"A very good place to start," they both crooned, and Sherilyn began to laugh as Emma unloaded the goods on her lap, helped her aunt to her feet, and waltzed in the aisle with her as they sang "Do Re Mi."
To Sherilyn"s complete surprise, others in the theater began to join in.
"Do, a deer. A female deer," a woman behind them sang.
"Re, a drop of golden sun," came a few more voices.
A little girl and her mother danced in front of their seats a few rows down, and the child"s off-key jubilation inspired Sophie to blow the girl a kiss as she and Emma sang along. By the time a needle pulled some thread, Sherilyn found herself singing right out loud with the rest of them.
Mid-verse, the lights dimmed and the velvet curtain began to rise. Sophie squealed with glee, and Emma led her to her seat before dropping into the one between the two of them.
"She"s adorable," Sherilyn whispered, handing Emma a drink to share with her aunt.
"She loves musicals," Emma replied, taking a handful of popcorn and plopping it into her mouth. "And she loves to sing. She starts little flashmobs wherever she goes."
Sherilyn giggled, tearing open the box of Milk Duds.
"Don"t let Aunt Soph see those," Emma whispered, pushing down Sherilyn"s hand. "She"ll lose her dentures."
One hundred seventy-some minutes later, Sophie and Emma had sung at least three songs straight through without missing a single word, enticing Sherilyn to join them for the last few very-soprano bars of "Climb Every Mountain." By the time the film ended, she secretly wished they could watch it again, from fade in to fade out.
"See?" Sophie asked her as they made their way through the lobby. "He"s a fox, isn"t he?"
"He is indeed," she said with a chuckle. "You sure can pick "em, Sophie."
"There"s a little coffee place down on the corner," Emma told her as she b.u.t.toned Sophie"s coat at the door. "We usually go there for tea after."
"Sounds great."
The three of them walked slowly, arm-in-arm with Sophie in the middle, just as flakes of snow began to fall.
"Oh, look, Emma Rae!" Sophie cooed. "The Lord is dusting us with powdered sugar."
As they both tilted back their heads and opened their mouths, catching snowflakes on their tongues, Sherilyn fought back the tears threatening to betray the overwhelming wave of emotion crashing over her. Memories of her mother had faded over the years, but The Sound of Music had brought her back like a freight train. Sherilyn yearned for her mother just then, so much so that her stomach constricted and her heart pinched at her chest. Emma"s relationship with Sophie, the sweetness and the childlike adoration, took that yearning to a new height.
"What"s up?" Emma asked her, leaning around her aunt, and Sherilyn closed her eyes and shook away the emotion.
"I"m just missing my mom so much right now."
"Let"s go and see her then," Sophie suggested, and Emma shook her head. "Why not? Is it too late?"
"Sherilyn"s mom pa.s.sed away a long time ago, Aunt Soph."
Sophie stopped in her tracks, pulled free of the two of them, and she faced Sherilyn. "Is that true?" she asked.
"Afraid so."
"You haven"t had a mama?"
"Not since I was a kid."
"And your papa?"
"He died when I was in college."
Sophie thought about that for a long moment before she replied, "Well, that"s just not right. But you"re part of our family now, aren"t you?"
"Yes, she is!" Emma declared.
"Thank you," Sherilyn whispered, and she planted a kiss on Sophie"s cheek. At the same time, Emma took her hand and squeezed it.
"Emma Rae, you"ll remind me tomorrow, won"t you?"
"Remind you what, Aunt Soph?"
"To add our Sherilyn to the will. She"ll want one of the family quilts. Won"t you, dear?"
Sherilyn didn"t know how to respond to that. She darted a glance at Emma, then back to Sophie.
"Of course you will. It gets very cold in Savannah."
She mimed at Emma. "Savannah?"
Emma just tilted her shoulder into a shrug and smiled.
"Come on. Let"s get inside for some tea."
"Must we?" Sophie asked as Emma led her through the door to the coffeehouse. "It"s snowing. I love the snow."
"I know you do."
As Sherilyn caught up to them, Emma told her, "Help me keep an eye on her or she"ll sneak outside to make snow angels."
Homing in on the last few words, Sophie brightened as she exclaimed, "What a marvelous idea! Let"s do, Emma Rae! Let"s make snow angels!"
"How about we have some tea first?" Sherilyn suggested, taking the woman"s arm and leading her toward a table near the fireplace.
"All right. Tea sounds lovely."
Emma thanked her with a squeeze to her arm before she headed up to the counter.
Once she"d helped Sophie out of her coat and the two of them settled down at the table, Sophie tilted her head and asked, "What"s your beau"s name?"
"My beau?" Sophie reached across the table and tapped her engagement ring. "Oh! Andy. His name is Andy."
"Do you love him terribly?" she said with a wistful smile.
"Yes, I do."
"Oh, that"s wonderful. Isn"t love grand?"
"It is."
"I want to meet him soon, all right, dear?"
"I"d love for you to meet him, Sophie. I think you"ll really like him."
"When will you marry?"
"We haven"t set the date yet, but we"ve started planning."
"You should have Emma bake your cake. She"s very good at baking."
"Yes," Sherilyn chuckled. "She really is!"
"I love weddings, don"t you?" Sophie looked at her through such childlike eyes, and Sherilyn"s heart softened. "Will I receive an invitation?"
"Absolutely! It wouldn"t be much of a celebration without you there, Sophie."
"I know! I"ll bring you the something borrowed. Emma Rae will remind me. I want to do that. May I?"
"Of course."
"Although you really already have the something borrowed, don"t you?"
Sherilyn considered that and asked, "Do I?"
"Of course. Emma Rae and me, and my Avery, and Gavin." She didn"t quite understand. "Do you know the Scripture verse that says G.o.d sets the solitary down into families?"
Sherilyn sighed. With a smile, she replied, "Yes."
"That"s what He"s done with you. But you don"t have to give us back," she whispered. "We can be for keeps."
"If you like these guys as much as I do, maybe we can go and visit the church Miguel pastors."
Sherilyn felt happy that Andy had begun to connect with new friends, knowing she had Jackson to thank for it.
"It might be nice to attend the same church as Emma and Jackson," she said, and she dunked a potato chip into the bowl of clam dip and held it up for him to taste.
Andy groaned in ecstasy through a full mouth. "It"s fantash-tic!"
Jackson had asked Andy to host the group for Sunday"s game because their family room would certainly hold more people than his, and Andy quickly agreed.
"We"ll grill up a bunch of man food," he"d said, and Sherilyn had laughed at him.
"Man food!" she repeated. "What, like chicken wings and jalepeno burgers?"
When three inches of snow had fallen overnight, with several more on the way, Andy finally admitted defeat. Since the weather had deterred him from the idea of barbecuing, Sherilyn and Emma had created a sort of cook-a-thon, starting early that morning with a ma.s.sive pot of chili, some cornbread, three trays of chicken wings, and myriad snacks.
"How many hundreds of men are descending upon us again?" Sherilyn asked.
"I think Jackson said there would be eight from church, plus Sean."
"Well, we can feed them and all their friends, from the looks of things!"
Several of the guys arrived while Emma cleared the dining table so they could set up a smorgsbord of Man Food, and Sherilyn greeted them and tried to remember the names Andy and Jackson tossed at her while she arranged a row of plates, bowls, napkins, and utensils on the counter. The door bell chimed for a third time, and Andy went to answer it as Sherilyn began setting frosted gla.s.s mugs from the freezer onto a large tray.
She managed to fit the last one into place and when she turned around, Emma stepped in front of her with wide open eyes, her mouth frozen in the shape of a large O.
"What?"
Emma cleared her throat. "Umm, hand me the tray."
"I"ve got it."
"No. Sher. Hand me the tray."
Sherilyn laughed her off and sidestepped Emma, heading for the counter.
"I said I"ve got it," she told her.
But as she looked up into the face of one of Andy"s guests, she froze. Suddenly, her feet were made of cement, and her arms of rubber, and she forgot all about the tray in her hands. Her heart began to pound so hard against her chest that she felt her sweater moving with each thump, and a splash of warmth doused her like a bucket of firewater.
"Sherilyn."
And with that, the tray of gla.s.ses dropped from her squishy hands, shattering against the marble countertop and splintering further as they crashed to the wood floor.
"Cristian?"
Andy flew around the corner, two of the guys" coats still in his arms.
"Sherilyn, are you all right? What happened?"
Sherilyn tried to form some words, she really did, but they ended up jumbled against her tied-up tongue. What was worse, she couldn"t take her eyes off Cris, no matter how hard she tried. She was stuck there in the path of his eyes, trapped.
"I"m afraid I took her by surprise," Cris finally said.
"Sher?" Emma asked from behind, her hand resting on Sherilyn"s shoulder.
"I-I-"
"Is it your allergies again?" Andy asked her, placing his hands on both her shoulders and turning her toward him. "Do you need your inhaler?"
She shook her head, dragging her gaze back to Cris. Was he really standing right there in front of her? In the kitchen of her new home? The one she would soon share with Andy?
"Wh-what are you doing here?" she finally managed.
"Andy invited me."