Page 177 of Will Bark for Pizza
“It’s funny, right?” Thelma asked, sidling up to me and dropping a hand to my shoulder.
“Yes,” I said, laughing. Tears sprang to the corners of my eyes.
“Hey, it’s just a cookie cake,” Lila said in warning. “Don’t mess up your eye makeup already.”
“We’re so proud of you,” Dylann said, giving me a hug.
“You lookhot!” Lotti cooed.
“Yeah, you do,” Carlos agreed.
“I’m so impressed, honey,” Dad said, giving me a rare hug. “Mom would have loved this.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“You clean up decent,” Luke said, dressed in uniform. He agreed to do security. I didn’t think it was necessary, but I was outvoted. Either way, I was happy to have him here.
“Gee, thanks.”
“Aunt Kira, you’re so pretty!” Opal rushed me in a hug, and I had to steady a hand on the bookshelf behind me. Luckily, every bookshelf in the store was nice and sturdy, thanks to Beckett and my brothers.
“Thank you, sweetie.”
“You remind me a lot of Mom,” Connor said.
“I do?”
“She would’ve done everything it took, too.” He patted me on the arm before following Opal to the front of thestore, where we’d relocated the children’s section. My niece gushed at the new setup and immediately dropped into one of the new beanbag chairs.
“You’re going to rock this,” Alyssa said, surprising me.
“You came?”
“Don’t act like it’s such a shock. Of course, I came.” She grabbed me in a hug. “This is your big day. I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Thank you,” I said to her.
“I hope I made enough cupcakes,” Aspen said, joining the hug.
“You two are the best.”
“Don’t cry, or we’ll all cry, and Lila will get mad at us for ruining your makeup,” Alyssa said, all of us laughing.
“C’mon,” Aspen said to Alyssa. “I need help with the cupcakes.”
“I thought we already—Oh.”
“You look beautiful.” I heard Beckett’s voice before I saw him. Caught sight of Husker’s tail before I felt the warmth of Beckett’s breath on my neck. “You’re going to do amazing today.”
I turned to meet his gaze, and the room went fuzzy around us.
“Thanks. Thank you for every?—”
“Husker, no!” Lila moved the cookie cake before Husker could take a bite out of it, but his nose was covered in purple frosting.
“I better take him,” Beckett said, reaching for my hand and squeezing it. “Good luck today.”
