Page 16 of Wood You Knot

Daphne was standing toward the rear of the group with Bella, Brielle, and another little girl who looked a lot like Lilah.

“Riley,” Lilah called out when she caught sight of her daughter. The little girl, Riley, looked up and spotted her mother in the crowd, then she tapped on Mr. Robertson’s elbow to get his attention.

Mr. Robertson looked over and saw the three of us. He smiled and said something to the girls, then they all started walking over. Daphne caught sight of me and started to run, looping around Mr. Robertson to get to the gate.

She was through it and wrapping her arms around me before Mr. Robertson had even reached the gate. He had a relaxed smile on his face until he caught sight of Lilah. He swallowed hard, like he hadn’t expected to see her, but quickly regained his composure.

“I take it you ladies are Daphne’s and Riley’s moms,” Mr. Robertson said, looking at us each in turn with a welcoming smile.

“Yes, I’m Sage Whitaker. It’s nice to meet you,” I replied, holding out my hand to shake his.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Sage.” Mr. Robertson shook my hand and smiled at me before he looked at Lilah, and something passed between the two of them as he reached out and took her hand to shake it too.

“We’ve already met. Lilah, wasn’t it?” Mr. Robertson asked. Lilah nodded, seemingly at a loss for words. “Well, I just wanted to let you both know the girls did amazing today. They were both a little shy at first, but by the end of the day, they were engaging and playing with their peers.”

“Glad to hear it,” I said, smiling down at Daphne. She returned the smile, peering up at me with her wide green eyes.

“I also wanted to mention…in a few weeks’ time, we’ll be doing the Fall Fun Fundraiser here at the school. The goal is to raise money for extracurricular activities and new books. We rely heavily on volunteers to run it. I sent the students home with newsletters about it. We are still looking for volunteers to run some of the tables.”

“What tables?” Lilah asked. Mr. Robertson’s gaze went to her.

“Face painting, mainly.” He smiled. “I’m hopeless with a paintbrush, and the lady who usually does it just had wrist surgery.”

“Mommy, you can face paint,” Riley interjected, tugging on the hem of her mother’s shirt. “Remember when you did it for my birthday?”

“Can you?” Mr. Robertson asked, looking at Lilah with hopeful eyes.

“Uh, sure. I could do that,” she replied.

“We’ll also need someone to run the photo booth, and Daphne mentioned you were a photographer, Sage?” Mr. Robertson turned his attention to me.

Now it was my turn to feel a little put on the spot. I could feel Tabitha’s eyes on me, urging me on.

I took a breath. I didn’t exactly like putting myself on the spot—I’d had a not-so-great experience with Daphne’s last school’s Parent Teacher Association, but I wanted to embrace our new life in Hartwood Creek. I knew what Auntie Em would say. She’d tell me to do it for Daphne.

“I’m not really a professional, but I could do that.”

“That would help us out so much. We already have the booth and props from last year. Hartwood Creek Flowers is donating fresh flowers. We won’t charge, but families are asked to donate what they can, and the images will be shared digitally.”

“That sounds good.” I nodded.

“Phenomenal!” Mr. Robertson grinned. “Thank you both so much. There’s a form along with the newsletter. If you could fill it out and send it back with the girls tomorrow, that would be awesome. You don’t have to attend planning committee meetings, but it’s greatly appreciated if you do. Either way, I’ll be keeping volunteers informed via email.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Lilah said while I nodded along in agreement.

“Great. Welcome to Hartwood Creek, ladies,” Mr. Robertson said warmly, smiling once more before he headed off to talk to the other parents waiting for his attention.

“I’m on the planning committee too. You guys should come to the meetings, they’re actually pretty fun.” Tabitha smiled.

“Yeah, sure.” I nodded in agreement, even though I was dreading the very idea of it.

We said our goodbyes and headed to the car.

“Did you have a good day?” I asked Daph as I unlocked the car and held the back driver’s door open for her.

“Yeah.” Daphne sighed, climbing in. She still seemed a little somber. I knew it was going to take some time for her to adjust, but I couldn’t stand seeing my usually chipper little girl even a little sad.

“Do you feel up to going on an adventure tonight?”I asked.

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