Anxiously Sisse took in his face, looking for any sign that he might disapprove of her actions. At his platitude she rushed to add, "I modified it for Calla, but I wanted to pay tribute to Sloane in some small way that day." The words jumbled out of her mouth and Sisse felt her own renewed discomfort. If there was any way that she might convince Alvin she was just a little girl still it was babbling on like this.

Internally she took a breathe to calm herself, her hand smoothing down her skirt unconsciously. It was easy to start to feel comfortable around Alvin - no, Mr. Bixby, she reminded herself - but the moment she realized she was relaxing all her worries and anxiousness seemed to return. It wasn't fair. But then again, there wasn't much in life that was fair.