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My niece’s transformation from a little girl into the perfect resemblance of a pissed-off crab is shocking and amusing. She went from ‘I’d like a snack, please’ straight to ‘feed me or everyone dies.’ I slide into the driver’s seat and drop my head back to meet the headrest. What the hell have I done?
My eyes shoot wide open when Rainey shouts, “Come on, woman! Let’s go! I don’t have all day here.” I turn around to take in this sassy child, and we both break into a fit of giggles.
Chapter 6
Logan
Storyhourwasahit thanks to Paul’s heads-up. He wasn’t lying that he knows everyone andeverythingin town, and he texts me ideas of things to do every few days. It’s nearly dinnertime when we get home, and the smell of Claire’s cooking knocks my salivary glands on their ass. My stomach gurgles in anticipation.
Maggie runs to Claire. She throws her arms around Claire’s thighs, bumping her head into Claire’s hip. “Guess what?” Maggie buzzes, unable to contain her excitement.
“What?” Claire plays along the same way she used to with me when I was my daughter’s age and she listened intently to every story I shared.
“I have a playdate tomorrow!” Maggie’s eyes glow.
“You have a what?” Claire teases, forcing Maggie to repeat herself.
“A playdate. Daddy took me to story hour, and I made a friend. Right, Dad?” She looks to me for reassurance, and I corroborate her story.
“Who’s this new friend?” Claire takes a seat at the small kitchen table I vividly remember from my childhood. She told me Uncle Rufus made the table when they first got married because money was tight, and they couldn’t afford to buy one from the fancy stores in town.
“C’mere, and tell me all about your new friend.” Claire pats the seat next to hers. She’s the gentlest soul I know, always patient and cool-headed.
“I met her at the library. She’s pretty cool.”
“Come on—don’t hold nothing back. I want to hear all about it.”
Between Claire’s Southern culinary skills and her natural caregiving tendencies, she would have been the best mother. A child of Claire and Rufus would’ve been loved beyond belief. Snippets of tearful, late conversations between my mother and her sister kept me up as a pre-teen. Mom thought I was asleep, but I’d secretly listen to make sure Claire was okay. One night I heard the word ‘miscarriage.’ I immediately looked it up on the family computer the next morning and the results horrified me. Despite the tribulations, my aunt’s outward joy never faltered. But the bedtime tears I overheard a few times while staying at the farm revealed the emotional scars burned into her soul.
“The girl’s name is Rainey. She let me sit with her on the big rainbow rug. Her mom said we can play tomorrow.”
“That sounds like fun. I bet you’ll have a great time,” Claire encourages.
“Dad made a friend, too,” Maggie blurts out. I grimace, knowing where this will go.
“He made a friend, did he?” Claire shoots a questioning look my way, ever-so-slightly popping up an eyebrow.
“I met Rainey’s mother.” I say, cleaning up my daughter’s tale. “We met before,” I confess. “Remember how I picked the right detergent at the store last week?”
My aunt’s forehead wrinkles as she tries to work out how the two connect, but her expression says she’s coming up with nothing.
“She may have helped me out.”
“Are you serious?” She laughs.
“All the bottles looked the same to me, and I didn’t know which one it was. I couldn’t for the life of me think of the name, but Rainey’s mom, Noah, walked down the aisle and took pity on me.” I shrug.
“Interesting,” Claire comments under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear.
“Noah suggested a playdate tomorrow. It’d be nice for Maggie and Rainey to get to know each other before school starts next week.”
I make my way to the stove to see what Claire’s preparing. Chicken and dumplings bubble in a pot. She’s going to fatten me up if I don’t get out of here soon.
“That sounds like a great idea to me.” Claire stands and requests Maggie wash up for dinner.
“Can I check on the kitten first?”
“Better ask your dad.”
