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“No running!” I called uselessly after her, sighing when she took a flying leap into his arms.
Abuela just laughed. “She’s not afraid, is she?”
“Not of anything, ever.”
“Good. She’ll go far with that gene. I’d say it was our family trait, but I know yours well enough to know she was destined to get what she wanted out of life. The town loves her too. I don’t think anybody leaves home without candy in their pocket for her anymore.”
“Her dentist will be thrilled,” I said with a smile. “How are you feeling?”
She scoffed, rolled her eyes. “Mercedes won’t let me do nada without her. I love her, but I don’t like being told what to do.”
“Who, you? No.”
She laughed again, that lovely, raspy sound. “Y tú. Bastian makes good choices.”
Marnie’s face popped into mind. “Maybe not always.”
Abuela bobbled her head. “Maybe not good, but right. He needed Marnie. Mercedes needed Marnie. But … she wanted something she couldn’t have. Or maybe there was another reason, no entiendo. I just know God sent her to us when we needed her.”
“You love her.”
“Sí, we all love her. But that doesn’t mean she was forever.” She shifted her weight, her dark eyes sharp with knowledge, her smile that of a fortune teller. “Mira, cariño—everything that happens to us, every good, every bad, is a gift. We can learn, or we can fight. Sometimes one is the other. And sometimes, what we think is forever is just another lesson. Pero learning, hurting, surviving brings us closer to the love and joy we spend life looking for. No, Marnie wasn’t forever. God had other plans for her and for Bastian, plans even Bastian didn’t know about.” She nodded toward him and Priscilla before meeting my eyes again. “Maybe more he still doesn’t know. Or maybe he does.”
“It’d be nice if things were simpler.”
“But that is life, no? If it’s easy, you’re spoiled, cruel. You expect everything and work for nothing. This? This is how we learn to be kind. To love. Otherwise, you love only yourself, and that’s no life to live. So entiendo es complicado. Pero, I promise—it is right. You and Bastian are where you are supposed to be. So learn from each other.” With a smile, she patted my hand, but her eyes cut behind me.
“Mama,” Priscilla called.
“Pres—can you come get her?” Sebastian said.
“Yeah,” I answered, picking up her towel before heading to the edge of the pool where she waited with her arms up. “All right, come here, squirt,” I said, reaching for her. But in a graceful feat of skill, Sebastian tossed Priscilla to Wyatt, caught me by the wrist, and yanked.
With a scream, I plunked into the pool, fully clothed. With the full intent to beat the shit out of Sebastian, I kicked off the bottom and took a breath, only to be pulled back under. And I couldn’t even be mad, not when I saw the sheer happiness on his face.
And especially not when he kissed me with the sweetest brevity, leaving me wanting more.
As always.
We’re where we’re supposed to be, I told myself.
And I almost convinced myself that was enough.
15
C'mon Everybody
SEBASTIAN
“Ice cream!” Presley called in the direction of the park a couple weeks later. “Get your free ice cream! Keep it local, Lindenbach!”
The Blums, Presley, and I had just gotten set up with a table full of Keep It Local merchandise, and the Bromberg family manned a rolling ice cream cart with a pink and white umbrella on top and their parlor’s logo on the front of the chrome case.
So far, the summer was a smash.
Never could I have imagined that this summer would be graced by Presley. That I’d find out I was a father. That I’d love the job so much. Or that we’d smash Mitchell’s plans to smithereens with the efficacy of a Louisville slugger.
Dottie and Presley’s mom were chatting on a park bench while Priscilla ran the playground circuit in circles. All that was missing was a Ninja Warrior battlecry.
I’d only been a dad for a month, and I couldn’t remember what I’d done with my whole life before her. Presley said I was in the honeymoon phase, and that things would change should I ever have her full time. We hadn’t had a sleepover yet—we’d tried once, but Priscilla had never slept anywhere without Presley or her Nonnie. And though I’d have been happy to have Presley spend the night too, she was adamant about keeping us a secret from Priscilla.
Presley was adamant about a lot of things. Like her certainty that I would regret staying, and her insistence that I should go. Or her constant referral to our temporary state. I didn’t remember agreeing to any of it. But the truth was, I didn’t get the sense that she wanted me to stay.
