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“Thank you,” I say, softly.
“For what? I didn’t do anything.”
“For being so understanding. For letting me cry all over you. For raising two wonderful boys. For the cookies. Should I keep going?”
Amy’s smile is wistful. “You’re welcome, Claire. I just wish you would’ve talked to me about it sooner.”
“Trust me, I do, too.”
“Mom, I won!”
We turn to see Marcus running toward us with a plastic bag in his hand. The bag is full of water, and there’s a tiny goldfish inside.
“Great,” Amy mumbles, plastering on a smile when Marcus gets to us. “That’s so exciting, honey. What are we going to name him?”
“Nemo,” he says, excitedly.
“You can’t name him Nemo,” Troy argues.
“Why not? He’s my fish.”
“They don’t stop,” Amy says as her boys fight over naming the fish. “It’s like this twenty-four-seven. Bickering and fighting all day long.”
“But you wouldn’t have it any other way,” I add.
She points at me. “You’re right, I wouldn’t. We better get going.”
“That’s right,” I say, crouching down in front of the twins. “You have school tomorrow.”
Marcus frowns, and Troy smiles. “I read two books after school today so I can take an accelerated reader test tomorrow.”
“Show off,” Marcus mumbles.
I laugh, noticing that the ache I normally get in my chest when I interact with the b
oys is gone. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.” I stand up and wave goodbye to Amy and the kids as they walk away.
33
Claire
“There is nothing sexier than the smile on your face right now,” Trevor whispers, wrapping his arms around me from behind. He’s still holding my cotton candy and lemon shake-up, and I lean forward to take a sip.
“And I’m guessing by that smile that everything went better than you expected it to.”
Placing my hands on top of his arms, I hold him to me. “It went great. She wasn’t at all mad, and you were right; as I was talking to her about it, I felt like I was letting it go. I think it’s always going to bother me, but I definitely feel lighter about the situation.”
“I’m so proud of you.”
Turning in Trevor’s arms, I smile up at him. “I’m proud of me too. We should celebrate. What do you want to do next?”
“I figured you’d want to get home at a decent time since I kept you up late last night and you have to work tomorrow.”
“I’m not tired, and this is the best first date I’ve ever had. I don’t want it to end.”
“Okay…” Trevor looks over my shoulder and grins. “How about we dance?”
“I love to dance.”
