“Grammy and Gramps.”
“It’s better than Grumps,” the man says with a smile before he shakes my hand. “Peter and Lottie Nemeth.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Nemeth.”
“Likewise,” he says. “And please call us Peter and Lottie. It makes us feel younger.”
I decide right then that I like Dr. Nemeth’s parents. “Are you from Columbus?”
“Atlanta is our official home, but Ella is our only grandchild, so Columbus is like home for us as well.”
“Josh said he emailed you a few days ago about their adventure,” Lottie says.
I nod. “He told me they found a wooden box in Lake Grundlsee that looked promising, but when they recovered it, all they found inside were milk bottles.”
“I never believed Leo’s story,” Peter says, “but he convinced Josh and my other two sons that Hallstatt and those other Austrian lakes were stocked with treasure.”
Lottie blows her nose. “Josh and his team are arriving in Hallstatt today.”
I already know this but don’t say so, worried that they might wonder about the relationship between their son and me. Dr. Nemeth has been keeping me informed about the team’s expeditions in the surrounding lakes and his search for Annika’s family.
Ella tugs on my shirt. “Are you reading a story soon?”
“No.” I stack the books onto an empty shelf. “We have story time on Saturdays.”
Her lower lip trembles as if this is catastrophic news, and when she wipes her sleeve across her eyes, my heart begins to plunge.
Lottie leans over, whispering to me. “She’s missing her dad.”
Ah. Sad and sweet alike that she misses her dad. At her age, I’d always been thrilled to see mine walking out the door.
And it makes me wonder—why isn’t she missing her mother as well? Dr. Nemeth has yet to mention his wife in our correspondence. If she stayed behind with Ella, where is she today when her daughter’s heart is breaking?
I glance at the empty rug near the back of the store. “Any day is a good day for a story, isn’t it?”
Ella pumps her head slowly at first and then deliberately, rubbing the back of her hand over her eyes again.
“Would you like me to read one right now?” I ask her.
“Yes, please.”
I look up at her grandparents. “Do you have time?”
“Of course,” Peter says, and his wife nods in agreement. This time she’s smiling at me.
I hold out one jean-clad leg and strappy sandal, displaying them to Ella. “I’ll need to get my socks and cape.”
Ella grinned. “You can read without socks.”
“I’m not certain that I can.”
I scan the room, looking over at Brie, who’s working fervently at the counter, and then at the dozen or so children with their adults, flipping through book pages and utilizing the slide. My sister won’t mind if I slip in an extra story or two on a Friday afternoon.
“Why don’t you spread the word to the other children,” I tell Ella. “I’ll meet you at the back of the room in about five minutes.”
Ella rushes to one of the children nearby, and Lottie mouthsa thank-you. I retrieve Story Girl’s cape and socks upstairs, and when I return, Brie catches my eye, holding up the store’s landline. “There’s a phone call for you.”
Ella is still busy rounding up an audience, so I step to the counter and answer the call.
