Page 29 of Sew Matcha in Love
Nope.But you’ve been invited to something. Don’t be late, okay?
I set the alarm on my phone for nine twenty-five.Okay. Thanks.
Weird that the girls or Arwyn didn’t invite me, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. We’d beaten Nashville last night and had a team breakfast meeting in a banquet room downstairs. Then practice, then the flight. By nine thirty, I’d be ready for bed.
I missed my girls. I didn’t get to say good night to them on game nights, and we’d had two in a row. We’d had a quick call yesterday before the game, and they told me about the book fair and lunch with Ryleigh and Kami. It sounded like they were having a great week.
As an afterthought, I sent another text.How’s the recovery going? Papé said you’re doing great but how do you feel?
Viki’s dad had been as much of a dad to me as my own dad. I’d started calling him Papé and her mom Maman when we got married. It felt weird now, but it was what it was.
Fine. Slow. Painful. Could be worse.
I hate this for you, Vik.
Me too.
I was showered and lounging on the bed in my hotel room at nine twenty-seven. Close enough. I tapped the button for the group video chat and a few seconds later was rewarded with the sweetest faces on the face of the earth.
“Daddy! You made it!” Isla turned, and her nose poked into Amelie’s screen. “I told you he would!”
“I’m here. What’s the occasion?” I asked.
“Storytime!” Amelie bounced. “But you have to hang up and call back. Just call Isla. Because I’m going to call Mommy.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back then. Don’t start without me.” She giggled, and I ended the call to start the new one. “There you are!”
“Here I am! And there’s Wynnie.” Isla flipped the screen.
Arwyn waved. “Hi.” I squinted to see what she was wearing. It looked like a kimono. Pink with white designs and trim. Pretty cool.
“Now say hi to Mommy!” Isla held up her screen to Amelie’s. I waved at Viki. She smiled tightly, but it was more of a wince. I made a mental note to ask her parents about the care in the rehab facility.
“We’re all here now, Wynnie,” Amelie reported. “Daddy, you didn’t miss much. So far, a red-haired girl named Anne who has no mommy and daddy—isn’t that so sad?—from Nova Scotia took a train and a boat and a train to Prince Edward Island to live with a new family. A sister and brother who are old and have a farm. But they didn’t want her. Guess why?”
“Hmm…” I stroked my beard. “I can’t imagine why. Is she a naughty girl?”
Amelia and Isla laughed. “No!” Isla said. “But she does talk a lot. Alota lot.”
“More than you two?”
They giggled again.
“Who wouldn’t want a good little girl? I know! Was she very ugly? Did she have warts all over her face?”
“No!” the girls hooted.
“Then I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want a sweet little girl.Especiallya redhead.”
“Well, Daddy, you see—” Amelie paused, her tone serious. “She wasn’t aboy.They wanted a boy! To do farm chores.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Farm chores! Can’t girls do farm chores?” I asked.
Isla shrugged. “Not a long time ago. It wasn’t ladylike. The ladies had tea parties. Every day! They couldn’t be dirty fromfarm work.”
I held back a smile. “What kind of farm work, exactly?”
The girls looked at each other and shrugged.
