Chapter 42

Alicia went back to the door and brought in a black case. “Cody, my young nephew, I have a present for you. It’s okay if you don’t want to use it, but I’d love to be around for a while to see you try.” She passed the case to Cody.

The boy’s glow was one of those rare moments. He beamed and the grin was so wide they all wondered if he sprained his face. Peter was ready to capture this and had his phone camera ready. He kept shooting photos of the amazed little boy. Cody flipped the latches and opened the case. Inside was a brand new shiny brass trumpet. He squealed with delight, Peter grinned, and Russell grimaced. Alicia picked up the instrument, played a few scales, and launched into a bit of a blues riff.

“I’ll give you lessons while I’m around. We can do other things, too. You’ll learn to read music and eventually, we’ll create some decent songs together.”

Cody wrapped her in a hug, thanked her for the trumpet, and took her to meet Joey.