“We spent twenty minutes at the card shop picking out that exact bluebird card for you two.”

I pass the bluebird card across the white tablecloth and lay it flat under Nate’s thumb.

Nate reads the handwritten line in complete silence.

Beside me, I watch his ears turn bright red, the color spreading from the tips all the way down to his jaw.

“We know how independent you two are,” Judy adds, her voice warm with praise.

“Nate makes good money with his diesel repair work at the shop, and Emily is so sharp with the hospital financial records.