You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 5

Fallon heard piano music.

She paused outside the front door and listened for a moment. Of course, she knew who was playing-it had to be her cousin. Angela Reynold never learned how to play the piano and there was no one else in the house anyway.

What made her stop was not the fact that someone was playing the piano, but the fact that it actually sounded nice. It was a simple, thoughtful melody that had a kind of quiet beauty to it. That was what she used to love about the piano: even easy songs could still sound lovely if a person played them in a certain way. And Gabrielle was certainly playing in that certain way, she thought. Just the right amount of rubato...

Fallon shook her head and snapped out of it. It was just a kid on a piano. And she probably looked pretty silly just standing here by the front door with her eyes closed. She jammed the house key into the lock, grabbed the handle, and pushed up and inwards. In keeping with her promise to be polite while her cousin was here, she shut the door quietly behind her instead of slamming it so as not to disturb the piano playing. She glanced into the living room as she kicked off her sneakers. Yes, there was a little girl with blond hair sitting on the bench, frowning with concentration as her fingers moved across the keys. Angela was sitting on the couch, listening with a faraway smile on her face. She glanced up as Fallon made her way quietly into the living room and put a finger to her lips. Fallon nodded and started to sit down.

But then Gabby became aware of a new presence in the room. She looked up from the piano, gasped, and stopped playing abruptly.

"Fallon!" she squealed, wriggling down off the bench and rushing towards her. The next thing Fallon knew there was a pair of arms around her waist squeezing her so tight she could barely breathe. She was stuck there by the couch, half-sitting, half-standing, wondering desperately how to persuade this child to loosen her grip. And of course, she couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Oh my gosh I'm just so happy to meet you finally! You are just how I imagined you, you know. Guess what, I got to take off school today to get situated here. And I also did not get to ride in your Mommy's car without my booster seat even though I asked my Daddy if I could- Oh, my gosh!"

Gabby abruptly stopped hugging Fallon and her hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes were wide with shock. Fallon collapsed onto the sofa, gasping for breath.

"What's the matter?" asked Angela, who had been desperately trying to keep from bursting into peals of laughter at Fallon's situation.

Gabby turned her wide eyes to her aunt.

"I just said 'oh my g-o-s-h'.... " she spelled in a horrified whisper, "...twice."

Two blank faces stared at her.

"I'm not allowed to say that at home," she explained, her face red.

"Oh!" said Angela, clearing her throat to disguise a burst of laughter, "well, we won't worry about it. Just make sure not to say it again, alright?"

Gabby nodded solemnly.

"So..." said Fallon, casting about for something polite to say, "You must be Gabrielle?" and immediately wished she could kick herself. Of course this was Gabrielle.

"Who's Gabrielle?" asked Gabby, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"Uh... you are," said Fallon.