“I’d love to. I’ve missed seeing the two of you. What time do you want me to show up?”
“I’m feeding Cece at six. She’ll want to chat with you, and then we can talk—privately—after she goes to sleep.”
“Can we do anything else, privately, after she goes to bed?”
Amanda smiled. “We’ll see.”
Marcus rescheduled his writing time so that he could make the early dinner with Cecelia and Amanda. He copied his notes, and reviewed the questions he wanted to ask the police, who had yet to get back to him, a continuing frustration.
“Come on, Mike. Call me—or does your silence mean you haven’t found out anything?”Maybe he would stop by the police station again after seeing Cecelia and Amanda.
When he arrived, Amanda opened the door to his face nearly hidden by flowers.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Bouquets for my two favorite girls.” He grinned. “Would you prefer the red ones or the white ones?”
“I’ll take the red ones. They are lovely. Thank you.” She took the flowers from him and headed for the kitchen. “Just a minute. Let me give you a vase for the others. You can take them to Cece’s room.”
“Cecelia! Your best soccer cheerleader is here!” he called out from downstairs. “May I come see you?”
Cecelia giggled loud enough to be heard all the way downstairs. “Yes!” she shouted.
Marcus tromped loudly up the stairs, counting as he went, and gave her the flowers with a flourish, bowing deeply to her. “For you, milady, the beauteous Crown Princess Cecelia.”
She oohed and aahed when she saw the flowers. “For me? No one’s ever brought me flowers before.”
“Sure they did. I saw those big bouquets in your hospital room.”
“Oh, them. I wasn’t awake enough to see them very much,” she replied. “Want to see my new book?”
“Is it by Marguerite Henry?”
“Uh-huh—Born to Trot. It’s about a boy who has to stay in bed a long time … just like me, only he doesn’t have any casts. Wanna read a chapter?”
“I’d love to. How much have you read already?”
“Just the first one. I was waiting for you. Mom said you were coming over. I’m glad.” Cecelia smiled at him.
“Where shall I sit?” She’s more like herself, he thought, pleased with her improvement.
“Here at the table. On this side.” She pointed to her right.“My leg cast sticks out too much on the other side.”
He sat where she directed and asked, “Do you want to read the next chapter?”
“No. You read first.”
“You’re being kinda bossy, aren’t you, Miss Cecelia?”
She cocked her head at him. “It’s my book, Marcus, so I get to decide.”
“Oh. I didn’t know about that rule, Miss Princess.” He pushed out his lower lip and pouted. “What if I want to read more than you want me to?”
She reached over and patted his arm. “If you are nice, I’ll let you take it home to read when we’re finished.”
“That sounds like a good plan.Where do you want me to start?” He riffled the pages.
“Here.” She pointed.
He began to read.
They had read five pages when Amanda arrived with dinner on a tray for Cecelia. “Time to stop reading and eat.” She placed the tray on the table.
“Can Marcus eat with me?”
“Only if your mother can join us,” he said. “We can pretend we’re camping—like we did when we had s’mores.”
“Mom, do you want to eat with us?”
“I like that idea,” Amanda replied.
While the three of them ate dinner, Marcus asked Cecelia about soccer and the books she had read, and how she was keeping up with her schoolwork, anything other than what had happened with Carl.When they had finished eating, Amanda stacked the dishes and Marcus stood up to follow her downstairs.
“Are you leaving so soon?” Cecelia reached for her book.
“I want to talk with your mother. I’ll come back up to tuck you in if you’d like,” he offered.
“No, Mom does that. But, if you come over tomorrow, we can read some more.”
“That’s a good idea. Let’s shake on it.”
They did, and Cecelia picked up the book to read on her own.
Amanda pulled the drapes on the window. “Only one chapter, Cece. Then it’s time for sleep.”
Marcus followed Amanda downstairs and took her in his arms. She leaned into him, her heart beating steadily against his chest. Where she needs to be. Right here, with me.
Amanda smiled. “Thanks for coming over.”