“Like what?” Emma asked. “What do you wish you had?”
“I love running my studio,” Reese said. “And I look back on my ballet career fondly. But I thought I’d be married by now. Have kids.”
“Why don’t you?” Julia asked.
“I haven’t met the right man, I guess,” Reese said.
Roan swallowed against the ache in his throat.
“You’re so pretty,” Emma said. “I bet half the single men in this town want to date you.”
Reese smiled. “Thanks, Emma. You’re sweet to say so. But that may be the problem. There aren’t that many single men in Sugarville Grove.” She paused for a moment, splaying her hands over her knees. “Okay, answer a lighter question. Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible? A is fly, B is invisible.”
The energy shifted. Paddles went up. Marcus said flying would be amazing unless you thought about bugs hitting yourface at altitude, which made Emma wrinkle her nose in disgust. Cody chose invisibility so he could spy on his enemies and use it against them.
“Do you have a lot of enemies?” Emma asked.
“Doesn’t everyone?” Cody asked.
“I have one,” Julia said. “And he’s at college right now, just living his best life as a frat boy while I’m here getting fatter by the day.”
“You’re not fat,” Emma said quickly. “Just pregnant.”
“I’ve been bullied a lot,” Marcus said. “Because I’m so small. They’re all my enemies, but I don’t want to spy on them.”
“Who? I’ll take care of them,” Cody said.
“Thanks, but it’s okay. I can take care of myself.” Marcus looked over at Emma. “Do you have any enemies?”
“I guess the mean girls at school are mine,” Emma said. “But I don’t want to spy on them either. I don’t want to hear what they say about me.”
“That’s something that doesn’t seem to change, no matter what generation you’re in,” Reese said. “There are always mean girls.”
“Ask another one,” Marcus said. “This is fun.”
“Would you rather get everything on your wish list or give someone else everything on theirs?” Reese asked.
Everyone but Cody raised a blue paddle.
“Tell us, Emma, why you would choose to give?” Reese asked.
Emma looked down at the paddle now resting on her lap. “Because I’d like to be able to make someone happy. Especially my mom.”
“Can gifts make someone happy if they aren’t already?” Julia asked.
“Depends on what they were needing, maybe,” Marcus said. “Like if they need food or a place to live or whatever—it would make a huge difference.”
“Is that why you chose giving?” Roan asked Marcus.
“Yeah. I mean, I wish I had someone to give a gift to and the money to buy them whatever they wanted,” Marcus said. “But right now, I’d rather have the gifts myself.”
“You will someday,” Reese said softly. “Even if it doesn’t feel that way now.”
Marcus studied her with his dark, soulful eyes. Eyes that had seen too much for a boy of fourteen. By the way he clutched the backpack, like everything he owned was stuffed inside, told a story of an abandoned kid with nothing and no one.
“How about you, Julia?” Reese asked. “Why would you choose to give instead of receive.”
“I would’ve chosen to receive before. I love clothes and makeup and all the girly stuff.” She plucked at the front of her sweatshirt. “But now I just want to have enough to give the baby whatever she needs.”
