He gave her a sad smile and lifted one shoulder.
She leaned forward. “The words are already inside you, Ollie. We just have to be patient. They just need a little help coming out. But you’ll get there.”
He nodded, taking in a deep breath.
“Let’s go over some of the sounds you’ve conquered,” Mauve said.
They spent the rest of the session on sounds he already did well, so that he would leave feeling successful. She’d learned over the years that a child who felt good about their session felt eager to come back, rather than dreading it.
When the session ended, she escorted Ollie back to his classroom.
“You did really great today,” Mauve said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”
He looked up at her, gratitude in those eyes as clear as any words he might say.
On the way back to her office, her phone buzzed from her pocket.
Jason again.
Jason
Just got to Roan and Reese’s. They’re both at work, so I’m going to take a nap.
Mauve
Great. Looking forward to seeing you tonight.
Jason
Same. I hope it’s not weird.
Mauve
Can’t be. Not with us.
Through the window, she could see the playground, the frost just starting to melt in the pale morning sun. A group of kids spilled out the back door for early recess, their laughter sharp and bright in the cold air.
She loved her life. Her work gave her great satisfaction. She adored her little house, even though the renovations had taken longer than she’d hoped and depleted a lot of her savings. But it didn’t matter. She would be in that house for the rest of her life. She’d finally found a home in Sugarville Grove where she felt wrapped up in love like a cherished Christmas present. All that said, she yearned for Jason Hayes. In a perfect world, he would live in Sugarville Grove. But his work was out west where the stars were people instead of twinkling lights in a vast Vermont sky. If only her heart had an off button.
2
JASON
Jason jerked awake. He lay still for a moment, disoriented, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling until it all came back to him. He was home. Or what used to be his home anyway. Now it belonged to Roan and Reese. His twin had become domesticated, with two adopted boys and a beautiful wife. A far cry from being a stuntman in the film industry.
The guest room at Roan and Reese’s had once been his. When they were growing up, he and Roan had shared this very room. Twin bunkbeds, with quilts sewn by their mother, Caroline Hayes. They’d wrestled on the braided rug. Talked for hours about girls and trucks and how they would someday have both.
He sat up, running his hands through his hair. Outside the window, daylight faded. What time was it? He reached for his phone to see it was nearing five. He’d slept a good six hours.
He opened his texts to see if Mauve had sent anything while he was asleep. Since she’d left him in L.A., just a few days after Thanksgiving, they’d been texting nonstop. Sometimes they talked on the phone for hours. It seemed they never ran out of things to say to each other. This had never happened to him before. A woman had never captured his attention the wayMauve had. He couldn’t get enough of her. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted. And he had no idea what to do about it.
There were no texts from Mauve. He reminded himself she was at work with no time to worry about him. Anyway, he’d see her in an hour for dinner. That thought alone made his stomach explode with butterflies.
Instead of texts from Mauve, there were three from his agent about a role in a movie he’d read for last week. Before he left for Sugarville Grove, he’d gone in for a callback for the lead in a new movie calledFractured. Then, like always, he waited to hear. The endless cycle of an actor—always looking for the next gig.
The text was full of good news. The director ofFracturedwanted him. He’d gotten the job. The pay his agent had negotiated was staggering. He could hardly believe his good fortune.
Set in Prague,Fracturedwas an action movie about a man searching for his missing wife. There were car chases and motorcycle scenes and more fight scenes than he could count, but the role would challenge him as an actor too. The director was a hit maker, and the role could elevate Jason to a legitimate movie star, rather than the lead of a popular streaming show on television. His agent had worked it out that they could start filming during his hiatus fromDriftwood. He would have to be in Prague on January 2nd.
