“I know. Sugarberry is like that. I was going to have my office in Savannah, thinking Lilly would be in school and I could do the short commute, but once I got here, I realized I don’t want to be that far from her. Honestly, even that was an excuse, because Savannah’s only twenty minutes away. The island, the people remind me a lot of how I felt in Colorado. Savannah doesn’t.”
“When does Lilly start school? I hadn’t even thought of that, but she is kindergarten age, right?”
“Well, she’s only been taught privately—”
“Didn’t she just turn five? How much could she have been taught?”
Morgan’s lips twisted in a wry grin. “Oh, you don’t even want to know.”
“Oh, right. Oil paintings versus watercolor impressionists, or something like that. But . . . four or five years old?”
“That’s why I want her art experience to be more about Gabe’s turtle coloring book and finger painting—for now. I haven’t talked to the school here yet, but I did look into it before we moved. It’s just one school from kindergarten through eighth grade; then they go over the causeway for high school. It’s small, with only one class per grade and sometimes even those are joined together when there aren’t enough students to warrant teaching the grades separately.”
“Wow, that is small. But it is a small island. I never thought about that. But, I think it’s kind of cool. She’ll make the dearest friends in her whole life and still get almost a private school level of attention. No overly crowded classrooms.“
“I thought the same thing. I know there are pitfalls in having the same small group to deal with for so many years, especially if there are any problems.”
“Nowhere to hide.”
“Exactly. But, I think . . . all in all . . . that Lilly would do really well with the more relaxed, low key environment and a smaller group rather than a larger one. She’s very assertive and chatty on the one hand, but she’s still painfully shy, too. Especially in big crowds.”
“I think she’ll fit in well. Would she start now, or next fall?”
“That’s what I need to figure out by Christmas. I wanted her to get to know more people on the island first, maybe find a way to meet some of the kids, if possible, but take it slow. I had been thinking I’d wait and let her have the summer to adjust, make new friends, so she’d feel more comfortable about belonging here before starting next fall. But . . . seeing her today . . . now I’m not sure.”
“Well, maybe take her to the school, meet the teacher she’d have, watch how she is there. You’ll know what’s right.”
Morgan chuckled. “Well, that would be a first. I’ll do whatever feels right at the time anyway.”
Kit hugged him and they slid their arms around each other’s waists as they left the bungalow and started down the path to the parking lot. “That seems to be working out pretty well so far.”
He paused beside the passenger door to his SUV and she looked up into his face. How was it that he’d become so dear to her, so quickly?
“Happy Thanksgiving, Kit. I am so thankful for this amazing, unexpected day. Actually, it warrants an ah-mazing, as Lilly would say.”
Kit grinned. “Me, too. Thank you for being so sure. About us. For not letting it go. For not letting me go.” She tipped up on her toes, kissed him. “My most carnal desire.”
He laughed against her lips. “You know, if you’re not careful, my ego will swell, and the next thing you know I’ll be having Dre make me MCD T-shirts with my own logo or something.”
“I’m happy with the things you already have that swell,” she said, tugging him close so they bumped hips. “And quite nicely, too, thank you.” She laughed outright when he spluttered a surprised laugh at that. Then winked at him as she climbed in and started to pull the passenger door closed. “But, at least now I know what to get you for Christmas.”
Chapter 19
M
organ knocked on the door to Babycakes, then stuck his head inside. “Kit?”
There were no saws buzzing, no hammers pounding, no music pumping, but it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so he wasn’t surprised. Actually, it was because no workers would be in the place that he and Lilly were there.
He opened the door and shuffled the two of them inside, closing the door behind them against the rain that had begun the night before and wasn’t showing any signs of lightening up. “Be careful,” he told Lilly. “There’s buckets and tarps, ladders. Just walk around them, okay?” He held on to her hand. She had her turtle journal clutched to her chest in the other.
“Where’s Miss Kit?” she asked, looking ridiculously adorable in her little green boots and matching raincoat with the turtle-head hood. Where Birdie had found them yesterday when she and Lilly had taken a little jaunt together while he caught up on some work, he had no idea.
“I’m right here!” Kit came out from the back, smiling as she wound her way through the clutter. “Ooh,” she winced when she caught her elbow on a ladder.
Morgan stepped across the tarp and balanced her by taking her other elbow. “You okay?”
“Yes,” she said on a laugh. “It’s just . . . well—” She gestured to the front room.
Morgan did a quick scan of the torn-out walls, scraped paint, half-removed wallpaper and the various construction detritus. “Love what you’ve done with the place.”
“I know,” she laughed. “It’s a good thing I’ve seen the drawings on how it will eventually look or I’d begin to wonder if the transformation was even possible.” She turned to Lilly and crouched down. “Do you want to see the drawings of how it will look when it’s done?”
Lilly nodded, but her attention was focused, quite raptly, on Kit’s apron. Kit noticed the direction of her gaze and straightened, so Lilly could see the full effect of the apron Dre had designed.
She’d described it to Morgan, but, as she’d said, it truly defied description. As a work of art, it was stunning—rich in detail, colorful, and whimsical. Of course, Morgan was thinking how nice it would be to slip Kit right back out of it, but he suspected he’d be thinking that no matter what she was wearing.
“Isn’t it cool?“ she asked Lilly, untying the apron at her waist so she could open it up fully.
“Ah-mazing,” Lilly whispered, making Morgan and Kit smile at each other.
Kit pointed out each fairy, and Lilly could guess who most of them were. “Miss Dre drew these, did you know that?”
Lilly’s eyes went wide. “Really? You can draw on your clothes?”
Morgan made a half-choking noise, and Kit just laughed. “Well, Miss Dre is an artist, and you know how artists can make a painting on canvas?”
Lilly nodded, but Morgan wasn’t sure how much she understood of that.
“Well, Miss Dre used an apron as her canvas, so I’d have something beautiful and special to wear when we open the shop.”
“Oh,” Lilly said, then seemed to consider. “Can Miss Dre color on my clothes?”
Both adults chuckled at that. “Well, we’d have to talk to her about that. Maybe we can get you your own apron,” Kit said. “Would you like that?” Before Lilly could answer, Kit went on. “Because, I was thinking, since it’s raining so hard and no one is shopping for cupcakes much today, maybe Miss Lani and Miss Alva would let us use their kitchen next door.”
Lilly wasn’t immediately sold. “And I get to wear an apron? With pictures on it?”
Kit looked over Lilly’s head at Morgan. “I’m pretty sure you have a budding artist here. She’s all about the drawing.”
Morgan smiled. “You may be right.”
Kit looked back to Lilly. “You liked the peanut pie I made, right?”
That got an enthusiastic nod.
“Well, when I was your age, my great-grandma taught me how to make piecrust. My first official job was to help sprinkle the flour on the countertop so my great-grandma could roll the piecrust out really smooth.”
“I have a great grandma, too. Gramma Birdie.”
Kit smiled. “Aw. I think she’s great, too.”
Neither Morgan nor Kit attempted to explain what great-grandma meant, too charmed by Lilly’s sweet sentiment to risk ruining the moment.
“She got me this raincoat.” Lilly tipped her head forward, muffling her voice. “It’s a turtle.”
Kit laughed. “It’s fantastic.”
Lilly lifted her head and smiled. “Ah-mazing,” they said at the same time and laughed all over again.
“I love it,” Kit said. “I wish it came in my size.”
“I could ask Gramma Birdie to find you one,” Lilly said seriously.
“Aw, that’s the nicest thing. Well, maybe we can. I heard you and your grandma went shopping.”
Morgan and Kit had talked on the phone several times the day before. His intention to see her during the serendipitous shopping excursion had fallen through, as Kit had ended up helping Lani in the cupcake shop when the Black Friday hoards had descended. Sugarberry wasn’t exactly a shopping mecca, but there’d been quite a hustle and bustle all through the shops surrounding the square. Without being obvious, there was no way she could duck out.
“We went to get stuff to paint with,” Lilly told Kit.
“You did?” She nodded to the journal Lilly had in her arms. “Did you draw things together?”
“Gramma likes to color, too. She makes up her own pictures. And she uses brushes. She showed me—” Lilly looked up at Moggy questioningly.
“Watercolors,” Morgan said.
“Watercolor,” Lilly repeated to Kit. “We made cottages.”
Kit’s brows furrowed. “You painted pictures of cottages?”
“No,” Lilly said in that five-year-old way of silently rolling her eyes. Silly adults. “We made . . . cottages.”
“Collages,” Morgan supplied.
Kit nodded, silently forming
oh
with her mouth. “That sounds pretty cool. Did you bring some to show me?”
Lilly nodded, then looked expectantly at Morgan again. He lifted the little tackle box he had in his hand. “We brought supplies. In case you wanted to try them out.”
Kit’s face lit up in delight. “You want to make collages?”
Lilly nodded, looking truly excited.
Kit pursed her lips and her expression turned to a considering one. “How about we make a trade?”
Lilly’s expression immediately turned wary, and she held her journal a little more tightly against her chest. “A trade?”
“I teach you how to make peanut pie, and you teach me how to make cottages.”
Lilly snickered. “It’s not cottages. It’s . . . co—” But she broke off, apparently knowing she couldn’t put it together right, and looked at Morgan again.
“Collages,” he supplied.
“Right!” Lilly beamed proudly back at Kit, who was clearly swallowing laughter. “Cottages.”
Kit stood. “Sounds like a great plan. So . . . your Uncle Morgan said you wanted to see the shop. I’m afraid it doesn’t look much like a shop yet, but when we get over to Lani’s kitchen, she has all the drawings in her office. This front room is where we’ll meet with our customers, take their orders, and talk about the parties they want us to take cupcakes to.”
Kit motioned them toward the back room. “Back here, will be a kitchen like Miss Lani’s, where we bake the cupcakes we’ll be mailing to people and the ones for the parties, too.”
She helped them weave through the construction mess. “Right now, it’s hard to see what it will look like, but the drawings will show you.”
She stepped to the rear service door and opened it. “We don’t have a door between the shops yet, so I’m afraid we have to duck out in the rain, but the construction guys put up a covered walkway, so it’s not too bad.”
Morgan noticed that Lilly had looked all around the front room and the back, too, as Kit had talked, but hadn’t asked a single question. Just as they were to step out the back door, she tugged on his hand. He bent down when she motioned him to come closer. “What is it?”
“I like the other bakery,” she whispered. “Can we get our cupcakes from Miss Dre?”
Morgan grinned. “Well, they’re not finished here yet, so there aren’t any cupcakes in this bakery. In the meantime, we can get cupcakes from the other bakery, yes.”
“Will Miss Kit be mad?” Lilly glanced to where Kit was waiting by the door.
“No, she won’t be mad. We can try the cupcakes here, too, once this bakery is all fixed up. Let’s go next door and have some fun, okay?”
Morgan caught Kit’s questioning gaze as he straightened. He paused by the door so the girls could head out first. “I’ll explain later,” he said and winked. Kit took Lilly’s hand then, and they made their way through the covered walkway to the back door of Lani’s kitchen, giggling and squealing as the wind buffeted them with rain, anyway.
Morgan headed up the rear, watching the two of them and enjoying the contentment he felt, happy with how things were flowing forward. It was happening sooner than he’d imagined. With Birdie and with Kit.
“My, my, who do we have here!” Alva remarked, as they ducked in the back door of Cakes by the Cup. “You’re like three wet little puppies.”
She glanced up at Morgan. “Well, maybe not so little,” she added with a wink at him.
She bustled around, helping them off with coats and showing Lilly where to wipe her boots. “Do you have shoes to put on? Or would you like to wear your rain boots? Very nice rain boots they are, too, by the way.” Alva glanced at Kit and Morgan, making him think she was quite aware of how Lilly had come by her turtle-themed outfit.
Lilly reached for Kit’s hand as Alva spoke to her, but she didn’t shrink back. Apparently the time spent on the beach with everyone helping the turtles had gotten her past a good part of her shyness, at least with that particular group. Alva hadn’t been there until the end, but Lilly seemed to be mostly relaxed with her, too.
“Uncle Moggy has my shoes,” she told Alva, only shifting slightly closer to Kit’s side. “But I can’t get the boots off by myself.”
“Well, I think we can figure that out. Come on in. Miss Lani had to go to Savannah to meet with Mr. Baxter, so I’m holding down the fort.”
Lilly’s eyes went wide. “You have a fort?”
Everyone chuckled. “Some days I think running a real fort would be easier, dear, but I meant I’ll be out front taking care of the customers who come in to buy cupcakes.” She looked at Kit. “Lani said you know where everything is now, so just help yourself to what you need. Between the crazy sales of yesterday and this weather, we don’t expect to have much business.” She glanced back at Lilly. “We might have a cupcake or two leftover, though, and I was hoping maybe you and your Uncle Morgan would take them with you.”
Lilly nodded enthusiastically, though she remembered to glance up at Morgan to make sure it was okay. He nodded back.
“Aprons are on the wall. Miss Lani has more in those drawers just below. Some she’s collected from all the way back when she was your age. She said feel free to borrow one.” Alva looked at Lilly. “You can pick one out, and we’ll give you a hook on the apron wall to hang it up when you’re done. Then, every time you visit the kitchen, you’ll have your own apron to wear. Just like Miss Kit does, and like I do.” She modeled her apron, which featured a pink-maned My Little Pony.
Lilly nodded again, seeming somewhat more contemplative. “Can I see them?”
Just then the sound of a jingle echoed in the kitchen. Alva clapped. “Customers! You all make yourselves at home.” With that, she bustled out of the kitchen to the front of the shop.
“Let’s check out what’s in the drawers,” Kit said, motioning Lilly over after Morgan helped her off with her boots and on with her sneakers.
Lilly looked at Morgan. “You need an apron, too.”
“Well—”
“Mr. Franco had one on,” she said, which was true. Franco had put on an apron to carve the turkey, beachside. “It had a big, pink cat on it. Do you like pink cats?” She looked more than a little dubious about his possible response.
“Why don’t we see what’s available,” Morgan said, catching Kit’s gaze and seeing her fight to keep from laughing.
“Yes, why don’t we go see what’s available.” Kit headed over to the apron wall. “How do you feel about pirates?”
Lilly clapped and looked instantly more interested. “Uncle Moggy, pirates!”
Kit was all but bursting as she handed Morgan an apron with Johnny Depp’s smiling face covering the front. “Here you go, Cap’n Jack.”
Lilly tugged on Kit’s apron and whispered, “His name isn’t Jack.”
“That’s the name of the pirate on his apron,” Kit said, still dangling the apron from her fingers.
Morgan took it and slipped the loop over his head. “You know,” he said conversationally, “pirates like to plunder. And they like hot wenches.”
Kit’s eyes went wide as she spluttered a laugh, even as Lilly was saying, “What’s a hot wenches?”