Page 11 of Before We Break

“Sorry, Auntie Cici,” she replies sheepishly.

“It’s ok. Now you know for next time.” Clio smiles affectionately at her. “Deaf is when someone’s ears work differently than yours do. It’s kind of like when you turn the volume way down on the radio. For some deaf people, sounds and voices are very quiet, and others can’t hear at all. Auggie has what are called cochlear implants that help him hear. Does anybody have any questions?”

“Why are you moving your hands like that?” the boy next to Emmy asks.

“It’s called sign language,” Clio says. “It’s how many Deaf people communicate.” She shifts her attention back to Auggie. “Why don’t you have a seat beside Emmy?”

He settles into the open spot and watches Clio with rapt attention. She goes on to explain more about ASL and how to communicate with Auggie—always face him when you’re speaking to him, don’t shout or raise your voice, and gently tap him on the shoulder to get his attention if he’s taking a hearing break. She emphasizes that Auggie’s hearing difference is just a part of who he is, like someone’s hair and eye color are just a part of who they are. When they have a decent grasp of things, she even teaches them a few signs like ‘hello’ and ‘thank you.’

I’m impressed, but I’d never tell her that.

A short while later, she sends the kids off to play and joins me at the door.

“He’s a great kid,” she says.

I mumble my agreement. “Where did you learn ASL?”

“My Aunt Penny was deaf.” She doesn’t elaborate, and I don’t ask, but I don’t miss the past tense. “You can stick around if you want, but he’s good here.”

I nod and push away from the wall. “I’ll just let him know I’m leaving.”

I find Auggie next to Emmy at a sensory table filled with colorful sand. “Hey, bud. I’m gonna get going.”

“Bye, Uncle Noah,” he says, wrapping his arms around my legs. The gesture is so unexpected that it takes me a moment to return it. An unexpected warmth spreads through me.

“Aunt Emma will be here in a few hours to pick you up, but if you need me, you tell Miss Clio, and she’ll give me a call, alright?”

“Ok.” He thrusts his hands elbow deep into the sand.

I ruffle his hair one more time and make for the door, hesitating as I watch Auggie interact with the other kids. A sudden pang of guilt stabs me somewhere in the vicinity of my heart—at least it would if I still had one. Fuck, he looks so much like Jonah.

CLIO

“You have that look again,” Callie says from behind the large mahogany desk in the Willow Valley Public Library. “What did you do this time?”

I lean across the surface and give her my most innocent eyes, knowing full well I’m anything but innocent. “Now, why would you assume I did anything?”

“Because I know you, and I know you like to poke the bear.”

“There was no poking,” I say defensively. “There may have been some… playful nudging.”

“Clio.”

“Ok, I played my music a little too loud, and he threatened to evict me.”

“And what time was this?”

I wince. “Who can say, really. Seven-ish?”

She glares at me in a stunning role reversal. If you didn’t know I was born first, you’d think Callie was the older sibling. “Ok, fine, it was like five. In my defense, he’s kind of an asshole.”

I follow her down the aisle as she pushes the cart toward the fiction section. “Clio Marsden! Even I would consider murder if you woke me up at five o’clock in the morning. You should be glad you’re only facing an eviction.” She pauses in a small alcove with a set of cozy, mismatched furniture. “You could always come stay at the ranch if he ever makes good on it, you know.”

I thumb through the pages of a bodice ripper I pilfered from the return pile, relaxing back in the armchair. “And how would Jaxon feel about that?”

“He wouldn’t mind. Jax loves you guys.”

“I think you mean Jax loves you, and he’d do anything you asked.”