Page 79 of Tangled with the Tight End

She carefully caps the marker and hands it back to Maeve, and then she starts removing the tape from her space and Boston’s.

“What did you put there?” I ask, looking over the top of Boston’s head toward my cast.

“I drew you and me and Boston. And I wrote my name—in cursive. See?”

“I sure do. You have beautiful writing. I love it.”

“I love it too,” Boston says, tipping her head up and spontaneously kissing my chin. She wraps her little arms around me and gives me a squeeze. “I love you, Uncle Declan.”

“I love you, Boston.”

“Okay girls,” Maeve says. “Tell Uncle Declan goodbye.” She turns to me. “We’ll come by again soon.”

My phone pings. Maeve looks down at it.

“Winona’s here,” I tell her.

“Winona?” Maeve asks.

“She’s doing home health now. She’s my nurse’s aide.”

“Winona from storytime?” Ariella asks.

“Uh …” I don’t know any other Winona.

“Yes, sweetie,” Maeve says. “Winona from storytime.”

“Yippee!” Ariella says.

My sentiments exactly.

“Does she read you stories?” Boston asks.

“Not yet. Mostly she makes sure I’m getting better.”

“That’s so nice,” Ariella says.

The front door opens and Winona comes into the front room. “Oh. Hi. Maeve. How are you?”

The girls rush Winona and she extends her arms and crouches down, grabbing them and tugging them into her sides. They wrap their arms around her neck.

“I’m reading a chapter book,” Ariella tells Winona.

“Wow! That’s amazing. What one?”

“Magic Treehouse,” Ariella says.

“But I read Goodnight, Moon too,” Boston says.

Ariella leans into Winona and quietly says, “She memorized it.”

Winona laughs. “We all memorize before we actually read. It’s a good thing.”

She leans back, looking at Boston and then Ariella. “It’s so good to see you girls. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“We didn’t know you would be here too,” Boston says.

Maeve tells Winona, “We were about to head out.” Then she asks me, “Do you need anything?”