Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Sage’s heart ached as the front door clicked shut behind Grady.
Hopefully, he didn’t think she was some callous witch, unaffected by Rose’s breakthrough.
She was as overcome with emotion as anyone at hearing Rose speak.
Only her training and experience kept her from breaking out in tears.
No other student had ever affected her like that.
Rose was different. She was special to her in a way Sage didn’t fully understand. She cared about every child she’d worked with, but not like this. Fortunately, her training had kicked in. She could only imagine what Grady was going through.
“He’s a good Daddy, isn’t he?” Sage whispered, voice soft and full of joy. Thanks to Grady, this had been an even more amazing morning than she’d ever dreamed it could be.
Rose nodded, smiling around a big bite of cookie, cheeks puffed out like a happy little chipmunk.
Sage picked up her own cookie. With the first bite, flavors of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg burst on her tongue. These were no bagged cookies from the grocery store. Cookies this good had to come from Bread and Batter, the best pastry shop in Wilder.
Sage made a mental note to reach out to Juniper Morgan, the bakery owner, and ask for some tips on making cookies. She could just picture fun afternoons in the kitchen with Rose, baking cookies.
Together, she and Rose ate every single cookie. Strange, how comfortable it felt to sit here with this beautiful, cheerful little girl who, until a few minutes ago, stayed completely wordless. Rose’s voice was soft and melodic and beautiful. Sage couldn’t wait to hear it again.
After they finished their cookies, Rose helped Sage shake the rug out in the front yard to get rid of all the crumbs.
Sage glanced around but didn’t see Grady anywhere.
He must have gone around back. She led Rosie back to their mermaid wonderland, settling in for a few more learning games and reading.
Soon, they were both hip deep in Legos, building taller towers and singing silly songs.
It was sheer luck that she walked into the foyer, which stretched all the way to the back of the house. That was the only reason she caught Grady outside the backdoor window.
He’d been coming in the front door all day. She waved, even as her Little kicked the back of her brain. She had the nagging feeling she’d forgotten something. But try as she might, she couldn’t remember what it was.
When the back doorknob squeaked, it hit her.
Oh no.
How could she have forgotten about the glitter bomb she’d rigged above the back door that morning? It was all part of her plan to add more fun to his life. She was thoughtful that way. The people on YouTube seemed to love glitter bombs.
Now, it no longer seemed to be the “best idea ever,” it had been when she’d set up the trap. Holding out a hand, as if it could stop him, she called out, “Wait!”
Grady waved back, still smiling. The door creaked open. “Sage, I need—”
A loud popping sound echoed through the house. Not knowing what else to do, Sage covered her eyes with her hands. It worked just as well as it did when she watched the scary movies she loved. The brief silence was too much, so she spread her fingers just wide enough to venture a peek.
Turned out those YouTubers really knew their stuff. The balloon had dropped and exploded when it hit Grady’s head, followed by his bellow of shock and rage. It was really very intimidating. He needed to work on that.
She decided not to tell him that when he yelled, “Wildfire!”
You could always tell how angry someone was by the volume and pitch of the last syllable of the word yelled. On a scale of one to ten, she’d rank Grady’s a sixty-two.
Yikes!
Sage knew her eyes went wide because she felt the stretch.
Just to be on the safe side, she clamped her teeth down on her lips.
She had the worst habit of laughing when she was nervous.
She’d learned her automatic response was often misunderstood.
And Grady didn’t look to be in a very understanding mood.
From the corner of her eye, Sage caught Rose jumping to her feet and scurrying to join Sage in the foyer. They both looked on as glitter rained down on Grady in a shimmering cloud. He stood with a shell-shocked expression, shoulders hunched and arms straight out to the sides.
Sage bit down harder on her lips.
Grady’s eyes narrowed and honed in on her. Sage’s bottom clenched at the look on his face. He didn’t seem to be taking the prank in the spirit it was given. Pointing a pink sparkly finger straight at her, he growled, “Don’t. You. Move.”
Sounded like “run” to her.
“Swim away! Swim away!” she yelled to Rose.
Laughing hysterically, the two of them scrambled back to the Pillow Palace and did their best to dig an emergency undersea cavern, mermaid skirts flying behind them in their efforts.
Sage squealed as Grady caught her ankle in one large hand and lifted her clean off the floor. “Oh, look. I caught a naughty Little fish.”
Grady seriously needed to work on using his happy voice.
Glitter covered his dark hair, beard, and shoulders. He looked like a very grumpy, very sparkly ogre. Rose covered her face with her hands and peeked around through her fingers, giggling.
Sage grinned up from her upside-down position, trying unsuccessfully to stop her giggling. “You have to admit you look pretty and sparkly, boss.”
“You,” Grady growled, voice low and dangerous as he flipped Sage right side up and held her against his chest, “are in so much trouble, Wildfire.”
Carrying her to the kitchen, he set her on her feet and pointed at the broom and dustpan in the corner. “Sweep it up, Wildfire, all of it. And once you’re done, you will come to the kitchen table, and—”
“We’ll go to the barn, right?” Sage finished his sentence for him, putting her hands behind her and twisting on her heels.
He shook his head, sending glitter all over the room. “No…. you’re going to write lines.”
Sage stifled a groan. She’d never had to write lines in her life, but from everything she’d read in the books, it was not a fun task. She cocked her hip and frowned. “Writing lines is boring, can’t you think of something more… direct?”
Grady smiled, but it held no humor. “Writing lines will do just fine. As for being boring, that’s the point.”
She spun around, and when she had done a complete one-eighty, her frown had turned into a smile. “What a Daddy thing to do.”
Picking up the broom, she spent the next thirty minutes sweeping up glitter.
Grady stood and watched, adding to the time it took with every single shake of his head.
They could both hear Rose giggling from the kitchen entrance where she now stood as she watched yet more glitter shimmer through the air before drifting to the floor.
Finally, Sage opened the trash can and made a show of dumping the last scoop full of glitter. Rose ran over and held the lid for her as if it were the most important job on earth.
Sage leaned over, catching Rose’s eye. She pointed at Grady, directing both of their eyes toward him. He was standing beside the table, arms crossed and tapping his foot.
“I guess I’m in a lot of trouble with your dad, Rose,” Sage whispered.
“Yeah,” Rose said and then immediately slapped her hand up to her mouth as if surprised that she had spoken again. Grady’s foot stopped tapping but otherwise, he gave no sign he’d heard Rose speak.
Stowing the broom and dustpan, she and Rose walked over and stood in front of Grady. “What should I write, Daddy?”
Grady uncrossed his arms, causing more glitter to fall from his shirt and beard. “I’ll let you decide, but it better contain the word sorry in it somewhere.”
She thought for a moment, then, holding her hand out for the paper, sat down at the table and wrote in her best careful handwriting on the notepad he handed her. Since he was acting like a full-blown Daddy, she wrote, I’m sorry I made Daddy’s life better by making him look like a sparkly ogre.
Grady read it and heaved a long-suffering sigh. But she didn’t miss the twinkle in his eyes.
“Try again,” he ordered, then seemed to reconsider. “Never mind, that’s hopeless. I’ll tell you what to write.”
Sage wrote again, cheeks pink with suppressed laughter as he dictated. “When deciding on my next course of action, I will not let my naughty impulse to pull pranks cause me to write a check my bottom can’t cash.”
“Check, can’t, cash.” Sage snickered. “Say that three times in a row. Wait, that’s”—she trailed off, counting the words one by one on her fingers—“twenty-eight words? How many times do I have to write that?”
Grady pointed to the paper. “Just write.”
But she saw the edge of his lip twitch up. He was enjoying this.
Sage wrote the line over and over. Every time Grady walked past, he shook his head, raining down more glitter onto the paper, but he couldn’t hide his amusement. Rose sat at the table with her and began reading one of her lesson books.
Sage’s hand began to cramp and burn. How long had she been writing? Not that it mattered. She’d write until Grady told her to stop.
Occasionally, she would stretch her hand or arms, giving her a chance to look over at Grady cooking supper. She flexed and straightened her writing hand. It would be her luck to have it freeze in a permanent claw.
Finally, he called out, “Supper’s ready. You can stop writing sentences now.”
Rose had stayed by her side the entire time, only getting up once to go to the bathroom, and promptly returning to keep her company. Sage’s heart warmed at the gesture. It was made even better when Rose started humming some of the songs Sage had sung to her each night when she tucked her in bed.
After supper, Sage carried Rose to her room, helped her into her jammies, and tucked her in. Once Rose was comfy, Sage sang “Blue Shadows” as a lullaby, soft and slow, until Rose drifted to sleep.