Page 69 of Change of Plans

Heart pounding, Bryce threw open the door and flew down the hall to the little girls’ room. She halted.

Lying in the middle of the floor was Addison.

She was dressed in her yellow Tinker Bell nightgown, her eyes wide as she clutched her leg.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Bryce’s knees bashed into the hardwood floors as she dove to gather Addison in her arms.

As she held her, Bryce noticed two things at once: Addison’s leg was buckled oddly below the knee. It was puffy and bulged in a way that meant more than a bruise.

Addison had broken her leg.

Bile filled Bryce’s mouth, and she wanted to scream. Instead, she pushed Addison’s hair from her eyes. “Looks like a pretty good boo-boo on your leg. Did you fall?”

“She thought she could fly and she jumped from the top of the bunk bed.” Cecily’s face was the color of skim milk as she wrung her hands. “I told her not to.”

Cecily burst into loud, braying tears.

Bryce fumbled in her pocket for her cell, but she’d left it downstairs.

Bryce looked at her oldest niece. “June, it’s first-aid time. Find two strong, straight things—long wooden spoons, rulers, whatever—and grab the girls’ tights so we can make a quick splint.”

June nodded and vanished.

Bryce turned to Cecily, who was wailing louder than Addison.

“Cici, stop crying. I need you to be brave and help your sister.” Bryce waited until Cecily had calmed enough to listen. “Go grab my phone from Patty’s desk in the café. We need to call Nana and Pop-Pop to ask them to watch you while I take Addie to the hospital.”

Cecily dashed away, her sobs jittery as she took the stairs down to the restaurant level.

“Hospital? I don’t wanna go to the hospital,” Addison cried.

“Shh, it’s okay Addie-bell. We’re going to visit the doctor, who will make it all better.” She held the tiny girl close, feeling her small body shake in her arms. Bryce snagged the blanket from the bottom bunk to wrap around her thin shoulders.

“Aunt Beamer,” Addie sobbed against her chest, her fists bunched in the fabric of her T-shirt. “I thought my invisible wings were ready to fly, but they didn’t work, and now it hurrrrrrts! Can I have a princess Band-Aid?”

“I’ll bet the doc has really neat Band-Aids. Does anything else hurt except your leg? Did you hit your head?”

Addison shook her head. “No. I flew for only a minute, then I crashed on my leg.”

Bryce held her, making soothing noises until June raced in, eyes wild as she held a wooden spoon and a metal ladle. “Will these work?”

“Perfect.” With remarkably steady hands, Bryce wound the girls’ dance tights around Addison’s leg, bolstered by the ladle on one side, the girls’ hardcover copy ofPeter Panunderneath, and the wooden spoon stabilizing the other side. It had been decades since she’d been a Girl Scout, but she recalled the makeshift splints they’d made out of sticks and bandanas at camp. She went as gently as possible, yet Addison sobbed.

Cecily came in with Bryce’s cell, holding it out. “I called Nana and Pop-Pop, and they want to talk to you.”

“What happened?” Adele’s greeting was frantic as Bryce motioned for Cecily to hold the phone while she slipped a sweater over Addison’s pajamas.

Cecily spoke first. “Addie jumped from the top of the bunk bed ’cause she thought she could fly. Now her leg has a bad bump, but Aunt Beamer put a spoon and dance tights on it, so it’ll be okay.”

“What? A spoon? What is going on?” Harvey yelled, as if he thought they were having trouble hearing them. “Someone get your Aunt Bryce on the phone.”

“I’m here, Harvey.” Bryce grunted, picking up Addison. “Addie jumped off the bunk bed, and she may have…broken her leg. Can you watch Cecily and June while I take Addison to the hospital?”

Addison screamed again, and June stroked her sister’s hair, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. Her oldest niece said nothing, but the look she gave her aunt—part horror, part accusation—spoke volumes.

“What?” Adele’s voice. “Where were you? How did it happen?”

Bryce carried Addison carefully down the hallway, waves of guilt crashing around her. “I was in the restaurant finishing up the bills. I was gone for ten minutes. They were in bed—I put them to bed first.”

---