She’s doing a great job listening,” Allie said. “Even thoughshe’s excited.”
“They look so happy together,” Ash couldn’t help saying out loud.
“Whatever happens with the snowball fight, those three have already won,” Allie said, a fond smile on her face.
A moment later, the whole park erupted into action. Ash and Allie stepped back to the sidewalk so as not to make anyone think they were part of the fight.
