Page 66 of Romeo

That one hadn’t slipped out. I’d known exactly what I was saying. The question was whether she did.

Ma Belle: Don’t get ahead of yourself

Me: Too late.

Probably the truest thing I’d said all night.

I was miles ahead. Fiona was still deciding whether this thing between us was friendship or something else, and I’d already pictured mornings with her. Years with her. A whole damn life I had no business planning when I hadn’t even kissed her yet.

I kept most of that to myself.

Ma Belle: You’re impossible

Me: You say that like it bothers you.

Ma Belle: I haven’t decided yet

Me: Take your time, Cher. I’m not going anywhere.

That one mattered too.

I let the phone settle against my chest. I’d had weeks reminding myself to wait, as if patience meant doing nothing.

It didn’t.

It meant still being here tomorrow. And the next day. It meant letting Fiona decide how much closer she wanted to come without disappearing the first time she hesitated.

I could do that.

Even if it drove me fucking insane.

The next afternoon, I was in my office reviewing landscape designs when I realized I hadn’t heard from her.

That wasn’t unusual. She was in school, and I knew better than to expect her to spend every free second texting me. Still, Fiona usually found some point during the day to send me something. A complaint about a teacher. Something Granny had said. Some completely random question she expected an immediate answer to.

Today, there had been nothing.

I picked up my phone.

Me: You’re quiet today.

Her response came quickly.

Ma Belle: I had a meeting with the guidance counselor.

Me: Bad?

Ma Belle: Not exactly.

Me: That means yes.

This time I waited longer. Watched those incessant dots flicker as she typed.

Ma Belle: She kept asking about foster care, guardianship, and whether I have a stable home now.

My fingers tightened around the phone.

I knew pieces of her past. Josie had told me enough that first night to understand Fiona’s childhood hadn’t been easy, and Fiona occasionally dropped something into a conversation before moving on so quickly I knew better than to chase it.