“But you don’t have a different dream,” she reminded him. The look he gave her felt intimate, like a touch. It must be her imagination, she thought. “What?”
He offered a slightly enigmatic smile. “I like the way you think, Miss Robinson.”
By the time they got home, Lily was surprised to realize she didn’t want the day to end, and she lingered over helping put away the groceries. She came across a few contraband items that had sneaked into the cart—most notably, a jumbo pack of Devil Dogs—but didn’t make an issue of it. Sean Maguire already thought she was hopelessly regimented.
Ashley stayed asleep in her car seat, so Sean brought the whole apparatus inside.
“Are you going to put her in her crib?” Lily asked.
“She’s happy just like that.” He hit Play on the CD player. “She sleeps better with music playing, too.”
The clear, strong voice of Stephanie Davis singing “Talking to the Moon” drifted from the speakers.
“This was Mom’s favorite,” Charlie said, getting a big box of crayons from a drawer.
“I know.” Lily set a grocery sack on the counter and busied herself putting things away. The last time she’d heard this song, she’d been with Crystal, relaxing over a cup of tea.
“Want me to change it?” Sean asked.
She shook her head, liking and hating the bittersweet feelings. There was a funny ebb and flow of the tension between her and Sean. One moment she had the urge to argue with him. The next, she simply wanted to get along.
Cameron grabbed the cordless phone and wandered into another room. Charlie went to the dining room table to labor over a detailed drawing of the miniature golf course. To Lily, it always felt strange, perhaps vaguely forbidden, to be with Sean in Crystal’s house. The reminders of her friend were still so palpable, and often appeared without warning—an earring wedged between sofa cushions, magazines and mail addressed to her, phone solicitors asking for Crystal by name.
Lily picked up a thick recipe book, noticing a bookmark on which Crystal had scrawled, “cake for Ashley’s b-day.” She opened the book, passed her finger over the writing.
“You okay?” Sean asked.
She nodded. “Sometimes I get the weirdest feeling that she just stepped out and she’ll be back any minute, that maybe she just ran out to pick up a box of frozen strawberries for this cake.”
“I think she already did that.” He reached in the freezer and took out the strawberries. “I’ve been wondering what these could be used for.”
Lily glanced at Ashley, still buckled in her seat and sound asleep. “Crystal had a nice party planned for her.” Instead of celebrating Ashley turning two, they’d had the meeting with the lawyers.
“We should have it now,” he said. “Today.”
Lily fell instantly in love with the idea. “That’s brilliant. We’ll make the cake Crystal wanted.”
He lifted one eyebrow in that intriguing way that made her want to emulate him. “Birthday cake, Miss Robinson? Tsk, tsk, all that sugar.”
“We’ll give them really small pieces.”
“Speak for yourself. I think Charlie should help make the cake.”
Now Lily found herself grinning like an idiot. It seemed so silly, but somehow this was making her feel better. “Cameron, too. I’ll go get them.”
“In a minute,” Sean said, motioning her toward the walk-in pantry. “I need to show you something.”
She stepped into the darkened interior, where the air was musty with the scent of spices, and she could feel the warmth of his body close to hers. “What is it?”
“She already bought things for the party.” He turned on the overhead light and showed her a boxy shopping bag filled with rainbow-colored napkins and party hats, matching horns and balloons.
At the bottom of the bag was a doll, soft as a marshmallow, with bright button eyes. It was exactly the sort of thing Crystal would have picked. Lily also found a card in an unsealed envelope. Her heart sped up as she opened it. She felt Crystal’s presence next to her as she angled the card toward the light to reveal a sentimental picture of a mother pushing a small child on a swing and the saying, “Spread your wings and fly away…” On the inside, it continued, “…home to me.”
In neat printing, Crystal had added a message of her own. “I’m so very proud of my big girl! I’ll love you forever, Mommy.”
Lily carefully closed the card and put it back in the envelope. “I’m glad she wrote something,” she said. Only when Sean handed her a