Sophie nodded. So did Elisa and Lyn. None of them would’ve forgotten, but just in case, every one of them had Boom’s birthday in their day planners. She was family.
“Dad was asking if I wanted a laser tag party or a roller-skating-rink party or what.” Boom shuffled her feet under the table. “And those are cool and all, but they’re things everyone at the martial arts school does. All the guys.”
Ah. Danger. Red flag. Sophie exchanged knowing looks with Elisa and Lyn.
“Would you like to invite girls from the martial arts school or from your middle school classes, too?” Elisa was a brave woman. But then, she lived with Boom now and had the best feel for Boom’s mercurial phases.
“Yeah. We do every year. Dad wouldn’t ever leave them out.” Loyal as ever to her dad, Boom nodded with each sentence to make her point.
“Okay.” Sophie said it slowly, opening the door wide open to invite Boom to get to her point before one of the men actually did come wandering into this conversation.
Boom took a deep breath. “I wanted something different this year. Still fun, with lots of games and stuff. But…different.”
Lyn nodded encouragement. “Sounds great.”
Elisa and Sophie joined with the nodding. Nodding was good.
Boom’s gaze locked onto Sophie’s day planner where it lay on the kitchen table. Sophie had been adjusting her week plans because she didn’t have a job to go to anymore, so she’d been trying to cheer herself up with pretty wash tape and stickers. Boom reached out and fiddled with a roll of cherry blossom wash tape.
“It’s fun to have active stuff to do. I want this to be fun.” Reiteration was apparently a way to find one’s direction in a conversation when it came to Boom. “But for the food, I really like the stuff you bring from Sunday brunches, Sophie.”
Ah. “Whatever you’d like for your birthday, Boom. I’d be happy to make anything.”
A flush came to Boom’s cheeks, a happy one. “And, well, Elisa, the pictures you showed me of all those tea parties you and Sophie and Lyn go to. I really like those.”
They were making afternoon tea a regular thing. And Elisa had a passion for taking pictures of all the food with her smartphone. Sophie laughed. “Elisa can make anything look super tasty when she takes a picture of it. I don’t blame you. I was there, and I look back at those pictures and want to go again.”
Boom nodded. “Me too.”
Oh. Sophie immediately tried to figure out how to yank her foot out of her mouth. They hadn’t meant to leave Boom out of those trips. But usually, she was at the mixed martial arts school. Sophie mentally kicked herself for never having thought to invite the tween.
Obviously, Elisa and Lyn had come to the same conclusion. Lyn even dropped her forehead into her palm. “I can’t believe we’ve never taken you out with us.”
Elisa added quietly, “You are always welcome. It’d be fun to have you join us.”
Boom smiled. She was a generous soul. “Thanks. I’d like to. And for my birthday, I’d like to have a tea party. An Alice in Wonderland–themed one. The kind where any of the guests can come and try any of the foods.”
She tipped her head to the side and quickly added, “Not so much the sit-there-and-be-super-polite kind of tea party.”
Sophie grinned. “We can set up a big table with chairs on one side so guests can sit if they want or just come up and take a few bites to try out in between games. We’ll make it easy to choose.”
Elisa nodded. “I can make fun Drink Me and Eat Me tags for whatever food Sophie makes.”
“I can help with the table setting and stuff, too,” Lyn added.
They were presented with a relieved, happy-looking Boom. “Awesome. That way Dad can set up a bunch of video and tabletop games and stuff for us inside, maybe some outside stuff if it snows. And we can enjoy all the delicious food, too. It’ll be awesome.”
Sophie immediately started jotting down ideas on a notepad she had on the counter. “I’ll come up with a bunch of choices and you can pick. If there’s anything you want, just let me know.”
Boom nodded and bolted down the hallway. “Thanks!”
Lyn was staring at Sophie.
Elisa looked from Lyn to Sophie, and apparently there was a psychic moment Sophie was left out of because both Lyn and Elisa had their gazes locked on her, and she wondered if she should run.
Sophie leaned back on her chair. “What?”
“If you owned a B-and-B, you could definitely host parties,” Lyn pointed out.
Elisa tapped her plate with her fork. “Afternoon tea, cocktail parties, you name it. You could host it.”
“You guys are incorrigible.” Sophie put down her pen with a snap. But they weren’t wrong.
She could. If she had the place.
*