Page 31

“Can we ride bikes sometime?” she asked.
I pulled in front of my parents’ house and parked beside Mom’s truck. “I don’t have a bike anymore, but if you have one, I can take you to town and watch you ride around the trail?”
“I want you to ride with me!” She pouted.
My heart warmed, and I tried not to show how much her words mattered to me. She’d gone from pushing me away yesterday to inviting me to join her in something fun. I smiled back at her before facing the road again. “If I can find a bike, I’ll ride with you.”Just need to find a seat big enough that it doesn’t disappear in my ass crack.
We got out of the truck and walked into the house. It smelled like cookies, and I smiled at Mom. She loved being a grandma to my brother Gage’s stepchildren and was probably counting down the days until the rest of us would catch up and give her more kids to love on.
“Maya!” she said, smiling at the little girl sticking close to my side. “Oh, you look so much like your daddy.”
Maya’s face scrunched up. “I’m not a boy!”
Mom and l laughed together, and I put my arms around her shoulders. “You have his eyes. And his smile.”
Maya pressed her lips together.
“You can’t hide it!” I said, tickling her side.
She grinned then, lighting up the room with her toothy smile.
“What are we doing today?” I asked Mom as we followed her through to the kitchen.
“I want to get the attic cleaned out before school starts,” she said. “But I made us some cookies to snack on before we get started!”
Maya clapped her hands together. “Are they chocolate chip?”
Mom nodded. “The best kind, right?”
We reached the kitchen, where Mom had milk and cookies already on the table. She gave each of us two cookies with a glass of milk, and we sat eating them while Mom told Maya about Cottonwood Falls Elementary School.
“Twenty kids in my class?” Maya said over a mouthful of cookies. “We had twelve at my last school.”
“Was it a private school?” Mom asked.
Maya nodded.
Mom said, “I bet it was great. We also have a playground, and fourth graders get two recesses a day and gym class.”
Maya’s mouth fell open. “Tworecesses? We only got one!”
Mom nodded with a smile. “Plus, our music teacher has really fun instruments the fourth graders can play.”
By the time Mom finished telling Maya about the Cottonwood Falls elementary school, she seemed a little more excited to go in the fall.
We finished our cookies, and then Mom said, “Before we go to the attic, I have something I wanted to show you.”
“What is it?” I asked.
She waved her hand over her shoulder. “Follow me.”
Maya and I trailed behind her to her bedroom, where a cream-colored dress lay on the bed. I stared at it, recognizing it from the photos. “Your wedding dress? I thought it was lost.”
Mom grinned, shaking her head. “I found it in the attic yesterday when I started sorting things. I thought maybe you could try it on?”
I stared at the dress. “Are you sure? I don’t even know if it’s the right size.”
“It’s a twenty-two,” Mom said. “Should be pretty close.”