“You might’ve said no.”
“Then you ask how you can earn it.”
“I did rake leaves.”
“I know.”
“Mrs. Reynolds pays terrible.”
I laughed despite myself and pulled him into a hug.
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
That evening, my mother-in-law saw the dress.
“You skipped lunches for that?”
Noah nodded.
She shook her head.
“Sweetheart, that’s a waste of money. Lucy is two. She probably doesn’t even understand what a birthday is.”
Noah looked at her.
“She understands when someone’s nice to her, Grandma.”
My mother-in-law went quiet.
Cyril, my husband, had just walked in.
He crouched beside Noah and touched the garment bag.
“Good color, buddy. Lucy’s going to spin in it.”
My mother-in-law sighed.
“You people hear what you want.”
I looked at her.
“I think we’re done for tonight.”
“You want me to leave over a dress?”
“No. I want you to leave because my eight-year-old understands kindness better than you apparently do tonight.”
The next afternoon, Hannah held a tiny birthday party.
There were seven people, a grocery-store cake, and six balloons.
Noah carried the red dress over.
“This is for Lucy.”
Hannah opened it and immediately looked at me.
