are you whistling?” asked Emma, who was walking down the stairs.
“Am I?” Teddy grinned. “I didn’t know. Because I’m happy, I guess.”
Emma studied her. “When I’m happy,” she said, “I like to scream.”
Teddy nodded. “That’s certainly one way to handle it.”
Emma sighed the heavy sigh of a small child. “Mom says don’t. She said the neighbors will worry.”
“Your mom might have a point,” Teddy agreed. “Screaming does tend to upset people.”
Emma hopped down the last few stairs. “Grandma made enchiladas. I don’t like enchiladas. Once Liam ate too much of them and then he threw up on the rug in the hallway and Daddy had to clean it up. Also once I threw up after I ate too many Popsicles and the throw-up was bright blue.”
“Wow,” Teddy said. “I can see why that might put you off enchiladas for a while.”
Teddy was learning, through her niece and nephew, that the best way to talk to children was often to step back and let them steer, while occasionally asking a question or two.
“Come on,” Emma said, grabbing Teddy’s hand. “I got a new pony.”
“Okay!” Teddy let Emma drag her into the living room, where, true to her word, there was a glittery pink pony next to all of Emma’s other ponies.
Teddy sat down on the floor, tucking her feet underneath her. “Is this a unicorn?”
“No,” Emma said, squinting at her. “It doesn’t have a horn. See? Unicorns have horns.”
“Ah, right,” Teddy said. “I don’t know how I forgot that. I’m pretty silly, I guess.”
“You are silly,” Emma muttered, now focused on combing her horse’s hair.
“You’re here!” Teddy’s mother emerged from the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. “I like your dress. You hungry?”
“Literally always,” Teddy said.
When all of them were seated around the table, Teddy noticed that her sister kept staring at her. After her fifth time looking up and meeting her eyes, Teddy asked, “What?”
“Something’s different about you,” Sophia said, eyes narrowed.
“I have a new lipstick,” Teddy said, taking a bite. “Berry Crush.”
“You look nice in berry shades,” her mother said. “Not me. They make the veins in my face visible. I put on a berry lipstick, and boom, my face looks all blue. How are the enchiladas?”
“They’re great, and I don’t think that’s true,” Teddy said.
“Craig,” Sophia said, “don’t you think there’s something different about Teddy?”
“Make sure you take some with you,” her mother said. “I’ll never eat all these enchiladas by myself.”
Craig stopped shoveling enchiladas in his mouth long enough to peer over at Teddy. “The, uh . . . the, um . . . Is your hair a different color?”
“No, Craig,” Teddy said, suppressing a smile. “My hair is the same color it’s been since I was born.”
“I mean, like”—Sophia waved her hand, frustrated—“your attitude. You’re sitting up straight and smiling.”
“She’s whistling,” Emma said. “I wish I could whistle. I can only scream.”
“No screaming at the table,” Craig and Sophia said at the same time.
“Are you on a new supplement or something?” Sophia asked once it was clear that Emma wasn’t about to start screaming. “Vitamin D? I hear it’s great for you.”
“Um . . .” Teddy looked around the table. Her mother and Sophia were staring at her. Liam was picking his nose. Emma was hiding tomatoes under a napkin. Craig was eating as if someone might pull his plate away at any moment.
Of course she was different. She felt different. She’d kissed Everett St. James multiple times, once near dangerous reptiles, and now all she could think about was kissing him again.
But she didn’t want to tell her family that. It all felt too private. So instead, she found unexpected words coming out of her mouth.
“Well, actually . . . I’m taking over Colossal Toys. Josie’s retiring and she wants me to be the new owner.”
Her mother put down her fork and stared, openmouthed. “Teddy! This is great news!”
“Wow,” Sophia said, but she didn’t sound excited. She stared at Teddy as if she could read her thoughts.
“It is great news,” Teddy said, looking at Sophia.
“This is amazing,” her mother said, looking at Teddy as if she’d just announced she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. “Teddy, I’m so proud of you for stepping up and taking over.”
“Yeah, well.” Teddy twirled her fork in the air and lightly said, “I guess I am pretty amazing.”
Her mother shook her head in wonder. “Look at my girls. All grown-up and taking over the world. A lawyer and a business owner. You know, when you’re a