Page 64 of Wishing Hearts

With a chuckle, Harrison hands over the dish soap, and Winnie squeezes a dab into her cup.

“What does that do?” I ask.

“Makes more bubbles,” Winnie informs me.

I squirt some soap into my own.

“Now we gotta do the vinegar,” Winnie says. “But be careful, Sam, ’cause as soon as you pour it, it’s gonna explode. You gotta be fast.”

I huff a laugh. “All right. Show me how it’s done?”

Winnie nods, and Harrison helps pour some vinegar into a measuring cup. Ever so carefully, Winnie kneels atop her chair, vinegar in hand. As soon as she pours it into the volcano, it starts spitting foam, and Winnie squeals, a huge smile on her face. I laugh along with her, understanding now why the sheet pans were a necessity.

“Your turn, Sam,” Winnie says excitedly.

With a smile, Harrison hands me a cup of vinegar.

“Here we go,” I say, holding it above my volcano. Taking Winnie’s words about being quick to heart, I dump the vinegar all at once. The reaction is instantaneous. Fake lava comes shooting out of the top of my volcano, the vinegar having sloshed and rebounded upwards due to my hearty pour, and bubbles are quick to follow, cascading more gently down the sides of the clay creation. Winnie claps, and I laugh. I laugh and smile so hard my cheeks hurt with it.

“Holy cow,” I say.

“That was a good one, Sam!” Winnie replies.

I turn my gaze Harrison’s way. He’s watching me with something soft in his eyes.

“Did you see that?” I ask him.

He chuckles a little, licking his lips. “Yeah, Sam. I saw it.”

I turn back to Winnie. “That was so cool, li’l miss. Thanks for showin’ me how to make a volcano.”

“Next time, we can paint ’em,” she says, already plotting. “And Daddy can buy more food coloring so it looks like real lava.”

“Sure can,” Harrison puts in.

“And if you come over early enough, we can make dinosaurs,” Winnie says.

“Yeah?” I ask, hopeful little bubbles filling my chest.

“Uh-huh,” she says. “Volcanoes are way more awesome with dinosaurs, Sam.”

Harrison looks my way, a barely suppressed grin on his face.

“Sounds like a plan,” I tell the little girl.

“Ready to clean up?” Harrison asks. “It’s getting close to bedtime.”

“Fine,” Winnie mutters.

Harrison grabs a trash bag, and my eyes pop wide.

“We just throw ’em away?” I ask in alarm. Seems like a lot of work to dump the end product.

“It’s okay, Sam,” Winnie says, giving my arm a pat. Kneeling on the chair beside me, she can look me right in the eyes. “It’s part of it. Sometimes you gotta just…let things go.”

My heart does a complicated dance inside my chest, and based on Harrison’s expression, he’s feeling something similar.

“Is that so?” I ask the wise little girl.

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