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“No, it’s actually adorable.”
“Yeah, of course it is,” he muttered
“Did you see?” Maddy asked, hands on hips and glaring at him.
“I saw. It was great!” he called back, then threw me a look that simultaneously asked me if it was great or not and told me to keep my mouth shut at his enthusiasm.
“Don’t ask me. I don’t have small children in my life,” I sniggered.
He growled, changing it to an awkward laugh as Maddy ran up to us. She frowned at me with the honesty only a small child can manage.
I hadn’t really seen her around. In fact, I wasn’t sure I’d really paid much attention to next door since they’d moved in unless I’d noticed Roman outside.
“Hi.” I smiled.
“Who are you?”
“Uh, Piper.” I pointed behind me. “I live next door.”
Maddy looked between us and I saw the family resemblance. Finally, she smiled and held her hand out. “I’m Maddy.”
I shook it because I’m polite and her confidence kind of scared me. “Nice to meet you. Roman…mentioned you.”
“Are you Uncie Roman’s girlfriend?”
I wasn’t the only one who seemed to have an inconvenient piece of spit they choked on.
“Uh, no. But, we go to school together.”
Maddy nodded. “I’m going to school next term.”
I smiled. “That’s pretty cool.”
She shrugged. “Can you do cartwheels?”
I was a little taken aback by the change in topic, but I rallied. “Uh. Last I tried, I could.”
“When did you try last?”
“Oh, good question. It was a while ago.”
“Uncie Roman can’t.”
“Is that so?”
She nodded. “Willyouhelp me? He’s useless.”
I looked at Roman and tried not to laugh. “I’m not at all surprised.”
His eyes widened and the corner of his lip quirked, but he nodded in agreement.
“Well, I can’t promise anything. But, I’ll do my best.”
Maddy grabbed my hand and pulled me to a clear spot on the lawn. “Okay, go!” she cried.
“Oh, now? Okay.”
I tried to remember how to do a cartwheel. I’d done gymnastics for a while when I was younger, so I tried to remember what I’d done then.
