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“Yessir,” Claire says, and pulls me toward the door.
Chapter Eight
Epilogue – Claire
Eight Months Later
Joyful screams filter into the kitchen from the backyard, accompanied by high-pitched laughter, as I unload boxes of ice pops into a cooler by my feet. It’s a hot day in late June, and all of my students are over at the house for a little end-of-the-school-year party we’re throwing for them.
It’s not the only thing we have to celebrate, though.
“How are my girls doing?” Jack asks, kissing my neck as he comes up behind me. His hand comes around to rest on my belly—which hasn’t actually grown at all yet, since it’s still so early, but I love the gesture all the same.
“Good,” I say. “How are you? The kids driving you crazy?”
“Not in the least. In fact, this is making me think we need to have alotof babies, Claire. A whole house full of them, in fact.”
“Yeah?” I close the freezer door and turn around to grin at him. “And who’s going to look after our houseful of kids?”
“Details, schmetails,” Jack says, and dips his head for a kiss.
The latest eight months have gone by in a whirlwind. After I told Jack that I wanted to try to make a relationship work, we started the whole long-distance-dating thing. I flew up to visit him in Portland, and he flew down again to see me. It didn’t take long before Jack brought up the idea again of him moving down, though, and that time, I took his suggestion more seriously.
Jack gave his notice to the school board a few weeks later—it was time for him to move on, anyway, he insisted—and once he moved down here, he started working on making his dream of running a non-profit a reality. First, though, he proposed to me—on one of our late-night walks that we’d gotten into the habit of taking—to which I immediately, joyfully, said yes.
Now, six months later, we’re married with a little one on the way.
Our kiss is interrupted by light knocking on the back door. Jack and I break from the kiss to see the mom of one of my students nervously poking her head in.
“Uh, Claire?” she says. “I think your neighbor’s a bit annoyed with all the noise.”
Jack and I exchange a knowing look. Our next door neighbor, Ethan, is a total grump. He’s not even that old—he’s around fifty, I think—but he acts like he’s eighty.
“I’ll take this one,” Jack says.
“No, no, I will,” I say. “You dealt with him last time. I’ll talk to him. Bring the ice pops out to the kids for me?”
“Whatever you want, babe.” He gives me a quick peck on the cheek.
I step outside and grin at all the kids as I cut across the yard and head next door to talk to Ethan. I find him crouched down in his yard, pulling up weeds from his side of the fence.
“Hi, Ethan,” I say.
“Claire.” He stands, tosses some uprooted weeds aside, and sighs. “Is that party of yours going to go on all afternoon?”
“Nope. Just an hour or so longer.” I offer him a gentle smile. “I’m sorry if the noise is bothering you. Is there anything we can do to make it up to you? Anything you need help with?”
Ethan sighs again. “No.”
“Well, we owe you one. And the next time we throw a party, we’ll be sure to give you a heads up. Again, sorry about the noise.” I smile again. “The kids are just having fun. End of the school year and all.”
Ethan rubs the back of his neck, then nods. His expression softens a little.
“All right,” he grumbles. “Thanks.”
It’s not much, but it’s something.
I head back over to our side of the fence to find the kids practically mobbing Jack as he holds the cooler full of ice pops. Laughing, I wait until they finish claiming their treats before walking up to Jack.
