“I don’t go to school. Mummy helps me with my schoolwork, but I miss my friends sometimes.” Sophie hugged her mother’s leg. “Mummy, am I in first grade?”
“Yes, you sure are, and you will get to play with your friends again soon.” Chloe kissed her forehead. “I think it’s time to get back to egg decorating. Why don’t you come help your mum for a little while?”
“Bye, Mr. Trey.” Sophie followed her mom, then came back and whispered in my ear. “I think yours is the prettiest.”
“Thank you. You come back and help me if you want to,” I called to her retreating to her mother.
I watched her climb into her mother’s lap and lean into her shoulder. Chloe caught me looking and mouthed a thank you. I hadn’t done anything to be thanked for, but I smiled back with a nod anyways.
Back to your egg masterpiece. She’s probably just overtired from traveling.
I impatiently waited for round three of decorations. I wasn’t much for flowers. My mother changed up the decorations yearly so the eggs wouldn’t be the same. It was crazy how much money these silly eggs made at the charity auction. I decided a little stroll around the table would create a stir and I wanted to snoop, too.
They think I don’t know they took a picture over my head of my egg. They don’t know who they’re messing with here. I’ve been making these eggs longer than most of them.
“What are you looking at, Three?” Murphy covered her egg with her arms. “Mom, I think he’s cheating.”
“Murphy, how is he cheating? He’s just walking around,” Mom asked without looking up from her own creation. “Besides, weren’t you just sneaking a picture of his?”
“What?” I said in exaggerated disbelief. “You took a picture? I’m so upset about this.”
I continued to walk around the table being overly dramatic about my disbelief in their treatment of me. My mother made a silly face at me. No one could ever fool her. My father never even acknowledged the show I was putting on.
“Henry Hawthorne, you just get back to your egg and stop giving them such a hard time,” Diana fussed behind me. “Go on now, I’m not ringing this bell for the next round until you behave yourself.”
Diana was like a second mother, or a grandmother, to all of us, but I was the oldest, so to her I was always the one to set the example, even now.
“Yes ma’am, I’m going, but can I look at the tray first?” I asked with a pout.
“That pout never worked when you were five, it won’t work now.” Diana pushed me toward my chair. “Miss Sophie. Would you like to ring the bell?”
I’d noticed Sophie wasn’t decorating, she’d been just laying against Chloe, but when Diana asked her about the bell she immediately cheered up. Diana was pretty quick about stuff like that.
“Yes, I would.” Sophie jumped off Chloe’s lap. “How many times do I ring it?”
“Well, it’s round three, so how many times do you think?” Diana prompted her to think about it.
“Three times?” She answered immediately. “Mummy, I get to ring it three times. Is that right, Miss Diana?”
“You got it correct, now go on and give it three big rings.” Diana handed her the bell.
Sophie beamed with delight ringing the bell and I looked to Chloe, then Mia. They were smiling, but Chloe’s smile wasn’t all the way to her eyes like they’d been earlier in the day. Something was definitely not right.
Chapter 8
Chloe
I could feel Trey’s eyes on me before I looked in his direction. The pull to him surprised me. We hadn’t really had a full conversation, but I felt like we had.
“Miss Sophie, would you like to ring the bell?” I heard Diana ask.
“Yes, I would.” Sophie answered, then she was off my lap and I was left trying not to stare at Trey.
The trays for round three were brought in and we all gasped when the cloth was lifted off for us to see.
“Chocolate?” Asher reached for one. “These will melt. How are we supposed to glue them?”
Victoria watched as Asher tried to bite the chocolate bunny.
“Stale chocolate. Even worse.” Asher tossed it to the table. “I’m not liking this round already.”
“It’s not chocolate to eat, Matching Boy,” Murphy mocked. “Look at it, it’s been coated with something so it just looks like you can still eat it.”
I reached for a chocolate carrot and it was, in fact, not edible. There were chocolate mini-eggs, bunnies in varied poses, crosses, and carrots. Even the jellybeans were coated.
Crickey, how far in advance does she plan this?
“I love it, Mom. This is something we’ve never had before and I, for one, already have a plan.” Trey reached for supplies.
Diana and Hank came back into the room with another tray of chocolates, but this time they were edible. They passed the real chocolates around the room.
“The chocolates are for inspiration.” Victoria bit into a bunny. “Now remember, only twenty minutes.
“Now don’t go spoiling your appetite, Trey, lunch is in an hour,” Diana scolded as Trey popped the fourth piece in his mouth. “I know you and your sweets.”
I could feel Sophie laughing at Trey being scolded by Diana. Then she really laughed when he grabbed another handful from Diana and started hiding them in his pockets.
“Don’t worry, I saved some for you for later,” Trey said to Sophie. “After lunch, okay?”
Sophie just laughed some more and bobbed her head up and down. This earned him another smile from me, even though I was trying not to look at him and those dimples.
“Chloe, don’t forget now that we have an inner house competition going on,” Trey taunted. “I don’t see you working very hard over there.”
“Worry about yourself.” The twins answered for me. “He can be such a bossy pain.”
“Asher, are we really going to talk about each other’s issues?” Trey leaned back against his table.” “If so, I have a few free minutes… or hours.”
“Knock it off boys. Your mother worked hard on this day,” Henry Hawthorne growled from his quiet end of the table. “Henry, you’re the oldest. Stop picking on the young ones.”
“Dad, you’ve been saying that to me since Parker was born and haven’t stopped,” Trey said, chuckling quietly.
I looked to Murphy, who nodded cheerfully at Trey, while August covered his laugh with a cough.
Sophie went right to work gluing chocolate bunnies to one end of our egg. Of course, each bunny had to have a carrot too. The room had become very quiet. A quick glance around it appeared everyone was deep into decorating. I went back to gluing and lost myself in it until Diana and Hank returned with another ring of the bell.
“Crickey, that startled me again.” I laughed at myself. “Sophie, time to stop gluing, it’s time for the next round.”
“I can’t wait to see what it is, Mummy.” Sophie stood on my legs to see over my shoulder. “What do you think it will be?”
I didn’t have time to even guess before Diana was placing the last round of decorations on the supply table.