Page 6 of Becoming Family

“Lily did the decorating,” Clementine said. “Halloween is her favorite holiday. If it were left up to me, there’d just be a happy jack-o’-lantern on the porch, not skeletons crawling around.”

Tabitha followed Clementine into the kitchen, warm and smelling of baked goods. The sight made her edges soften. A small group of women—all of whom she’d grown to trust—clustered around the table. They smiled and waved and greeted her at once. Right in the center of the table was a giant sheet cake, covered in candles, that screamedHappy Boo-Day, Tabithain orange frosting. Only once she saw that cake did she let herself admit just how disappointed she’d been that Auntie El had skipped the birthday dinner and brownies. She hadn’t woken before Tabitha left and Tabitha had decided to leave her be.

Tabitha scanned the room for the elusive Lily. Clementine talked about her sixteen-year-old daughter all the time, mostly about her escapades while on the job at the local animal shelter, but Tabitha had never met her, had no idea what she looked like, for that matter. She pictured a younger version of Clementine—tiny, blonde, athletic build, bright green eyes.

“Lily’s not here.” Clementine must’ve read her mind. “Out hanging with friends.”

“You’re late to your own birthday party,” Sunny scolded, then slugged a glass of red wine. She owned Pittie Place—the dog rescue that had saved Trinity. Tonight she sported a set of cat’s ears atop her long, straight blond hair and a black leotard with a tail attached.

“I didn’t know there was a birthday party.” Tabitha suddenly felt lit up inside. Maybe this day wasn’t going to be totally horrible after all. The agreement had been for the five gym friends—Tabitha, Clementine, Delaney, Sunny and Red—to meet up at Clementine’s, the designated driver, to ride over to Semper Fit together for the Halloween party. If anyone had too much to drink, then they would crash here later instead of driving home. Nobody had said anything about surprising her for her birthday. With a cake. “I can’t believe you made me a cake.”

“Sunny made it,” Clementine said.

Sunny snorted. “Sunny bought it. Because Delaney said you had a bad day. And the last thing a sweet lady like you deserves for her birthday is something I baked.” As the room rippled with laughter, Sunny turned her attention to Trinity. “There she is. There’s my good girl.” She squatted down. “The most badass ofThe Matrixlitter. Look what a good worker you are.”

“Go see Sunny,” Tabitha told the pittie, who waited patiently.

Sunny opened her arms and Trinity went to her, her whole bottom wagging. Sunny’s hands rested on the dog’s back as she laid her muzzle on Sunny’s shoulder. As Sunny stroked her fur, the other women made a collective “Ahhhh” sound at the cuteness of it all.

After Sunny planted a kiss on Trinity’s head, and Trinity had taken her place again by Tabitha’s side, Clementine flicked a grill lighter to life and used the long nose to carefully light all thirty candles. Sunny closed her eyes and faked a snore, which made everyone laugh.

“All right, birthday girl,” Clementine said after the last candle was lit. She snapped off the kitchen lights. “Make a wish.”

Tabitha faced the instantly quiet room. The smiling faces of the four other women flickered behind the flames, reminding her of the lights on the weeping hornbeam out front. It was Halloween, a Saturday night and a rare blue full moon. Tabitha was thirty years old today. It seemed like a special moment. She white-knuckled the edge of the table and closed her eyes. Despite having survived a war zone, she felt her pulse rise and her breathing go shallow. She said a few silent words, which might’ve counted as a prayer.

Then she opened her eyes and blew.

All thirty candles went out, leaving behind a waft of smoke in the dark, the smell of wax and cheers from the women. Tabitha released any remaining breath into a sigh of satisfaction.

Just as Clementine turned on her kitchen lights, one of the extinguished candles burst back into flame. Tabitha’s heart sank. “Oh, no,” she said, then, hopefully, “Did you buy those trick candles?”

“No.” Clementine pinched the wick and the candle went out, for good this time. A wriggle of smoke snaked into the air. “I think those are mean.”

“Darn.” Tabitha worried her lower lip with her teeth. “If they were trick candles, it wouldn’t count.” She reached down and stroked Trinity’s head. The mini pittie had sensed Tabitha’s shift in mood and pressed closer, her warm, furry shoulder a comfort against Tabitha’s leg.

“Don’t worry about it, Steele.” Delaney, relaxed, leaning back in a kitchen chair, forearm draped over one knee, hand clasped around the neck of a water bottle, shook her head. “It’s just a superstition.” She fanned away the smoke of thirty extinguished birthday candles. “My wish would’ve been that Clementine hadn’t actually used thirty candles. Damn fire hazard.”

Ah, to be as cool and irreverent as Sergeant Monroe. Even retired, Delaney was a marine, through and through. Tabitha forced a laugh. She didn’t want to believe in superstitions; she found herself doing it on autopilot. Avoiding stepping on cracks, even though she had no mother’s back to break, knocking on wood, even though so many surfaces were superficial these days. Superstitions were bred by uncertainty. Nobody with Delaney’s brand of confidence bothered taking the time to throw salt over her shoulder.

“What’d you wish for?” Sunny nodded at the cake. The hazy aftermath that hovered over the chocolate frosting made it look a little like a graveyard. Which wasn’t inappropriate, considering the holiday. Sunny was another one who would never bother with superstitions—she’d simply rescue all the black cats crossing her path, take them home, feed them and find them loving families.

As though on cue, the doorbell rang. “Be right back.” Clementine grabbed up her cauldron.

“She can’t tell you what she wished for, Sunny,” Red chided, sounding every bit like the older sister of the pair. “Or it won’t come true.” Red wore a flowing dress, cascading headdress with coins across the forehead, bangle bracelets and heavy makeup. She even had a tiny crystal ball in front of her on the table. Tabitha was quite sure she’d never seen the practical-minded massage therapist wear any makeup whatsoever. The black liner made her bright blue eyes pop and the red lipstick highlighted the fullness of her mouth.

“It won’t come true, anyway,” Tabitha said. “I didn’t blow them all out.”

“There’s another way to look at this.” Red pushed a lock of strawberry hair behind her ear. “You did, initially, get all the candles. So it counts.”

“But one came back to life.” Sunny planted her elbows on the table, palms up in a shrug. “It’s iffy.”

Delaney polished off her water and lofted the empty bottle into the trash, halfway across the room. She was the only one not wearing a costume, other than she’d smeared a red handprint down the front of her white T-shirt, making it look like someone who was dying had grabbed on to her before they slid to the floor and expired. The rest of her attire was typical Sergeant Monroe: baggy jeans suitable for riding a motorcycle, boots, hair brushed back to frame her pretty face and startling, honey-colored eyes. “That would be a matter for the Superstition Gods. They probably need some time to deliberate.”

“What’d you wish for?” Sunny pressed. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and sipped at her refilled glass of pinot.

“I wished that I was as badass as all of you,” Tabitha admitted, just as Red had parted her lips to shush her baby sister for a second time. Now that the candle had been wonky, and the wish was suspect, Tabitha just wanted it out in the open. Other than Delaney, she hadn’t known these ladies long, but she trusted them. Felt connected to them. Which was saying something, because it wasn’t like she’d had a lot of birthday parties in her life. “I’ve made a lot of progress recently.” The room went quiet, maybe too quiet, but Tabitha pressed on. “Helped train Trinity as a service dog.” She glanced down at the pittie, who’d relaxed on the tile floor. “Joined the gym. Got a job. Started school. But today was rough. Today I felt like I’m just fooling my way through.” She caught Red’s eye and held it. “You all are so strong and confident. And I’m so...” Tabitha trailed off, hands gesturing helplessly over her Dorothy dress just as Clementine came back into the kitchen, clasping her cauldron of miniature chocolate bars. She spied Delaney’s water bottle stuck between the hinged trash lid, gasped, pulled it out and dropped it into her recycle bin.

“You’re stronger than you think, Tabitha,” Sunny said. “We can all see it.”

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