Page 29 of Love is Grand

“What did I tell you?” I said to Rylan. “The favorite child.”

“Go,” Adam said to me. “Go back to Soph. Mom looked like she was ready to claw her eyes out.”

“Shit.” This couldn’t be good, especially when I’d rather run to Shell than to rescue Sophia.

“Hey there, mogwai,” I said to Weezie. “You behaving?”

I didn’t know how to communicate with kids, but I’d give myself an A for effort. The wedding party was in full swing around the pool, and I’d found Shell and her daughter over by the cake, admiring it from afar.

Rather, Shell was trying to keep her daughter from lunging into it.

“Hi,” Weezie said to me, then whispered to her mom, “Mommy, it’s the man from the pool.”

Shell nodded. “Yes, baby girl.”

“Are you ready for cake?” I asked Weezie, but it was her mom who answered.

“We’re trying to keep our distance since we haven’t had dinner yet.”

I shrugged. “Nothing wrong with a little cake before dinner.”

Shell gave me a dirty look.

“See, Mommy?”

“Weez, this is Ry and Adam’s cake. They have to cut it first and have the first bite, like on your birthday.”

“Do they have to spread their pinkie across the top?”

“No, baby.”

“Why not?”

I felt like a voyeur watching these two and their beautiful interaction. I knew Shell must be a good mom, but now I could see she was one of the very best when it came to patience.

“It’s for good luck,” Weezie said to me. “Mom has me swipe my pinkie over my name. It’s a super ... stitch ... ion.”

I nodded, vaguely remembering the tradition from when I was younger.

“Where are you sitting?” I asked Shell.

Glancing at her daughter, she said wryly, “Far away from the pool.”

“Mom, you said you weren’t going to tease me.”

“Sorry, Weez.”

“Can I go dance with Abuelo?”

“Typical kid, changes subjects in a quick minute,” Shell said.

Sure enough, Sam was dancing by the hot tub, Marva sitting nearby.

“Yes, let me watch you walk over there.”

I let out a breath when Shell said this and didn’t use Weezie’s dancing as an excuse to get away from me. We both watched as Weezie wound her way to Sam, and when she made it to his embrace, Shell turned to me and went right for the jugular.

“Saw your date stomp out of here.”