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Chapter 4
“Ivy!”Amy’svoicerangthrough my front door. “Oh, my biscuits. You didn’t need to do all of this!” She batted away the multi-colored balloons that flooded the front entrance. “Where are you? I can’t see anything through these balloons!”
I swam my way to her, parting the balloon river with my hands. My best friend appeared before my eyes, and I couldn’t believe it. Her long brown hair was braided neatly, and while her brown eyes were tired, they gleamed with delight. “Hi!” I squealed, pulling her into a big hug. “Oh, I missed you so much!”
She squeezed me tight. “I missed you, too,” she said.
“Yeah, but not as much,” I said, wagging my eyebrows. She batted my arm as Lucas finally arrived next to her. The epitome of “surfer boy,” Lucas’s blond hair looked a little ruffled from the flight, and his bright blue eyes took in his surroundings.
“That is a crazy amount of balloons,” he said.
“What can I say? I was excited that she was coming back.”
“You’re a good friend,” he said, giving me a hug.
“She’s the best,” Amy said.
I beamed. “I knew I liked having you around,” I said with a wink. “Let’s get your suitcases in here so you can get settled. Sorry you have to stay in Hazel’s room. It’s smaller than mine, but it’s at least bigger than Luna’s.”
“It’s fine. It’s temporary,” Amy said.
“Are you sure? Are you . . . speaking your truth?” I winked at her.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You better not keep pulling that on me. I spoke my truth for thirty days. I can fudge things a little bit here and there.”
“Fudge?” Katy appeared from the midst of the balloons. “Did you make fudge?”
Amy scooped Katy into a big hug. “If there’s no fudge, I’m sure there’s some other kind of baked goods.”
“Mom made cinnamon rolls earlier,” Katy said. “I think there’s a few left over.”
Lucas widened his eyes. “The famous Jones cinnamon rolls?” He dropped his bags and bolted for the kitchen, pushing balloons to clear a path. Amy shook her head at him and squeezed Katy one more time.
“I was going to order pizza so we could stay in, watch some movies,” I said.
“Sounds perfect,” Amy said. “I’m exhausted. Flying sucks.”
“Amy, that’s not very ladylike,” Katy interrupted.
“Oh, really? And since when do you care about being ladylike?” Amy asked.
“I watched Pride and Prejudice with Mom. Now I want to be a proper lady.” Katy curtsied with a surprising amount of grace for a seven-year-old. She must have had an amazing dance teacher.
Oh, yes. That would be me.
But not for much longer.
Distracting myself from my disappointed thoughts, I led Amy into the kitchen, where Lucas was stuffing his face with cinnamon rolls. “How were the flights?” I asked her.
“Exhausting. We got recognized at the airport while we were waiting for a layover. Thankfully they were nice. They wanted to know all about Stella Knight and if she was really as nice in person as she seems.”
“And? Did you crush their souls?”
Amy shook her head at me. “We told them the truth, that she’s one of the kindest people we’ve ever met and that she changed our lives.” She looked adoringly at Lucas, with his mouth stuffed full of cinnamon roll. “She’s a big reason why we’re together now.”
Lucas smiled, his cheeks full like a chipmunk, and blew her a kiss.
“Ugh. You guys are going to be annoying now, aren’t you?” I asked.
