“I’m sure you’re right,” Hannah agreed, knowing that her sister was still thinking about the unanswered call to her husband in the wee, small hours of the morning.

“Maybe he left a message for me on my voice mail,” Andrea reached for her cell phone, the small leather-bound notebook she used to jot down messages, and the expensive pen that fit in a leather loop on the front of the notebook. “I’d better check.”

Hannah watched as her sister began to retrieve her messages and write them down. She’d learned to read upside down at an early age, and she knew it was due to innate laziness more than a desire to learn an unusual skill. One of her responsibilities as Andrea and Michelle’s big sister had been to listen to them read aloud before bedtime. They’d always sat cross-legged on the foot of her bed, facing Hannah as she’d rested on the pillows propped up against the headboard. It had been easier for her to learn to read upside down, providing the occasional unknown word for them from her comfortable perch, than to get out of bed and walk around to peer at the page over their shoulders.

Mall—Business Cards, Andrea wrote in her perfectly formed script at the top of the small page. Then she paused for a moment, the tip of her pen double-underlining the underline she’d placed at the bottom of the first message.

The pen moved again and Hannah squinted. It was a lot easier to read printing than cursive, but she persevered. Formula, the next note read. Unless Andrea had suddenly developed an interest in higher mathematics, Grandma McCann, Bethany’s live-in babysitter, must have called to remind her to pick up baby food on the way home.

“Uh-oh!” Andrea breathed, and Hannah watched as the next notation took form. Three dozen snacks—room mothers’ meeting today! Andrea underlined the word today three times for emphasis and then she pressed a button on the phone and lifted it from her ear. “Hannah? I’m in deep trouble. Could you possibly

?”

“Sure, if cookies will do it. How about three dozen or so?”

“That’s perfect! But how did you know I needed something?”

“I guess the sister–sister radar must be working,” Hannah said with a shrug.

Andrea frowned slightly and Hannah held her breath. Had she remembered their bedtime reading and Hannah’s ability to provide a word without getting up? But Andrea gave a little shrug and then she smiled. “You’re the best, Hannah. I was going to stop at the Red Owl to pick up some squeezable pimento cheese spread and crackers, but I forgot they’d be closed.”

“That’s okay,” Hannah said, trying not to shudder. Her taste buds lumped squeezable cheese spread in the same category as instant coffee.