“Mornin’ to you. You probably don’t have all the names straight yet, but I’m Ivy, the youngest sister. I’m hoping that the adoption goes through and then I can really be number eight, but until then I’m just the foster sibling.”
“Pleased to meet you, Ivy,” Lottie said. “Is everyone up and ready to work on eggs this morning?”
“They are straggling in a few at a time. Mary Jane has the real eggs boiled and ready to decorate, and there’s like a million plastic eggs for us to fill up with candy and bunny money.”
Lottie stopped at the open door into her bedroom. “What is bunny money?”
“It’s little slips of paper that have one dollar or fifty cents printed on them. The kids can take their money to the Easter store set up out in the barn and buy trinkets. Like Slinkies, coloring books, bracelets, and little things like that,” Ivy explained. “Tertia and Ophelia will man the store right after the egg hunt, since it was their idea. Looks like Knox is waiting for you. We can talk later.”
“Save me a seat by you,” Lottie said.
“You got it.” Ivy grinned.
Knox looked up from his place beside the tray on the floor. “That didn’t take long.”
“I’m not high maintenance. Just needed to tame my hair a little and brush my teeth. Now I’m ready for coffee and one of those cinnamon rolls. They look homemade.”
“They are.” Knox slipped one over onto a small plate, added a fork to the side, and handed it to her. “Tertia sent them over this morning from the café. She’ll be late for the party because she and Nash will keep the café open until after supper. We’ll be gone to the bar by then, so you’ll have to get acquainted with her on Sunday.”
“One at a time?” she muttered.
“I wouldn’t say that, but after a while you will be able to put names and faces together. It took me a few weeks to get them all straight, and if they don’t have their baby or babies with them, I still get Endora and Luna mixed up. There are six of the seven already here, plus Ivy, who you were just visiting with in the hallway. Plus Mary Jane and Bernie, and the sisters-in-law, Audrey and Willa Rose, and they are all downstairs right now.”
“And that many guys?” She cut off a piece of the cinnamon roll with the edge of her fork and put it in her mouth.
“They’ve all gone to the barn to get out the tables and chairs and the props for the egg hunt.” Knox picked up a second pastry with his fingers and took a bite.
“Props?” Lottie asked.
“I’ll let it be a surprise. After we eat, I’ll walk you down to the dining room, and then I’m going to join the guys.”
“You’re throwing me to the wolves?” she groaned.
“Miss Charlotte Johnston, I’ve seen you in action. A den of wolves wouldn’t stand a chance against you.” He stood up and picked up the empty tray. “See you at lunch. Even though some of us had a late breakfast, chili will be on the bar at noon.”
Lottie snagged the last orange segment and popped it into her mouth. Since no one was around, she didn’t expect a kiss on the top of her head, but she was still disappointed when he left without any kind of romantic gesture. She stood up, closed the door and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, pulled on a pair of socks, and padded down the steps.
The noise of several conversations going on at once filtered from the kitchen and dining room out into the foyer. She stood in front of a coat tree and listened, but she couldn’t make out individual voices. She had been to lots of church fund-raising functions with her mother, so she wasn’t new to crowds. But she and Knox were lying to these good people, and that really rattled her.
“They don’t bite,” Bo whispered from behind her.
Lottie’s soul came close to leaving her body. “Are you sure? Where did you come from?”
Bo looped her arm into Lottie’s. “Absolutely sure, and I followed you and Knox down the stairs. Come on. I’ll go with you into the lion’s den.”
“Thank you,” Lottie whispered, “but I’m not a little lamb.”
“No, you are not. Any woman who chooses her own path is on my hero list,” Bo told her. “Hey, everyone, we are here and ready to go to work.”
Bernie caught Lottie’s eye and patted the chair next to her. “Come sit by me and help put this bunny money and a candy in each plastic egg.”
“Or you can help my twin daughters decorate eggs,” Rae said.
“I called first,” Bernie argued, “and I’m the queen.”
“Neither of you get to sit by the new family member,” Ivy protested. “She’s coming to my table with the twins, and we are putting glitter and stickers on these eggs after we dye them, right?”
Both girls raised their fists. “We want Lottie. We want Lottie,” they chanted in unison.
