Mia let out a shriek that would’ve sent all dogs in a hundred-yard radius running. “Did you see? Did you see? Mr. Griffin is magic!” She looked back to him. “Do I get to keep it?”

His blue eyes twinkled. “It came out of your ear.”

“I’m gonna put it in my unicorn piggy bank.”

“A saver. I like it.”

She slid the quarter into her pocket. “I’m saving up for some mats so I can practice more tumbling at home.”

Griffin straightened from his crouch. “Tumbling, huh?”

“Yup. I’m gonna go to the Olympics one day.”

“I believe it.”

My heart gave a painful squeeze. At Mia’s hope. At Griffin’s sweet encouragement. It was all too much. Tears stung my eyes as I tried to force them back.

“Don’t cry now,” Will whispered.

“I can’t help it. It’s so freaking sweet.”

Will shook his head and looked heavenward. “You need to get plugs in your tear ducts or something.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. I cried at everything. Sad tears. Happy tears. Overwhelmed tears. Angry tears. It was as if whenever I had an emotional overload—which was often—the release valve was my eyeballs.

“Hey, are you okay?” Griffin was suddenly in front of me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I swear. It was just sweet. You and Mia.”

Griffin’s forehead wrinkled. “It was sweet?”

Will stepped closer. “Don’t even try to understand it. She cries at the drop of a hat. The other night, she was full-on sobbing at a humane society commercial.”

I turned to Will. “That song gets me every time.”

Griffin let out a choked laugh. “She has a point there.”

My cheeks heated as I looked back at Griffin. “Sorry about the mass delivery service, but nobody wanted to stay home.”

“It’s no problem.” He looked around at the kids before turning back to me. “You can bring them whenever you need to.”

Mia’s fist shot into the air. “Yes! I want more magic.”

“You might have opened a can of worms with that one,” I whispered. Mia’s zest for life was unparalleled, and when she discovered something she liked, she was all in. My gaze traveled back to Ava, who still hovered near the car. My other girl was more cautious. She needed time to test the waters before diving in.

“Don’t worry about me,” Griffin said. “I can handle a few magic tricks. It’ll give me an excuse to brush up on my skills.”

Even though there was warmth in Griffin’s expression, there was also an underlying pain in his eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was somehow related to his family. If his dad had taught him those tricks. Why was it that the good ones were lost too soon, but the bad ones seemed to hang around far past their expiration dates? “She’d love that.”