Page 92 of Dancing in the Rain

Chloe’s quavery voice unlocked her squeezed-together eyes. She regarded her niece, who looked like everything she felt—miserable and frightened and alone. She held out her arms and Chloe rushed into them.

She squeezed Chloe tight, pressing her face to her shoulder, her eyes burning and her nose stinging. “You’re not alone,” she whispered.

Chloe nodded, and Peyton felt her cotton sweater dampen with tears as Chloe wept. Scalding liquid slid down her own cheeks. She fought to control her breathing, her lungs wanting to sob and gasp, but she had to hold it together. For Chloe.

Or maybe she didn’t. Maybe Chloe was strong enough to know that she was hurting, too, with a wrenching, throbbing ache that went right to her marrow.

Sara was never coming back.

God, it was almost unbearable. Too excruciating to even think. And yet…it was real.

She’d lost her sister. Chloe had lost her mother.

A huge bubble of anguish swelled in her chest and a sob escaped her lips. “Chloe,” she choked out. “Oh, Chloe. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”

Chloe wept, too, in painful, racking sobs.

“We have each other,” Peyton blubbered, beyond being able to control her emotions. “We have each other. Always. I know it hurts.” She squeezed Chloe tighter. “I know it hurts so much. But we have each other.”

Chloe sobbed more, her weeping tearing at Peyton’s heart, shredding it even more. She wanted to scream and rail and shake her fists with helpless anger. This should not have happened to this beautiful girl. This should not have happened to her amazing sister.

This should not have happened.

—

“I don’t want to go to school,” Chloe said a week later, folding her arms across her chest and frowning.

It was Sunday night, nearly two weeks after Sara had passed away. Chloe had been away from school that full two weeks, and Peyton was trying to convince her that she needed to go back.

“I know it’s hard, honey, but you need to do this.”

“I just don’t want to go. School is stupid.”

“You like school.”

“Not anymore. Everything is stupid.”

Peyton couldn’t disagree with that. She’d had a stupid conversation with her stupid boss on Friday where he’d insisted she be back at work next week. She sighed. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I know how you feel. But we have to get back to regular life.”

“People are going to be all weird. And I don’t know what to say to them.”

“What do you mean, weird?”

“Like, all uncomfortable. Even my best friends were weird when they came to the funeral. They don’t know what to say, either.”

“It’s hard for people to know what to say,” Peyton agreed. “I don’t know, either.” She blew out a breath. “But I think your classmates might surprise you.”

She’d spoken to the school principal, of course, to let them know of Sara’s passing and that Chloe wouldn’t be at school for a while, but Mrs. Cardozo had said that Chloe’s homeroom teacher would speak to the students and prepare them for Chloe’s return. And she’d spoken to her Friday and told her Chloe would be back Monday.

“Fine, I’ll go.” With attitude, Chloe stomped upstairs to get ready for bed.

It was time to get back to a regular routine, especially Chloe, who needed that. Peyton, however, wasn’t exactly sure what normal was going to look like now.

Her career and her life were in New York. Her boss was pressuring her to get back. Others had taken over a number of her clients, the ones who’d needed more immediate attention, but she still had accounts she needed to deal with. She’d been away nearly seven weeks and although there was a lot she could do working remotely, she needed face time with her staff and clients and, unhappily, Gord.

But how was she supposed to do that? She was Chloe’s legal guardian. Was she supposed to pack her up and move her to a strange city, to a strange school where she knew no one, right after she’d just lost her mother?

She moved around the quiet kitchen, putting a few last dishes in the dishwasher and turning it on, wiping the counter, rinsing out the sponge.

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