Page 66 of And Then There Was Us
Kat walked across the stage in silence and stopped by Karen. She touched her neck and curved her mouth into a frown.
Tami began again. “Sassy lost the bell she loved in the tree, but she saved the bird.”
Karen climbed on Kat’s back and, Brianna, Hugh, and Layla all laughed as Kat transported her into the pretend door to the house alongside Jean.
Jean picked up Karen and set her in a gigantic cage that seemed to appear from nowhere, but Brianna realized Mack had also disappeared. She’d been so busy watching Karen and Kat that he must have slipped out the other side of the stage.
“For lots of days,” Tami continued, “the bird was in the cage getting better. Sassy was sad that she couldn’t be with the bird inside the cage, so she watched from beside the cage.”
Kat wiped her eyes and frowned, staring longingly at Karen through the bars of the cage.
“One day, the lock on the cage broke, and the owner had to leave it open when she went to work.”
Jean opened the cage and walked out of the pretend door again.
“Look at Grandma.” Layla laughed.
Brianna looked at Hugh. He squeezed her hand and nodded toward the stage.
Tami continued. “Sassy climbed into the cage and snuggled with the bird until its wing felt better.”
Kat climbed into the cage on all fours and rubbed her body against Karen’s side.
Jean came back onto the stage.
“When the bird’s wing was better, the owner took the bird outside and set it free,” Tami said in a solemn voice.
Jean held Karen’s hand and guided her out the door. Then Karen pretended to flap around the stage, and she climbed onto the chair beside the tree. Karen used her nose to poke at the tree.
“The bird had a surprise for Sassy,” Tami said.
Layla jumped off of Hugh’s lap. “Can I go to the front?” she asked.
Brianna agreed and watched Layla run down the aisle to the railing again, where she waved at their friends on the stage.
She forced her brain to work and hoped her voice would follow. “I can’t believe…” She blinked her damp eyes and swallowed to gain control of her shaky voice. “You did all of this.”
He touched her chin. “I’d do anything for you and Layla. She was so excited about this story, and I wanted to support her interest in the arts.”
Brianna touched the locket he’d given her and wondered how she’d gotten so lucky to have been working the night he came into the tavern for the first time.
Tami smoothed her shirt, then continued. “That afternoon, the bird flew into the house when the owner came home.”
Karen flapped her arms and ran into the door beside Jean.
Layla laughed hard and loud.
Karen dropped something by Kat, and Tami rang the bell as she said, “The bird gave Sassy back her bell, and the owner left the window open every day after that so Sassy and the bird could be best friends forever.”
“And they lived happily ever after,” Tami and Layla said in unison.
Tami curtsied and clapped as Kat, Karen, Jean, and Mack stood up and bowed. Layla clapped, and Brianna’s jaw hung open, awestruck at the story her daughter had written and the man who had helped it come to life.
Hugh stood and clapped. “Bravo!”
Brianna looked up at him with damp eyes. Even blurry, he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, but she was looking—again—beyond his facial features and broad shoulders. She saw right through to his generous, loving heart.
Hugh took her hand and led her down the aisle, where she scooped up Layla.
