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“Um, I don’t know?”
He hadn’t convinced her yet.
He lowered his voice. “And you know, when youareold enough to get married, there’s going to be someone out there who is perfect for you. Someone who isn’t old and wrinkly. Someone who’s going to adore you, who’ll want to give you the sun, the moon, and the stars. Someone who’ll want to marry you more than anything else in the world. And you won’t want to disappoint them by already being married to wrinkly old me, will you?”
She giggled. “I guess not.”
He nodded. “Good, it’s settled then.”
“I was only pretending, anyway,” Annika said.
“You were?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I think you have to be a grown-up to get married. So, I don’t think I’ll be able to.”
Cassie stiffened next to him, sudden tension radiating from her arm to his.
“Why won’t you be able to?” he forced himself to ask.
“I heard the doctors talking to Mommy. They said I might not get to be a grown-up. So, I won’t get to be married.” She sounded disappointed rather than upset.
A fine tremor quivered through Cassie, and she leaned slightly against him. Zac looked around. Where was the girl’s mom? Shouldn’t her mom be here? A nurse across the room caught his eye and started walking over.
He forced his voice to stay as steady as Annika’s. “Well, getting married isn’t everything.”
She shook her head. “Nope, it’s not. And if I go to heaven, I’ll get to play with Puddles. He’s my guinea pig that went to heaven last year. Mom says you can do whatever you want in heaven. So, if I go, I’m going to play with Puddles all day and let him sleep on my bed all night.”
Cassie was shaking like a leaf now. And he wasn’t too damn steady himself. The nurse made it over to them, a worried look on her face.
Zac smiled reassuringly at the girl, then asked the nurse, “Where’s Annika’s mom today?”
The nurse’s gaze darted from him to Annika and back. “She had to go to work.”
“What about her dad?”
“My dad doesn’t live with us anymore,” Annika piped up.
Zac sought confirmation from the nurse, who looked pained. “She’s a single mom.”
Cassie leaned against him. He felt the tremors passing through her in waves. She was going to break; he sensed it.
“Annika,” he said. “You know, Cassie has a guinea pig too. She’s called, uh, Rainbow. And it’s Rainbow’s lunchtime, so Cassie has to go feed her. She’ll have to say goodbye now, okay?”
Annika looked at Cassie. “Okay. It’s important to feed guinea pigs. Otherwise, they get cranky and bite you. I think they think your finger is a carrot. You don’t want Rainbow to bite you.”
Cassie shook her head a little wildly. Her lips were pressed together, eyes glossy.
“I really liked talking to you, Cassie. You’ve got nice eyes too. I’m glad you and Zac are getting married.”
“Thank you.” It was a choked whisper, but Annika didn’t seem to notice.
“Bye, Cassie. Give Rainbow a hug for me!”
Cassie reached out and squeezed Annika’s hand. “I will. The biggest.”
Annika beamed as Cassie pivoted on her heel and fled through a side door. Zac turned his attention back to the little girl smiling up at him. “So, tell me about Puddles.”
Ten minutes later, Zac shouldered his way through the same door as Cassie. She sat in a hard, plastic hospital chair at the end of the corridor. Her knees pulled up to her chest.
