Felix starts story time.He’s reading a book about a bear who opens a bakery, and he has a different voice for every customer, and the kids are losing their minds with laughter.I’m listening to him and smiling at the spreadsheet when I should be concentrating, but this is my favorite time of the day.
He’s a natural.
When he finishes, they all clap.I look up because seeing how much the kids enjoyed being read to is my favorite part of the day.
Monroe lifts her hand.
Felix points at her.“Yes, Mayor Monroe?”
“Can Miss Hadley read the next one?”
Felix pouts and puts his hands on his hips.“You don’t like me?”He pretends to wipe tears.
“Oh, Felix, you can read another one,” Hazel says.
“Thank you, General Hazel, but I’ll gladly step down for Miss Hadley.”He snaps out of it fast when the kids seem concerned.“Miss Hadley, you’re being summoned!”Felix turns and looks at me over the heads of the children.
I shake my head.“I’m doing the?—”
“Financials will be there in ten minutes.”Felix makes a silly face, and all the children laugh.“The children want you.”
I come around the counter and go to the story time circle, settling into my grandma’s rocking chair.The wood creaks the way it always does.The kids scoot to make room.
Monroe and Hazel are in the front row as always.
Hazel reaches into her bag.She produces a book I’ve never seen before and holds it out to me with both hands as though she’s presenting something at a ceremony.“Can you read this one?”
The Prince Who Kept His Promise.
I look at the cover.A prince crossing a field toward someone waiting in the distance.“Sure, I’ve never read this one before.”
I open the book.
Felix props himself on Mae’s shelf beside me.I feel the weight of something on my head and reach up without thinking.
A plastic princess crown.
“Obviously,” Felix says and pushes the stroller back and forth.
I start to read.
I do the voices.
I turn a page.
I continue to read.
Then the door opens, bringing with it a gust of fresh spring air.
I glance up, expecting to see a kid who is late to join us, but that’s not what I find.
Easton is in the doorway.
Behind him, Decker, Hayes, and Foster file through the door in a single line, and none of them go to their wives or fiancées.Instead, they pull their phones out of their pockets.
My stomach drops.
Monroe whispers something to Hazel that’s not quite a whisper.Her smile takes up her entire face.
