The pancakes were gone. Lily had eaten three — chocolate chip faces, the ones they made with the chips arranged in a smile. She'd been quiet through breakfast, her spoon moving through the syrup in slow circles, but she'd eaten. That was something.
Franz cleared the plates. Aunt Estella waved him off, took them from his hands, gave him a look that meant I've got this, you've got her. He'd known Aunt Estella long enough to read her looks.
Lily was still in her pajamas. Petal was under her arm, the purple dinosaur's felt teeth bared in their permanent grin. She hadn't let go of Petal since she woke up.
"Hey." Franz knelt beside her chair. "I had an idea."
"What idea?"
"I thought we could go to the piano room. I could teach you a song. Something new. Not scales."
