“Did you let her go?” Evie asked, holding the pumpkin fry bread close to her lips as if she didn’t want to let it get too far from her mouth but couldn’t wait for his answer, either.
Toko nodded. “She was awful. Broke her heart in pieces.”
Suda Kaye pouted. “Poor pia,” she said, using the Comanche word for mother.
Toko held up his hand. “She was very sad. This made Topsannah sad. I did not like my girls to have sad eyes and hearts.”
I nodded and then sat up, reaching for my wine. “Then what happened? Did she keep trying and become an awesome ballet dancer?” I asked on a rush then sucked back some delicious wine.
He shook his head. “No. Ballet was not for her. Topsannah met a woman at one of her quilting events. The woman taught the art of Turkish dance.”
Suda Kaye grinned wide. “Belly dancing! Woo-hoo!” She jumped up and did some hip rolls, bringing her arms above her head, then clapped her hands together.
Toko smiled softly. “Yes. She became a master at the dance. This talent paid her way through her adventures.”
“Can you girls teach me?” I asked.
Suda Kaye made a pa-shaw sound and held her arms out for me to come toward her. “Get up, Evie. Let’s show our sister Mom’s dance moves!”
For the next hour I learned to dance. I even got pretty good at the series of moves they taught me. At some point Toko left us to our laughter and giggling in search of his bed.
Then on bottle number four of wine, Evie tugged the quilt off the bed and handed it to Suda Kaye. She went over to a basket in the corner and grabbed two more, handing me one in a gorgeous red, black and white print. I followed them as they wrapped them around their bodies.
“Come on, bring your wine,” she whispered and shoved her feet into her pair of the matching slippers she bought all of us. “Shhhh. You don’t want to wake Toko. He’s not usually ever mad, but he does get a bit grouchy if he misses out on his beauty sleep.”
I snort-laughed at the thought of Toko being grouchy.
Suda Kaye and Evie herded me out the front door, closing the screen as quietly as three super-tipsy women could. Which wasn’t quiet at all. It also didn’t help that Evie kept loudly demanding we “Shush!” This had the adverse effect of making both me and Suda Kaye giggle even harder.
We walked across the dirt expanse and headed toward a picnic table overlooking the dark pasture before the mountains. Evie climbed on top and sat down in the center. She waved us both over. I took one side; Suda Kaye took the other. I held my wine goblet as though it were the very nectar of the gods, because right then it totally was.
Evie looked up to the sky. “Have you ever wished on stars, Izzy?”
I shook my head, not having any idea what she was talking about.
“When we were little girls, Mom would bring us outside to star-gaze and wish on stars. It’s one of my best memories of her. We did this before Suda Kaye got married and I wanted to share this with you. Then one day you can share it with your children.”
I tried not to get teary as Evie put her arm around me. “Look up. Find a star that calls to you.”
The sky was magical this late at night. The darkest blue, with millions of twinkling stars that could be seen so clearly out there in the desert.
“Wow,” I gushed.
“Did you pick one?”
“Just one? They’re all beautiful.” I frowned.
She nodded. “Yep, but you have to choose the one that calls to you. Close your eyes, look up and then open them. The first star that holds your attention is your star,” she whispered as if our conversation was a big secret.
I did as she said, opened my eyes and zeroed in on a twinkly little guy that was next to a bigger, brighter one, but I liked the small-and-mighty one better.
“Do you have one?” Suda Kaye asked.
I nodded.
“Okay, repeat after us,” Evie said. “I wish I may.”
“I wish I may,” I said.
“I wish I might,” Suda Kaye said.
“I wish I might,” I repeated.
“Have this wish,” Evie added.
“Have this wish,” I followed.
“I wish tonight,” they both said at the same time.
“I wish tonight,” I finished.
“Now you wish on your star. But you can only do it once. And you can’t tell anyone what you wished for or it won’t come true. And you can’t wish again, until it does come true. Understand?” Evie whispered.
I nodded. “I think so.”
“Okay, close your eyes and make your fondest wish on your star. Send it out into the universe and one day it will come true.”
I smiled, closed my eyes and thought really hard. If I could have had any wish, what would it be?
The wind rustled my hair, the smells of patchouli and earth filling the air around our small huddle.
It came to me like a comet shooting across the sky.
I opened my eyes, looked at my star and wished Hope could have a mother who wanted nothing more than to choose Hope’s happiness over her own.
Twenty-One
Evie spun around in a circle, dancing across the living room. “It’s my wedding day! It’s going to be the best day ever!” The joy surrounding her swirled in the air and became infectious.
I chuckled as Suda Kaye grabbed Evie and spun her around and around.
I popped up off the couch as Toko entered fully dressed but not in his ceremonial attire. “I’ll make breakfast! Oooh, how about a coffee crumb cake?”
Toko nodded. “I will help. You will teach me.”
My heart started to pound as I nodded. Teach my grandfather something in the kitchen? A gift I would remember always. “I would love that, Toko,” I breathed.
He went over to Suda Kaye and kissed her forehead. “Morning, Huutsuu.” I had since learned this meant bird in his language. Toko glided to Evie and did the same, but he held her cheek and stared into her eyes. “Milo is your match. You will be happy and have many children. He is the dark to your light, Taabe. Do not fear the dark as it is part of us all. Balance is beauty. Remember this.”
She nodded and my throat went dry at the devotion in his teaching. And I adored how he called her Taabe, which literally translated to sun. And she was. Milo was dark. Black hair, brown skin, coal-black eyes with a sad past, where Evie was golden. Hair, skin tone, smile and light, icy-blue eyes. Milo had suffered a major loss when he married young to a woman who was carrying his child. They lost the child, and then Milo lost the woman as she put her career and desire for other men before her marriage. Evie was his second chance at having the love and life he wanted, and I knew that man would let nothing stop him from making her his.