Page 126 of Love Lessons

“I saw Whitney today.”

My mom’s mouth fell open. “Whitney’s in town?”

“Yes,” I confirmed, shoving my hands in my back pockets. “She wanted to see Finley. But after talking with her, I decided that’s not in Finley’s best interest right now. Whitney hasn’t changed, unfortunately. She doesn’t intend to stick around. Not only that—” I stopped, taking a deep breath. “She’s pregnant.”

“Oh, good God,” my mom muttered. My dad just squinted in confusion, probably wondering why any of this was relevant to them. But I was getting there.

“And I know she lives several states away, but this is a small town. People have seen her this weekend, and people talk. Word’s going to get out. I would like to shield this piece of information from Finley as long as I can.”

“She’s going to hear it somewhere, Mase.”

My mom wasn’t wrong. “I know. But it’s too soon. She’s still healing from what Whitney already put her through. I just—I need you guys to support me in this. If you hear anyone mention it in front of her, shut the conversation down immediately. Please.”

“Wouldn’t you rather tell her now and get it over with?” my mom asked. “She should hear it from you before someone else spills the beans.”

“The boy’s right, Christine,” my dad interjected. My mom and I turned to him in surprise. “This will destroy that girl. Let her be blissfully ignorant for now. She’s been through enough.”

I swallowed as my dad removed his glasses, staring up at me.

“You’ve had to handle so much as a father, things that most people could never fathom having to go through. The decisions you have to make…” He paused, looking down at the rug as he shook his head. “I don’t know how you cope with it all. I’m tremendously proud of you.”

I hadn’t realized how badly I’d needed to hear my father say those words until he’d said them. “Thank you, Dad.” He rose to his feet, reaching up to give my shoulder a hard pat as he leaned his body toward mine—the closest he’d come to hugging me in over a decade. And then he walked out of the room, leaving my mom and me to stare at each other in awe.

“Wow,” she said. “That’s the most emotion I’ve seen from that man in ages.”

“Anger’s an emotion,” I couldn’t help but remind her.

My mom laughed. “True. I agree with him though, son. You’re doing a good job. I don’t know how you haven’t snapped from all the pressure.” If she only knew how many times I’d come close. “I’m sure that teacher helps relieve some of that pressure, huh?”

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “Mom.”

She held her hands up like she’d just said something completely innocent. “I’m just sayin’. We all saw you dancing with her last night. Coincidentally, you both disappeared at the same time, too.”

“Stop,” I begged, crossing my arms against my chest. I couldn’t resist smiling, though.

“There is something there, isn’t there?”

I shrugged with one shoulder. “There might be.”

“But she is Finley’s teacher. You’re going to have to be careful with this. It’ll devastate Fin if she gets close to that woman and then the two of you split up.”

“I don’t see that happening. Kendall’s kind of the endgame for me.” I wasn’t entirely sure what I meant by that, but I felt those words in my bones. Somehow, I just knew things with Kendall would last.

“Well, hang onto her then,” my mom said as she stood up. She took a couple of steps forward and placed her palm on my cheek. “It’s your time to shine, Masey.”

In any other circumstance, I would have pulled away from her or told her off for giving me that ridiculous nickname, but this time, it was oddly comforting. “I hope so,” I said.

**

When I got downstairs, Finley had already dragged out all the red and green construction paper, as well as a package of Christmas stickers I didn’t even know we had. “You cut the strips, and I’ll staple,” she said, climbing up onto one of the barstools. I wasn’t sure this kid should be wielding a stapler, but I decided to give her a chance.

We were about a third of the way through assembling the paper chain at our kitchen counter when she announced, “I have some news to tell you.” I momentarily panicked, fearing she somehow knew about Whitney’s visit to Woodvale. But then she said, “Elijah asked me to be his girlfriend.”

I blinked a few times, unsure how to take this information. “Uh huh. And what did you say?”

“Well. It happened at recess on Friday,” she said, putting a candy cane sticker on one of the links. “He gave me an Indian bead, asked me to be his girlfriend, and then ran away before I could say yes or no.”

“And… what’s your answer gonna be?”

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