The kids kept her distracted enough over the next few days that she didn’t have even a minute to think about the kiss. Either of the kisses. Or the man attached at the other end.
Phil…was good at confusing her. That was for sure.
The weather had cleared a bit, and the roads were passable, and Elly’s ear infection was healing quickly.
The kids were going stir-crazy stuck inside the way they were. Phoebe and Glenna were going to have to come up with a battle plan—before the kids killed each other and turned on Phoebe and Glenna next.
That meant…homeschool field trip time.
They were going to hit the local library, then their cousins’ bookstores and thrift stores for discussions on being businesspeople, and then the diner in town for lunch.
Followed by a tour of the Talley Inn—the part of the building that was rumored to be haunted. Parker was especially excited about going ghost-hunting that afternoon. He was talking about eventually filming a ghost-hunter movie there. As soon as he wrote the script—and talked his cousin Nikki’s friend into letting him film there.
Someone was going to give them an inside look at how the inn worked in general from a business perspective, and how the legend came into be, in particular. Family history of the owners and everything.
That was a part of Pete’s research project on how legends were formed and societal and social factors that contributed to such myths, for an advanced-placement class he was taking online through a local satellite college.
Phoebe had arranged it with a friend of her cousin Nikki.
Glenna was looking forward to it. Phil’s third daughter had the day off, and she showed up to go with them, her two daughters—Ivy and Poppy—in tow.
Ivy was five months older than Emmy. The two had already proclaimed that they were best friends forever. They were utterly adorable—two sweet little blond girls who walked around holding hands and chattering in little girl voices to each other.
Evey was perturbed by the very possibility of Emmy having a best friend and her not. Elly couldn’t care less. She was too busy following Parker around, again.
Parker Tyler was Elly’s hero. Everyone could see that.
Patton and Pete and Parker were remarkably tolerant of it all.
They were waiting on lunch at the diner—complete with half of the Tylers inside, to her surprise—when her phone rang.
She grabbed it quickly. It was a new phone number. Only Phil and a few other people had that number.
“Where are you right now?” Robin’s familiar voice came through the line. Glenna smiled. It had been almost a week since she’d heard from Robin. Which was entirely unlike her best friends—they checked in with her every day, usually.
Glenna had been starting to get worried.
She’d gotten one text back from Rory in three days. That was…weird. She was half afraid something had happened.
“The Masterson Diner. Why?”
“Great. Stay there. I have a surprise for you.”
“What?” She shifted the phone to one side and Elly to her other hip. Her youngest liked to take the phone and talk every chance she could get. Even to bill collectors. “What’s going on?”
“Just stay put. You’ll know when you can move again. Seriously. Freeze, woman.”
Her friends always had been a little weird. Glenna looked at the just arriving food, at the kids whooping at the arrival. They were some seriously hungry kids, apparently. Perci had promised them ice cream for dessert. “Our food just arrived. We’re not going anywhere. This…is a lot of food. And they’ve been promised ice cream.”
“Good. Five minutes. I’ll be calling you back in about five minutes.” Robin laughed wickedly after she spoke. She always had been a brat.
“Robbie, what is this about?”
“You forgot what day it is again, didn’t you? Seriously, Glenna Marie? This is the third year in a row. I told Rory you would.”
It took her a minute, but Glenna got it. “I did. I forgot again, didn’t I?”
“Of course. Five minutes. I’ll call you back in five.”
Glenna disconnected, then looked at Robin’s nieces, who were watching her curiously from faces that looked a great deal like Robin’s. “Your aunt. She is up to something. Probably for my birthday. They make a big deal out of it every year.”
“Today?” Perci asked. Her young daughter nursed discreetly, while her older daughter was busy eyeing the still steaming French fries on her plate. Ivy had been cautioned to wait a minute before grabbing and stuffing her face.
“Yes. I usually don’t do anything special. Except with Robin and our friend Rory. I was so busy, I forgot what today was.” Busy thinking about Phil. And what that kiss had meant between them.
What she wanted it to mean, too.
Forty-two.
It had crept up on her so fast. She’d been thirty-five when Evey had been born, almost thirty-seven with Emmy, and thirty-nine with her Elly.
“It comes fast, ladies. Especially when you are busy being mommy. I wouldn’t have traded a minute of it for anything.”
“Me either,” they both echoed. They laughed. They were beautiful young women. She liked Phil’s four daughters very much. She could see so much of Robin in all of them.
It made her a bit more sentimental than usual.
Her phone rang. “Yes, what are you up to?”
“Turn around.” Rory this time.
Just as Evey shouted and pointed behind Glenna’s shoulder.
Glenna turned. She squealed, almost as loudly as her daughter had.
There they were.
Her two closest friends in the world. Three beautiful children stood in front of them, looking around curiously.
The twins had a poster with Happy Birthday, Aunt Glenna! written on it in their hands. Little Becky, two months older than Elly, held a balloon tightly in one fist.
Tears hit her eyes. She jumped to her feet. “You’re here! You’re right here! Oh my goodness! I can’t believe this. I’m going to cry. How did you manage this?”
“It took some doing, but here we are. And we’re staying for a while, too,” Rory said. A look passed between them that Glenna didn’t miss. But that was for later.
Right now… “You’re here.”
She put Elly in her chair next to Ivy.
Then she was being hugged by her two closest friends in the world. And things felt a lot better than they had before.