I bite back a smile. “Lots of things have ketchup on top.”
“Like hamburgers,” she says thoughtfully. “Or love.”
I blink. “What?”
She shrugs. “I saw that on TV.” Before I can respond, she tilts her head. “Wait. Are we having a guest?”
Her tone is suspicious.
“Maybe,” I say carefully.
Evie gasps, hopping off her chair. “Who?”
I take a deep breath. “Coach Wells.”
She screams. Not a scared scream—aChristmas morningscream.
“COACH WELLS? HE’S COMING HERE?!”
“Inside voice!”
But she’s already gone, darting into her bedroom. “Matilda! Coach Wells is coming! We need to look our best!”
I stare after her, half-laughing, half-terrified. Matilda is her stuffed green dinosaur, perpetually missing one eye. A family heirloom at this point.
She comes running back seconds later, clutching Matilda by the neck. “Do you think he likes dinosaurs?”
“I’m sure he does,” I say, checking the meatloaf again just to have something to do.
“He’s gonna love her,” Evie declares, setting Matilda at Cam’s future place at the table.
A knock sounds at the door before I can collect myself.
Evie’s eyes go wide. “HE’S HERE.”
“Evie—”
Too late. She bolts to the entryway, skidding on the rug and flinging the door open with a dramatic flourish.
“Hi, Coach Wells!”
Cam’s standing on the porch, looking entirely too put-together for someone who spends half his life in cleats. He’s holding a bakery box in one hand and a small bouquet of lilacs in the other.
“Hi, Evie. For you,” he says, crouching slightly so he’s eye-level with her. “You said once that purple is your favorite color, right?”
Her mouth drops open as she takes the flowers. “You remembered!”
“Of course I did.”
She beams so hard I’m pretty sure the porch light dims in comparison. “You can sit by me!”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” he says, stepping inside.
I hover in the doorway, trying to remember how to use words. “You didn’t have to bring anything.”
“Couldn’t show up empty-handed,” he says easily, holding up the box. “Chocolate pie from Penny’s for you.”
Evie gasps. “He brought dessert and flowers? Mommy, he’sfancy!”
