Page 91 of Heartbreak Hill

“She did?” Lynnea looked at her flowers and then held her arm up for her mom to inspect. “Look, Mommy. Weid did this.”

“They’re so pretty. Just like you.”

“Reuben got one for Gemma, right?” Grayson asked as he stood. Nadia nodded. He stepped forward and gave her a one-armed hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too. Thank you for doing this.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he told her. “I want to do this.” He left out the part where heneededto do this to make his heart feel whole.

Reuben came up from the basement and greeted Grayson. He was dressed in a gray suit with a gray tie. Grayson was about to ask where Gemma was when she started down the stairs dressed in a pale-pink dress with her auburn hair loosely braided. She looked identical to Nadia, and for a moment all Grayson could do was stare and remember the girl he’d dated in high school.

“Hi, Grayson,” Gemma said, pulling him from his thoughts.

“Hi, Gemma. You look very pretty tonight.”

“Grayson called me ‘beautiful,’” Lynnea said as she stuck her tongue out at her sister. Nadia’s eyes widened.

She grabbed Lynnea’s shoulder and turned her toward her. “Stop that, or you’re not going,” she told her. “You promised to be good, and this isn’t how a young lady is supposed to act. Apologize to your sister.”

“Sorry, Gemma.”

Nadia shook her head. “Sorry about that,” she said to Grayson and Reuben. “She’s ...” Nadia inhaled. “As Rafe would say, ‘possessed by a demon.’”

“I am,” Lynnea said, nodding enthusiastically at Grayson.

“It’s because she watches stupid movies,” Gemma said as she rolled her eyes.

“Okay, well, how about we keep the demons locked up for the night so we can enjoy ourselves,” Reuben said. He picked up the box on the side table, opened it, and took the corsage out. Gemma held her arm out as if she’d done this a million times. Grayson noted that next year, he’d make sure the corsages matched. He saw Nadia turn Lynnea away before she could say something about how hers had two flowers and Gemma’s only had one. Parenting was hard, and he didn’t envy Nadia one bit for having to do it alone. For his part, he’d try to ease the burden as much as he could or was allowed.

Grayson insisted that Nadia take pictures of them, as well as of her and the girls. She refused at first, saying she wasn’t dressed for photos, but Grayson and Reuben wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“I think you should print one or two of these,” Reuben told his sister. “Frame them and give one to Mom and Dad. They’d like it.”

Nadia looked at her phone. “I think I’ll print one now and take it over to Rafe’s niche. I’d like him to have it, to show him we’re doing okay.”

Reuben kissed his sister on the cheek and told the girls to give their mom a hug, and then he and Grayson ushered the girls outside to the car, grabbing their booster seats from the porch.

After Grayson had put Lynnea’s booster seat in, he held his hand out for her to grip while she got into the back seat. He helped her fix her dress before she sat down and then reached over to make sure she was buckled in before he shut her door. Reuben did the same for Gemma.

Grayson drove them to McDonald’s. Not ideal for him, but he wanted to make sure the girls had the night they wanted. He ordered a salad. It wasn’t as tasty as it would’ve been from a different place, but he smiled, laughed, and ate every bite. Thankful no one questioned his odd order. All Reuben said was “I’m not a fan of this stuff either.”

Once the girls’ tummies were full of nuggets, the four of them headed to the gym at the elementary school. It had been set up like prom, complete with balloon arches, streamers, and a DJ in the corner. A photographer was taking photos with a custom backdrop. Grayson and Lynnea posed for their photo, and then, at his suggestion, the girls took one with Reuben and then by themselves. If anything, Nadia could use the picture for their holiday card or something. Or he could take it and mess around with it, adding Rafe to the background. Digital arts were his specialty, but he wasn’t sure how Nadia would feel about it.

Lynnea and Grayson hit the dance floor. He twirled her around once, causing a fit of giggles, and then she spun around and around as fast as she could, to show him how the tulle of her dress fluffed out when she went in circles. She stopped and almost toppled over frombeing dizzy. Grayson caught her and told her to put her feet on his. He held her hands and waited, feeling very little pressure. She was light as a feather and wouldn’t hurt him. With her settled, he began swaying to the music.

When the song changed, she stepped off and started busting a move on the dance floor. Grayson tried to keep up with his own moves—anything to keep her smiling.

“This is so fun,” she yelled over the music. “Can you come next time?” she asked him minutes into the dance.

“Of course.”

After a couple of times around the room, Grayson danced with Gemma. She copied her sister and put her feet on his, and he moved them around the dance floor. As the night wore on, Lynnea became tired. For their last dance, Grayson picked her up and held her while they danced. All night long, his heart beat in double time. This was where he was meant to be.

“Thank you,” she said groggily.

“You’re welcome, Lynnea.”

On the way home, they stopped for ice cream; even though Lynnea was barely awake, she was adamant that she could eat an ice cream cone. By the time he’d pulled up to the curb, Lynnea had fallen asleep. Nadia greeted them at the door and led the way to her bedroom.

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