Page 99 of One Night with Number Nineteen

“Hey, Pages,” I say after I pick up.

“Saw-yur!”

My smile widens. “Hey, buddy.”

“Did you have another joke today?”

“I sure did. Wanna hear it?”

“Yuppers!”

Laughter in my chest. “Okay ready?”

“Yuppers times two!”

“How do you fix a broken tomato?”

A pause, and I imagine his little face all screwed up as he concentrates. “I don’t know.”

“With tomato paste.”

His giggles fill the air—and my heart. “Are you coming to dinner tonight?”

“Am I invited?”

“Mom!” he shouts. “Is Saw-yur invited to dinner?”

“Of course he is,” she says.

“You hear her?”

“Yuppers,” I say with a smile. “I’ll be over in a bit.”

“Yahoo!”

“Tell your mom I’ll bring her some cookies from Molly’s.”

Rustling, his little voice echoing through the air.

“She says you don’t have to do that, Cupcake.” A beat. “Who’s Cupcake?”

“Me?”

“But you’re Saw-yur.”

I laugh. “You’re right, bud.”

“Are you going to come to my performance?”

“What performance?”

“My winter concert at school. It’s next Thursday.”

I do a mental calculation—the team will be in town and we don’t have a game that night. “Yeah, bud. I’ll be there.”

“Promise?”

My heart thuds hard against my ribs. “Promise.”