“We'll see you tonight dear,” Mrs. Kowalski says to Marie, then smiles at me. My smile to her is bewildered, grateful. Hopeful.
We're out the door. The cold air hits my face, but I don't feel anything.
The Holly Bennett Scholarship Fund.
When did he even arrange this? This week. While I wasn't answering his calls. He was making calls to Seattle, setting up scholarships, building something that would last.
I barely register Marie's voice: “—six good fairies, Aunt Holly, did you know there are six? The Fairy of Tenderness and the Fairy of Generosity?—”
My feet carry me forward while my mind races.
And he put my name on it. Not his. Like this was something the community built, not something he gave.
“—and the Songbird Fairy, her music sounds like birds singing, and there's the Fairy of Bravery and the Fairy of Liveliness?—”
I push open the bakery door. The bell chimes.
Emma is at the back table, elbow-deep in ribbon and cellophane. Gift bags spread across every surface—cookies, candies, little chocolates wrapped in red and gold. One for each kid in tonight's show.
She doesn't look up. “Hey, can you grab more ribbon from the back? I'm almost out of red.”
I just stand there.
Marie bounces past me toward the display case.
Emma glances up. Sees my face.
The ribbon slips from her fingers.
“What happened?”
“Evan made a donation.” My voice doesn't sound like mine. I settle in beside her as she reaches for my hand. “To the dance school.”
Emma's eyes go wide. “How much?”
“An endowment. They're calling it the Holly Bennett Scholarship Fund.”
Her spool of ribbon hits the floor, unrolling across the tile.
“He did what?”
“Scholarships. Performance funds. Guest artists from Seattle Ballet.” Marie is twirling beside us. “They'll never have to worry about money again.”
Emma looks at me for a long moment.
“—and Aurora's costume is pink and gold,” Marie says, examining the cookies through the glass. “And she has a crown, not a tiara, because she's a princess who becomes a queen?—”
“He did this,” Emma says, “thinking you guys might be done. Thinking you might never speak again. And he did it anyway.”
I can't answer.
“That's a good guy right there, Holly.” She's holding both of my hands with both of hers now. “That's someone who sees you and wants to support what matters to you. Romantic relationship or not.”
“—and when Aurora wakes up, it's because a hundred years passed, that's what the Lilac Fairy's spell said?—”
My phone buzzes in my pocket.
I pull it out. My hands are shaking.
