Page 23 of Dancing in the Rain

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

Peyton smiled. “You’re a good mom. You can handle this.”

“You know I want you to be her guardian, right?”

“I know.”

They’d talked about this when Chloe was born. Sara, on her way to becoming a practical lawyer, had made a will that included who she wanted to be guardian in case anything happened to her, along with how she wanted funds to be held in trust and disbursed. Of course at that time, she hadn’t had much, since she was still in college, and she also hadn’t anticipated needing those arrangements this early in her life.

“You’re still okay with that?”

Peyton, too, rolled to her side so they were facing each other. “Of course I’m okay with that. I’m terrified, but I’m okay.”

“Why are you terrified?”

“I’m an aunt, not a mother. I’ll feed her junk food and let her stay up late and then she’ll be sick the next morning and miss school and flunk out and never get into college.”

Sara laughed so hard she fell onto her back and started gasping.

“Sorry, sorry,” Peyton said, regretting her joke.

Sara smiled up at the ceiling. “No, I’m sorry. For putting this on you.”

“Jesus, I’ve told you before. Don’t apologize. I love you. I love Chloe. I love hersomuch. I’ll probably screw up a lot, but I want you to know I’ll do my very, very best for her.”

“I know you will. And remember what you told me when she was little and I was scared of screwing up? You may not know what you’re doing, but as long as you do it out of love, it’ll be okay.”

Tears stung Peyton’s eyes and she, too, stared at the ceiling. “I remember.” She swallowed. “Thank you for trusting me to raise your daughter.”

“Fuck. I’m going to cry.”

“Don’t do it. Don’t you dare fucking cry.”

“Maybe we don’t cry enough, Pey. We both try to be so strong. We both hate needing someone. Maybe we should just have a good cry and get it over with.”

Peyton sucked on her bottom lip and turned her head on the pillow. “I’ve cried a lot. It hasn’t helped. And I’m afraid if I start now, I might n-never stop.”

Their eyes met and Sara’s face blurred through the tears.

“I know,” Sara whispered. “I’ve cried a lot, too.”

Peyton’s throat ached and pressure built behind her cheekbones. “This fucking sucks so bad.”

“It does. I’m dying, Peyton.”

Peyton’s nose stung. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Sara nodded slowly. “Maybe.” She paused. “I don’t really have any regrets. Other than not wearing SPF 50.”

Peyton huffed out a little laugh even though it wasn’t really funny. “That’s good.”

“I know it was stupid to have sex with a guy I didn’t even know, and it could have turned out so much worse. But I don’t regret it because it gave me Chloe. I guess I regret not finding out more about Drew so I could have found him sooner.”

“Things happen for a reason. Maybe this is the time he was meant to have a daughter. And maybe Chloe has learned a lot about being a strong, independent woman by being raised by a single mom.”

“Yes. Maybe.” She sighed. “I regret wasting time on Jeff when he didn’t love Chloe—or me—enough to be a stepdad to her. And…” She paused. “I want you to forgive me for the time I said you had thunder thighs.”

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