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“Happy Thanksgiving.”

He had nearly forgotten the next day was the holiday. “Same to you all,” he said then made his way out with Kodi limping along beside him.

When he stepped off the porch, the cold hit him full in the face, sharp enough to make everything feel brittle. Kodi hobbled beside him, tail low but steady. As they walked back to his grandfather’s house, his mind replayed the past hour.

Images of Hannah flashed through his mind like a broken reel. Smiling at the children. Petting his dog. Touching his skin as she tended to him with fingers that trembled.

And older images. A younger Hannah laughing with him as they played touch football with friends. Snuggling with him while watching a favorite movie.

Kissing him until he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, lost to anything but her.

The hour with Hannah seemed to have unlatched a door he had been careful to keep shut at all times.

He had thought those memories were buried under years of distance and habit. Now they seemed to flood him with an ache of longing for a time he could never recapture.

He tightened his grip on Kodi’s leash.

He didn’t know how to be around her without the past intruding, didn’t know whether to brace for more of the same ache or to try, cautiously, for something different.

Chapter 7

The house fell quiet after Wes and his dog left. Hannah inhaled, feeling as if she could finally take a full breath again, for the first time since he arrived at her house.

“I wish you had a dog,” Carter said, his voice wistful.

“I’m sorry. I do have a couple of cats. Ludwig and Elise.”

“Those are funny names,” his sister said.

“I know,” she agreed. “They can be a little shy but I’m sure as soon as they’re used to you, they will love you. They adore my niece, Lydia.”

“I know Lydia,” Carter said. “She’s in my class sometimes. She’s funny.”

Warmth spread through her chest. She had always instinctively liked the two children. In her occasional interactions with them through their mother, she found them sweet natured and warmhearted, but Carter’s words confirmed it. Anyone who loved her niece was okay in her book. “You’re right. She is hilarious. I’m sure you’ll see her plenty while you’re staying with me. In fact, we’ll see her tomorrow when you and your mom come for Thanksgiving at my parents’ house.”

“Lydia will be there?” Carter asked eagerly.

“She will. Lydia’s mom is my twin sister.”

“Do you look the same?” Riley asked, looking intrigued.

“We’re identical twins so people say we do. I don’t see it as much. Holly is much prettier than I am.”

Hannah said this partly because she truly felt that way and partly to put the children at ease.

“I bet she’s not,” Riley said. “You’re super pretty.”

Hannah smiled, touched by the girl’s compliment. “Thank you.”

Morgan, who had been quietly observing, chimed in, “I agree with Riley. You and Holly are both beautiful in your own ways.”

Hannah smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell her you said so. Now, should we check out your rooms?”

“Okay,” Riley said, looking nervous suddenly, as if the reality of moving in with a virtual stranger was suddenly just hitting her.

“I see you brought some things,” Hannah said, pointing to the boxes the children had brought. “I can help you take them to your rooms if you want.”

Each child picked up a box and followed her down the hallway. Morgan came as well, her eyes taking in every detail of the house as if trying to memorize where her children would be staying without her for the next few months.