Page 74 of Once Upon a Summer Night

“Agreed,” Alex said. “And now you get to have fun making some new favorites.”

Hannah winked and moved on to the next table. “Anyone need a refill?”

Gina and Jimmy Pickett passed, but The Sisters, who were sitting beside them, all raised their glasses.

“Only need mine filled halfway,” Mrs. Harper said. She added in a lower voice, “When are you sharing the big news?”

Hannah nearly dropped her pitcher. Mia and Del had tried telling her that Margaret Harper seemed to sniff out town news before it’d even happened. Maybe it was true.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” she said, leaving plenty of room in Margaret’s cup for the contents of the flask she was pulling from her purse.

“Who’s got the lemonade?” Isaac called from the next picnic table.

“I do.” Hannah left The Sisters to join Del and her beau, along with Max Williams and his wife. “Who needs a refill?”

Four cups raised in the air. “Yikes, I’ve been slacking on my duties.”

Del laughed as Isaac’s bulldog brushed against Hannah, his tailless butt wiggling with excitement. “More like Louie and Rex keep bumping the table and spilling our drinks. I’m not sure what they’re after more—getting petted or lapping up the spills.”

Isaac grinned as Louie plopped down beside his bestie, Rex. “Definitely both.”

At the next table sat her father, Aunt Faye, Sheriff Earl Brice, and Hannah’s mentor from Kankakee, Mick Swanson, who had been sweet to drive all this way to be here today. Hannah topped off their drinks and apologized to Mick again for leaving him.

“As much as we hate to lose you, pipsqueak, I’m happy for you. I know you’ll do a great job in your new role.”

“Thanks, Mick.” Hannah gave each of the men a quick hug before moving on to the firemen parked around the next table. Chase sat at the end, his right ankle now in a walking boot. “You all doing okay over here?”

“We will be as soon as someone spills the beans,” Cody said, frowning. “Your man is holding out on us.”

Chase shrugged. “I made a promise to go along with Hannah’s plan, and I’m sticking to it.”

She refilled his drink and pecked a soft kiss to his cheek. “Teamwork. I love it.”

Noah came running around the side of the house with Robyn’s youngest boy, Jace, who had quickly become his best friend at Bourbon Falls Elementary. Tucked under one arm was Sunny, who had gone from an injured little ball of yellow fluff to a handsome white duck with only the hint of a limp. Noah stopped before them, handed Sunny to Jace, and told Hannah, “They’re here.”

In June, learning that the Wiggmans had arrived would have had her running for the hills. Today, it brought a smile to her face. As they’d all hoped, Bradley Wade had helped the Brooks family not only with navigating the family court system, but also with getting to the bottom of the Wiggmans’ original move to block Hannah’s adoption. It’d taken a few mediations, but eventually Noah’s grandparents admitted that their initial reactions were hasty, prompted by the recent news of Cindy’s failing health. With Chase and Bradley by her side, Hannah was able to remain polite yet assertive, promising not to keep Noah from spending time with his grandparents. By August, the Wiggmans’ adoption application was rescinded and Hannah’s own application had been fast-tracked. That they were here today helped further the healing underway between the two families.

At her prompting, Chase excused himself from the table of their coworkers and followed Hannah around to the front of the farmhouse. His stride was still slower than before, his ankle often stiff and tender, but the physical therapist assured them he was on track for a full recovery. A good thing, because she planned to keep him on his toes.

Hannah held Noah’s left hand and Chase held his right as the trio came to stand before a middle-aged couple stepping from a late model Buick.

“Mr. and Mrs. Wiggman, thank you so much for coming,” Hannah said, stepping forward to shake their hands.

“Please, it’s Stan and Cindy, and we were grateful that you invited us.” Mr. Wiggman offered Noah a warm smile. “Hey there, Noah. Good to see you again.”

“Hi, Grandpa Wiggman. Hi, Grandma.”

“Hello, sweetheart. We brought you a little something.” Her gaze shifted to Hannah. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” she said, receiving a broad smile in return. After the cooperation they’d received these past few weeks from the Wiggmans, she would practically agree to anything they had to say.

Cindy reached into their backseat and pulled out a large gift bag. After a moment of hesitation, Noah released Hannah and Chase’s hands and stepped forward to look inside. With an ear-to-ear grin, he pulled a large, stuffed animal from the bag.

It was a giant, yellow duck.

“I love it!” he cried, giving his grandparents each a hug. “Can I go show it to Jace?”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Cindy said.

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