Page 113 of Sunshine
Strung from the boughs of every tree, lighting up the lane and the night from where I sit in my car to as far as I can see, are glowing paper lanterns. Hundreds and hundreds of them. One after another, swinging gently in the night breeze as if they whisperthis way, this way.
I roll down my windows and ease my car along the drive, watching the lanterns as they pass on either side. There are twinkle lights strung among the trees, too, creating a kind of early springtime wonderland that makes me want to pull over, get out of the car, and walk with my fingers stretched wide so I might catch some of the magic.
I’m so caught up in how pretty it is that it takes me a long time to wonder why they’re here. A wedding, perhaps? Someone hired out the property for a party? I’ll have to ask because I’ve never seen the place decorated like this before.
I finally reach the guest parking bays out front of the Silver Leaf reception house, but the lights don’t stop there. There’s a tight road that leads up to the main house, and lanterns glow and swing off into the distance in that direction. It’s so simple and so stunning and unlike anything I’ve seen before, and I can’t stand to experience it from my car any longer, so I pull into a parking space, take my tote, and go the rest of the way on foot.
The lanterns and twinkle bulbs are never-ending, going on and on, strung up between the trees and trellises that line the pathsaround Silver Leaf, always more light to follow around the next bend. The pretty, almost innocent playfulness makes me smile. What is going on?
When I finally reach the Davenport house, I stop before the porch steps. The house exterior is strung with lanterns and twinkle lights, which makes no sense if this was all done for someone else’s party. It’s as if the house was the purpose all along. I climb the porch steps with a little hesitancy, like stepping out of a dream and back into reality, and notice the front door sits slightly ajar. I knock quietly, then push on it carefully when nobody responds.
I cover my mouth to hold back an overwhelmed gasp. The inside of the house is filled with paper lanterns. So many of them swing from the ceiling that I can’t even make out the aged white paint.
“Hello?” I take a slow step down the hallway, then keep going into the living room. It practically pulses with golden light, lanterns illuminating from above and a low fire crackling in the hearth. “Is anybody here?”
Izzy’s high, excited voice calls out from the kitchen. “We’re in here!”
A chorus of voices shushes her, and my heart starts to fly.
I creep through the living room and round the corner to the kitchen, where Chord and Charlie and Finn and Daisy and Izzy stand in a line like they’re waiting for me. Off to one side, Violet stands with her dad, Luke. She’s got her hands clasped under her chin and tears in her eyes while Luke watches everything with a small smile.
“Um…hi.” I scan the room for Dylan, but he’s not here, which makes the least sense of anything so far. “What’s going on?”
“We want to tell you something,” Daisy says, then she elbows Chord on her right.
He clears his throat. “Right. Poppy—”
“Penelope,” Daisy says under her breath.
“Would you shut up and let me do this?” Chord grumbles before he turns back to me. “Penelope. You’ve been a part of this family for a long time. Mom and Dad loved you like one of their own. You’re a Davenport in everything but name.”
“I, uh…” My throat is suddenly studded with something sharp. Thick. Hard to swallow. “Thank you, Chord.”
Chord replies with a gruff nod, and Izzy does a funny little squeak as she bounces on her toes.
“My turn?” she asks.
Daisy wraps a soft hand around her arm to settle her. “Not yet.”
“I don’t have a childhood memory without you in it,” Charlie says. “You were—are—my second little sister, and you always will be.”
I nod and look at the floor, feeling overwhelmed and confused and painfully self-conscious. “Thanks, Charlie. I’m… You’re… Same.”
I lift my chin high enough to sneak a look at her, and she gives me a reassuring wink in return.
Izzy shifts on the spot and looks up at Daisy with desperation. “Is it my turn yet?”
“No. Shush.”
“Now might be a good time to tell you Dylan used me as a kind of enforcer in the old days,” Finn says. “You know. Scaring off your loser boyfriends. Shoving guys into the mud if they looked at you the wrong way. I’m still up for that if you need it. Just let me know. That’s what you do for family.”
“I—”
I shoot Daisy a look that saysDid you know about this?And she sends one back that saysUh, absolutely not.
“Thanks, Finn,” I say, though it comes out like a question. “I appreciate it?”
He nods once. “I got you, sis.”
