Page 14 of Bride Games

14

Emma

A fter barely eating a morsel of breakfast, Lucy said, “Mommy, school starts tomorrow!”

Emma reached for Lucy’s hands. “I know, honey. Are you excited?”

Lucy rubbed her belly. “My tummy feels funny.”

“Oh, no.” Emma’s brows furrowed. She bent down and felt her daughter’s forehead. “I hope you’re not getting sick.”

Lucy shook her head so hard her curls bounced. “It’s the but-flies. Mr. Hansen said I have but-flies in my tummy.”

Emma bit her bottom lip to keep from chuckling. She nodded. “I see. Well, I used to get butterflies in my tummy before school started too.”

Eyes widening, Lucy asked, “You did?”

“Yep. But you know what? The minute I got to my classroom and saw my friends, the butterflies flew away.”

“Where did they go?”

Emma chuckled this time. “They went dormant until I was an awkward teen.”

“What’s awk-ward?” Lucy drew out the word in an impressive attempt to pronounce it correctly.

“It means, uh, being a little uncomfortable.” Emma kissed Lucy’s cheek. “But the first of school—or anything new—is always much worse in our mind. It’ll be fine. Try not to worry, sweetie.”

Eli stepped into the room and cleared his throat. Obviously overhearing their conversation and sensing Lucy’s jitters, he said, “I have an idea. Why don’t we have an end-of-summer barbecue. Get our mind on fun things.”

Lucy clapped her hands together. “Can Mrs. Woberts come?”

Emma loved their neighbor, Mrs. Roberts, who was always an angel about watching Lucy at the last minute. “That’s a great idea. Go ahead and invite her for dinner. I’ll go to the store and pick up hot dogs, buns, baked beans, and corn on the cob. Any other requests?”

Eli shoved a hand in his pocket. “I remember something about an ice cream sandwich cake you mentioned in that big pile of cookbooks you have. “If it isn’t hard to make, that sounds like a perfect dessert.”

“Ooh. Great idea.” Emma stepped toward a shelf in the kitchen that held her beloved cookbooks. She plucked one out. “I think it’s in this one.” Once she found the recipe, she took a photo of the ingredient list and reached for the keys. “Text me if you think of anything else. Lucy, when I get back, we’ll make the cake together, okay?”

“O-tay. Bye.” The screen door slammed shut as Lucy raced to the neighbor’s house. Emma wrapped her arms around Eli’s waist. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“No, you are.” He patted her behind. “I’ll make sure we have everything set for grilling.” Eli planted a kiss on Emma’s lips. “I can almost taste that cake.”

She faked a pout. “I thought you were going to say something else. See ya soon.”

After Emma put the groceries away, she called Mrs. Roberts to formally invite her and asked that she send Lucy over to help with dessert.

“I’d love to come, dear. What can I bring?”

Emma put her cellphone on speaker mode. “Just yourself. You’ve helped me out so much over the past year, this is the least I can do. Why don’t you come by in an hour.” She glanced up when the screen slammed and told Lucy to wash her hands. Once her daughter joined her in the kitchen, Emma got a glass casserole dish out and glanced at the recipe. “This is going to be a fun recipe, Luce. It has ice cream sandwiches in it.”

“Goody.” Lucy stood on a bar stool beside her mom.

Emma led her to the kitchen table. “Let’s work over there.” She began by handing Lucy ten ice cream sandwiches. “Unwrap these, please.”

“O-tay.” Lucy began unwrapping the ice cream sandwiches and placed them cattywampus in the dish. Emma straightened each one in proper rows before unwrapping more. Once the bottom layer was complete, she added Cool Whip and handed Lucy the chocolate syrup. “Drizzle this over the top.”

“What’s drizzle mean?”

Emma took the bottle and demonstrated swirly lines across the cake. “Like this.”

Lucy reached for the bottle and immediately squirted chocolate syrup in a huge blob. “Uh oh.”

“It’s okay, honey. There will be another layer of ice cream sandwiches on top.” Emma got up to get an icing spreader. “I’ll spread this out.”

“It’s like fingerpainting, Mommy.”

Emma nodded. “Sort of. That’s enough syrup. The recipe calls for cashews in the middle. That sounds like a nice sweet and salty combination. Do you want cashews on yours?”

As predicted, Lucy wrinkled her nose. “No nuts.”

Emma sprinkled cashews over half the cake and left the other half with only chocolate syrup before handing Lucy ten more ice cream sandwiches to unwrap.

After she unwrapped two, Lucy held both little hands up. “My hands are cold, Mommy.”

“Mine are too but we have to work fast before it melts.” Emma took half of Lucy’s ice cream sandwiches and quickly placed them in the dish. “I’ll add more whipped topping. Then, we need another pretty drizzle design on top. “I bought strawberry and caramel too. Which do you want?”

“Both!”

“I thought you’d say that.”

“I’ll do it.” Lucy reached for the red bottle.

“Let me help.” Emma reached for the bottle as Lucy gave it a hard squeeze. Strawberry juice spread all over the cake.

“Sorry, Mommy.”

Emma bit her tongue. “It’s fine. It’ll be good. But I’m going to drizzle the caramel.”

Eli stepped inside and reached for the hot dogs. He peered in their direction. “I didn’t know the cake was red.”

“Uh—” Emma winked. “Each layer seems to have a different color.”

Lucy waved with a Cool Whip-covered hand. “It’ll be a surprise, Mr. Hansen.”

Eli grinned. “I love surprises. Great job you two.” Chuckling, he added, “But I’ll handle the grilling.”

Emma unfolded three green adult lawn chairs as Lucy opened a yellow kid-sized chair. While they worked, they heard a, “Hello, anybody home?”

“We’re back here.” Emma stepped across the yard to greet her neighbor with a warm hug. “I’m glad you’re joining us.”

Mrs. Roberts beamed. “Thanks for inviting me.”

Lucy springboarded across the lawn and hugged both of the neighbor’s legs so hard she nearly toppled over. “Hi, Mrs. Woberts. Want a hot dog?”

Emma steadied the neighbor. “Let Mrs. Roberts get in the yard, Luce. Eli is still grilling. You can show her where to sit.”

Lucy stood before the three lawn chairs, clearly trying to decide where the kind neighbor should sit. She scrutinized the chairs as if she were making a board-level executive decision.

Emma and Mrs. Roberts exchanged looks and a shared grin. “This should be good.”

Pointing with her index finger, Lucy said, “This one,” as she chose the chair closest to hers.

“Good decision, Luce.”

“I get to sit next to you , Lucy?” Mrs. Roberts asked. “I’m honored.”

“It’s not even my birthday.” Lucy plopped in her seat for all of five seconds before bounding toward Eli. “Are the hot dogs ready?”

The sizzling grilled scent of charcoal wafted through the air, smelling of all things summer, camping, boating, and childhood. “Not quite.” Eli waved his tongs over the grill.

Emma stood. “I’m going to set the table or would you rather eat outside?”

“Outside,” everyone shouted as Eli turned the foil-wrapped corn on the cob.

The women disappeared into the kitchen gathering plates, utensils, and napkins—plenty of napkins. Emma asked Mrs. Roberts to carry the pitcher of lemonade as she stacked plastic glasses. She led her to their small patio table as Eli brought over a large platter of steaming hot dogs and the corn. Emma rushed back inside to get the condiments while Mrs. Roberts filled the glasses. Lucy attempted to set the table, folding the napkins in irregular shapes.

Once they were all seated and filled their plates, Emma moaned when she bit into the corn. Mrs. Roberts did as well. “This is delicious, Eli. Absolutely divine. I’ll watch Lucy anytime if you throw me some crumbs on occasion.”

“You’re always welcome, Mrs. Roberts.” Emma watched her daughter devour nearly every bite, winked at Eli, and mouthed, Great idea . Lucy hadn’t fretted about the first day of school since their little summer party began.

As Lucy drained most of her lemonade, she brightened. “Guess what, Mrs. Woberts? We made an ice cream cake.”

“Oh, my.” The neighbor rubbed her belly. “I’m already full.”

Lucy’s face fell as Mrs. Roberts quickly added, “But I’d love a piece if you made it.”

“Goody. Mommy helped.”

After dinner, Emma went inside with a stack of dirty dishes, telling Eli the chef doesn’t wash up. “Be right back with our creation.” She took the ice cream sandwich cake out of the freezer and let it thaw for a few minutes while she loaded the dishwasher. She asked Lucy to come in to carry dessert plates outside and took a picture of her holding the cake. “I’m putting this on my Etsy page. Everyone will love your beautiful cake, Luce.”

“Hurry, it’s cold, Mommy.”

“Just smile for a second and I’ll take the photo. It’s supposed to be cold, silly girl. Ice cream usually is.”

Content with the photo, Emma searched for a pie server in their messy utensil drawer which apparently hadn’t been organized since Michael Jackson was alive. Eventually finding the utensil, she stepped outside, placed the cake in the middle of the table, and unfurled the aluminum foil.

Eli bit his bottom lip as Mrs. Roberts’ mouth flew open. Lucy, clearly watching their reactions, said, “Don’t you like it?”

“It’s—it’s beautiful. Sort of like a Picasso painting,” the neighbor said.

“What’s ‘caso?”

“I love it. Are we going to admire the cake or eat it?” Eli asked.

Emma cut the cake and asked Lucy to hold the plates one at a time while she served. Among oohs and ahhs, Eli said, “This is the best cake I’ve had in years.”

Lucy brightened. “In years?”

“Yep.”

The neighbor swallowed a big bite. “I’d love to have this recipe. Again, I’m offering free babysitting.”

“You’ve got it.” Emma cut another half slice. “Anyone want the other half?”

“No, but I’ll take a whole one.” Eli winked at Lucy. “You can cook for me anytime.”

“O-tay.” Lucy yawned. Emma glanced at her watch. She had just over an hour to get her in the tub and into bed. “Luce, as soon as you’re finished, go find your PJs. I’ll be in soon.”

After they cleaned up, the neighbor thanked them profusely for the delightful meal. The moment Mrs. Roberts left, Emma kissed Eli. “You were so smart to think of this. You got Lucy’s mind off her back-to-school jitters.”