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“This is going to be our last Christmas with our dad,” Khloe said matter-of-factly.
“Oh?” Her bluntness took me by surprise. Was I the same when I lost my mom? I’d have to remember to ask Dad.
“Yeah. Dad has cancer. Do you know what cancer is?”
“Yes. My mom had cancer.”
“Did she die?” Khloe’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
“Khlo,” Tanner interrupted. “You can’t ask people that.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You can ask me anything you want to know. I’ll tell you whatever I remember. I was only five, so it’s not much.”
“I’m almost five!” She shoved a powdered cookie into her mouth. “And you have blonde hair like me. It’s like we’re the same. Merritt’s hair is super curly. Do you know Merritt? She’s Chase’s girlfriend. I gave her a necklace for Christmas that says sister on it, because we’re sisters now. She’s going to marry Chase one day, and—” She stopped mid-sentence. “Oh, no!”
“What’s wrong?” all three of us asked in unison.
“I didn’t get a present for you, Charlotte! I didn’t know you were coming over.” Her big round eyes welled with tears, and her bottom lip trembled.
“No!” I rushed over to her chair. “It’s okay. I didn’t bring you anything either. We’ll have plenty of time to give each other gifts one day, I promise.”
She hugged me, squeezing me with her tiny hands. “You can come to my birthday party, and then I can come to yours!” She returned to her cookie, happy that she had come up with a solution.
I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing as I returned to my seat.
“I’m sorry Tim’s not here to meet you,” Beverly said. “He’s just been so tired lately.”
“It’s fine. I understand.”
“How was Mallory’s?” Tanner asked.
“It was good … just loud.”
He chuckled. “Mallory definitely fits the bill of a loud Italian.”
“I didn’t mind, though. It felt nice to be surrounded by family.”
“It’s just you and your dad?” Beverly asked.
I had prepared myself for questions about my past. I didn’t want to act anything but perfectly normal in front of Tanner’s family. “Yep. It’s just us. We had friends in Florida that were like our family though.”
“Why did you move all the way here?”
“There was a bad fire at our bakery. Dad was upset over losing it and wanted to start over somewhere else.” I sipped my tea and did my best to ignore Tanner’s deliberate stare.
“Oh, no. That’s awful. I can’t imagine losing your whole business like that.”
“Yeah, it was tough for him. My mom had pushed him to open his own bakery. She painted it and worked the register. It held a lot of meaning for him.”
Tanner suddenly pointed to Khloe. “Is she asleep?”
Khloe was passed out with her head on the table and a cookie in each hand.
I giggled. “She’s in a sugar coma.”
Tanner stood. “I’ll take her to bed. I’ll be right back.”
I watched with adoring eyes as he carefully slipped the cookies out of her hands, and scooped her tiny body up into his arms. He winked at me before turning for the stairs.
