Free The Lullaby Sky by Carolyn Brown Page B

pumped her fist in the air. “I got a new name and Aunt Birdie made me pancakes and Aunt Liz is bringing muffins and Darcy is here. I love this day. Oh, and I get rainbows on my wall. You are the best mama in the whole wide world. This is the best Saturday of my whole life.”
    Travis almost choked on a sip of coffee before he got it swallowed. “Out of the mouths of babes,” the old saying went. And what Sophie had just said so innocently aloud was far better than all the threats and cussing any of the adults around the table could have ever done.

C HAPTER F IVE
    S ometimes Sophie referred to Hannah’s four friends as aunt or uncle, but that morning, as she ran from one piece of furniture to another, she’d dropped all the aunt and uncle titles in her excitement.
    “Liz, look at this fancy princess bed,” she squealed.
    “Lie down on it and tell me if you really want it,” Liz said.
    Sophie glanced at her mother, and Hannah nodded. People tested the furniture every single day, so it shouldn’t cause the sun to fall from the sky if a five-year-old stretched out on a canopy bed.
    All four of the adults watched her kick off her flip-flops and lie down. Her eyes darted to the ruffled eyelet canopy and then to each white bedpost, and finally she popped up her knees and shook her head dramatically.
    “I don’t want this thing,” she said as she put her flip-flops back on.
    “Why? It’s a princess bed,” Travis said.
    “Because I couldn’t see my rainbows and clouds if I was in that bed and besides, it feels like I’m in a cage,” Sophie declared. “I’ll just keep my bed and it can be in the middle of the rainbow.” She made a sweeping arch with her slender arm. “And the clouds can be on either side and when I wake up I can just see them right there on my blue wall. They can keep this bed. I don’t want it.”
    “Lord, she’s making me want a rainbow on my wall,” Hannah whispered.
    Travis slung a friendly arm around her shoulders. “All you have to do is say the word.”
    She didn’t flinch or tense at his touch. This was Travis, her friend, who would move mountains for her and Sophie and never, ever hurt either of them. His arm felt comfortable, like a warm blanket on a cold winter night at a football game. She inhaled and caught a whiff of his shaving lotion. Was that Stetson? She loved that scent. But when did he start wearing it?
    Maybe he always did and you’re just now noticing, the voice in her head said.
    “So which one? The white slatted headboard and matching dresser or the oak four-poster bed? Those seem to be the two you keep going back and forth between,” Liz noted.
    Liz’s questions took Hannah’s thoughts away from Travis, and she studied the two choices, finally pointing toward the white bedroom set. “I like this one. It’s airy, and the white would match the woodwork.”
    “I agree.” Liz pointed at the oak. “The oak one would overpower the size of your bedroom. I like the simple lines of the white and no footboard. I hate those things. The only thing they are good for is keeping your knees bruised up. Are you going to replace all the furniture upstairs?”
    Hannah noticed the bruise on Liz’s arm. The five-finger shape couldn’t be very old, because it was still purple. In a couple of days, it would be yellow and green, but it had probably happened sometime yesterday. It was just further proof that all that nervousness Liz displayed had little to do with the stress of her school job and everything to do with an abusive husband.
    “No, just the one bedroom so it will be a living area. And I like that sofa bed right there.” Hannah nodded at a microfiber love seat in a dark brown. “It won’t show dirt, and it turns into a bed. Aunt Birdie said she’s got an old coffee table and a card table with four folding chairs I can use, so I only need that thing.”
    “So your mind is made up?” Travis moved to the area where the bedroom had been set up. “This goes in