“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Aunt Birdie said.

“Thank you.” Hannah held up the purple binder. “I brought this along. I was hoping we could go over some of my questions.”

“Certainly.” All the while Aunt Birdie petted Peaches, who’d made her way onto his aunt’s lap.

Hannah hadn’t been kidding when she said that she had questions for Aunt Birdie. She pulled her notebook from her backpack and proceeded to ask question after question.

Once Aunt Birdie answered all of Hannah’s questions, she said, “With you two working together, I know it’ll go smoothly.” Aunt Birdie reached out and gave Hannah’s arm a brief squeeze. “Thank you. You’re a sweetheart for volunteering to help. Now before I forget, in my desk is a map from last year. It shows all of the places where I hid the eggs in the park. Afterward I was able to go back and find the ones that were left. You might want to do the same things this year.”

“That’s a great idea.” Hannah smiled as she continued to write more notes.

Aunt Birdie subdued a yawn, but Ethan noticed the exhaustion written across her ivory face. “We should probably get going.” He checked the time. “If we hurry we can catch the next ferry.”

“If you have any questions,” Aunt Birdie said, “I’ll be right here.”

“Thanks,” Hannah said. “I’m sure we’ll need your input. There’s a lot to do. And we have a lot to learn.”

A smile pulled at his aunt’s lips. “Just trying to do my part. I know the younger people are so busy with their families and work that they don’t have time to plan these types of special events. Spring Fling was always my favorite festival. It meant that spring was here and soon everything would bloom.” A faraway look came over her face, as though she were recalling those happy memories. “But I won’t keep you any longer.”

Aunt Birdie fussed over Peaches a little bit more, and then Ethan escorted her back to her room. He helped her into bed at her request.

It appeared the visit had taken a lot out of her or perhaps it was the physical therapy before they’d arrived. Either way, she didn’t have to worry about anything. With Hannah’s invaluable help, Spring Fling would be a success.

Chapter Twelve

This was so much more work than she’d been expecting.

Saturday evening, Hannah stood in Birdie’s house. After Ethan had finished working at the bakery for the day, he’d invited her over to work on Spring Fling plans. Hannah knew they had to get started on the details for the Easter egg hunt, that they were woefully behind since Spring Fling was in a few weeks.

“Why don’t we eat first?” Ethan’s deep voice drew her from her thoughts.

They’d picked up a large pepperoni pizza from the Pizza Pie Shoppe on the way to his place, well, Birdie’s place. It was the first time Hannah had been inside the house. When she’d visit with Birdie it was always during warm weather. They’d have lemonade out on her sweeping porch with an amazing view of the ocean.