Page 104 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

My sister looked at us like we were embarrassing and then looked up at my mom. “Were theyalwayslike this?”

A smile I hadn’t seen in a long time spread across my mom’s face. “Yes.”

Nadia tilted her head back to look at me. “For now.”

I kissed her on the head. “For always.”

EPILOGUE

Nadia

THREE MONTHS LATER

As I walkeddown the empty hallway of Firefly Elementary, there was a buzz in the air—a current of anticipation that always occurred on the final day before summer break. This was the quiet before the storm. In just a few minutes, kids would pour in, and the last day of school chaos would begin.

I had an extra pep in my step. This was the first summer I wasn’t going to be teaching summer school. I had plans, a family vacation.

Those were words I never thought I’d put together—family and vacation. After Callum’s fight, we were taking the kids on a trip. Another sentence I never thought I’d utter—kids and trip. We hadn’t decided where we were going, right now it was between the Bahamas and Hawaii. I honestly didn’t care where it was. We could be going to a motel in the desert with no WiFi or room service and live off of peanut butter and jelly, not the animals of course, the sandwiches, while playing board gamesand I wouldn’t complain. As long as I was with Callum, Chloe, and Matty, I’d be happy.

When I entered the teachers’ lounge, the same energy I felt in the hallway was even more prevalent. The electricity was palpable, as all the teachers had the finish line in their sights. It was a toss-up who was more excited for the summer break: the students or the faculty. I would argue the latter.

My work husband was seated at the round table in the corner, concentrating on his phone. His furrowed brow and pursed lips told me he was playing Wordle. Today was Friday so he had on a blue sweater vest. I kept my head down and did not make eye contact in a successful attempt to avoid last day of school small talk. I didn’t want to be asked if I was excited about the summer or for comped tickets to Callum’s fight, which was happening more frequently as the event got closer. It was all eighty percent of the people I interacted with wanted to talk about.

I had mixed emotions about the fight. As happy for him and proud of him as I was for following his heart and training as hard as he’d been training so he could step back into that cage at peak performance level, I couldn’t help being terrified for him. This was the first professional fight I would see in person. The only other bouts I’d had front-row seats to were when he was still an amateur and those had been difficult enough to watch.

When I made it to the corner table, I slid into the seat feeling a disproportionate amount of pride at my successful ninja-like entrance. Not one person stopped me to chit-chat. It was the small wins.

Amos looked up as I sat down. When he did, his face brightened. “You, my darling, are positively glowing.”

“Am I?” I smiled dreamily.

“That’s what a daily dose of vitaminDwill give you.” Amos winked as he lifted his coffee mug to cheers me.

I smiled as our ceramic cups clinked together, even though I wasn’t getting theDhe was referring to on a daily basis, more like one or two times a week. Callum had joined me in the shower this morning and given me not one, but two incredible orgasms. But this morning was not the norm.

Sexy time wasn’t easy with a teenager, an almost seven-year-old, a dog, and two cats in the house. Callum, Chloe, and Matty moved in three months ago, and it had definitely been an adjustment, but I couldn’t be happier. The three-ring circus was becoming my new normal, and I could definitely say I wasneverlonely anymore.

Although I could never, ever replace Chloe’s mom, and wasn’t actually her sister by blood, I felt like we shared a really special bond. We were both only children with moms who weren’t necessarily pillars of the community, at least in the community’s eyes. Danielle was definitely more motherly and nurturing than mine had been, for which I was happy for Chloe. But they were similar in that both our moms died after years of health struggles where we took on the responsibility of being their caretakers, she’d just had to step into that role a lot sooner than I had. And then there was the obvious similarity that neither of us knew our dads. Those weren’t the greatest things to bond over, but she’d told me, more than once, that knowing I’d gone through exactly what she had made her feel a lot less alone. I never thought I’d be grateful for my upbringing, but I could honestly say that seeing the comfort it brought Chloe, I was. I’d finally come to peace with it.

“Love looks good on you,” Amos said sincerely.

“Thanks. Oh, did you ask Bernie if he can get the time off?”

One of the only people I did want to come to the fight was Amos. I was going to have a lot of my friends there for support, but Amos was different. I never had a dad, and Amos was the most stable male figure I’d ever had in my life. In fact, he didn’tknow it but, after the fight when Callum and I had time to get engaged and plan a wedding, I was going to ask Amos to walk me down the aisle.

Amos put his hands on the table and leaned forward, and I got an instant giddy buzz. The hand-table-lean-forward meant he was about to serve some Grade-A gossip tea.

“You know they just promoted Patricia to supervisor, and the power is going to her head. She thinks she is royalty. Queen Patricia’s crown is being held up by horns, if you know what I mean. She’sdecreedthat vacation is no longer first come, first serve or has anything to do with seniority. Shesaysit’s a lottery system, but it seems all the winners of the time off lottery are from people she’s been getting gift cards, special coffees, and other such incentives from. So, no, my sweet Bernie did not get his time off, because he refused to play her game. But you know he’s a very perceptive man, he’s quiet, unassuming. People don’t notice him, so it makes it easy for him to gather information and receipts. For example, he knows what Her Royal Highness has been doin’ on her long breaks with Mr. Leonard Finley.”

“Leonard from sanitation?”

Amos nodded.

“But Patricia’s married.”

“Yes, she is, which is why she didn’t want the slideshow Bernie made sent to her husband. So, yes, my love, Bernie and I will be at the fight.”

“Oh my gosh. That is amazing! I love him so much!” I reached across the table and gave Amos a bear hug. “Can you and Bernie adopt me?”

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