Page 111 of Sycamore Circle

Then, while the medical personnel chatted with each other, Bo walked beside Joy. Smiling whenever she glanced his way.

Nothing more needed to be said.

Joy had survived, Chloe had trusted him enough to reach out, and he and Joy loved each other. Everything was going to be okay.

EPILOGUE

one year later

It was a quarter past two. Ignoring the women congregating in the kitchen—and his wife’s knowing look—Bo strode toward the stairs. Taking a moment, he listened for the telltale sprinting of a seventeen-year-old girl.

Crickets.

Obviously, it was time to get involved. Lifting his chin, he called up the stairs. “Girl, if you don’t get a move on, you’re gonna be late!”

He heard a thump... and then her door open. “I won’t be late, Bo!”

“Your dictator dance teacher is gonna get mad if you waltz in after three. You know she will.”

“Hold on. I’m looking for my keys!”

Hearing the first bit of panic in her voice, Bo settled in. At least now he had something to do instead of fret about the time. Never in his wildest dreams would he have believed that he’d ever worry about getting on a wiry, old-lady ballerina’s bad side. He did though. She scared the crap out of him.

More importantly, he’d never imagined that he would do just about anything to make a teenage girl happy. Even if it meant watching the clock so she didn’t have to.

Or finding her car keys yet again.

He walked toward the front door, to the table that used to be spotless before his girls moved in.

Nope, not a key to be found. He knelt down to sort through the pile of shoes Chloe tossed at the bottom of his coat closet. Just last week, he’d found her keys under a pair of tan flats.

Picking up her Uggs, her old Nikes, and some kind of expensive flip-flops, he felt around on the hardwood. No keys there, either.

Chloe appeared on the landing, full-blown panic on her face. “Bo, could you help me find my keys?”

“Already on it. Come on down.”

Half dragging her dance bag—which looked as if it weighed as much as she did, she hurried down the stairs. Her hair was slicked up into a bun and she had on a full face of makeup. She was ready for her big performance.

Almost.

“What am I gonna do? Miss Diamanté is going to kill me if I’m late!”

“She’s not going to yet.” He grabbed hold of her bag. “Come on, sugar. Let’s look in the kitchen and the laundry room.”

“That’s it! I tossed the keys on the washing machine last night when Mom told me to take care of the laundry.” She winced. “Bo, how come I always lose those keys?”

“I don’t know. You never lose sight of your phone, that’s for sure. Come on. Come get those keys and tell your mother goodbye.”

She paused. “Do I have to? Maybe I could text Mom from the car.”

“Nope.”

“Bo, all those ladies are going to want to talk.”

“Trust me, I’ll get you out of here on time.” He lowered his voice. “Now, you go give your momma a hug. She’ll be sad if you don’t and I don’t want her sad.”

She hurried into the kitchen where Joy, Joy’s sister Alice, his two sisters Carrie and Janie, and both his momma and Joy’s all were. Joy also happened to be holding a set of keys.

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