she greeted the children. Matt passed under the arch too, and he accepted a hug from the strawberry blonde woman who’d somehow carved herself into all of their lives in only several short weeks.
“Fourteen,” she said to Keith. “What are you going to do this year?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” Keith said. “Go to school?”
“No,” Molly said with a scoff. “You’ve got to have a plan for every year.” She glanced at him as she moved back into the expansive kitchen. Not only did a beautiful chocolate cake sit there, but an entire cupcake tier in the shape of a tree, all filled with gorgeously decorated cupcakes.
“Are these red velvet?” Matt asked, drawing closer.
“With cream cheese frosting and silver sparkles,” Molly said. “I call them my stardust cupcakes.” She gave him a grin and turned back to the stove. “I’m still waiting for your fourteenth-year bucket list.”
Keith exchanged a glance with Matt, who inclined his head. He’d sure like to hear what his son wanted to do this year, because then maybe he could make it happen for him. Right now, the only gift he had for his son was the video game he’d been asking for since it had come out in March.
Money wasn’t the issue for Matt. He simply didn’t want Keith sitting in front of a screen all the time. The brain needed time to itself, where it wasn’t fed with music, sound, video, flashing lights, or games.
“I honestly don’t know, Molly,” Keith said. “What do you think I should do this year?’
“Well,” Molly said. “When I was fourteen, I made a goal to sew a dress.”
“That sounds boring.”
Matt cleared his throat, and Keith quickly added, “No offense.”
Molly laughed, and even Matt smiled. “None taken.” She turned, the handles of tall pot gripped in both of her hands. “Is there something you want to do? I wanted to wear something I’d made, and I set a goal for that to be a dress. I had to try four times before I got one I wouldn’t be embarrassed wearing.” She grinned at him over the pot, which she tapped. “When I turned fifteen, I told my mother I wanted to learn to make the most delicious pot of spaghetti in the whole world. Lucky for you, my family let me experiment on them for three hundred and sixty-five whole days, and I mastered it.”
“Wow,” Britt said as she came up beside Matt.
“I heard it’s your favorite food,” Molly said just as Hunter came in the back door of the farmhouse, holding onto his grandmother’s arm and closely followed by his grandfather.
“The party’s here,” he said, grinning around at everyone. Matt sure did like this farm, and he loved Ivory Peaks, and while he hadn’t intended to stay here once this summer assignment ended, now he thought he certainly would.
Gray and Elise would return, and they had children his Britt could play with. Matt needed the support now that Janice was gone, and he reached over and pushed Britt’s hair off her shoulder. The girl looked so much like her mother with those light green eyes and her sandy hair.
“I think I’d like to build something this year,” Keith said, glancing at Matt again. “Maybe something simple like a table or something.” He turned fully toward Matt. “Are tables hard, Dad?”
“Not too bad,” Matt said. “It’s big, but the cuts are straight and long. You could start with a shelf.”
“I could,” Keith said. “But I think I’d like to do a table.”
“That sounds great,” Molly said, twisting with a pan of garlic bread in her hand this time. “I’m sure your dad could help you with that. He’s great with wood.”
Matt was great with wood, but he didn’t thank her for saying so. He watched his son, and Keith graced him with a small smile.
“Yeah, a table,” Keith said. “For our new house.”
Matt’s stomach swooped, because Keith shouldn’t be thinking they needed a new house. Hunter arrived and clapped his hands together loudly. “Garlic bread is my all-time favorite kind of bread. Are we ready? I’m starving.”
“He’s always starving,” Molly said, rolling her eyes. “We have to sing Happy Birthday first.” She indicated the cake and started lighting the candles.
Once she finished, everyone looked to her, and she lifted her hand as if they were seated in church, about to sing the opening hymn.
The song started, and Matt joined his voice to the others in the room, putting his arm around his daughter. He looked around, and this felt like