Page 109 of Dancing in the Rain

“She got her period. For the first time.”

She stared at him. “Oh, wow.”

“Yeah. I was completely unprepared for that.”

He told her the story and about their run to the drugstore.

“I should go talk to her. Make sure she’s okay. This is a big deal.” She bit her lip. “It’s something she needs her mother for.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah. I knew I fucked it up.”

“No.” She moved toward him and patted his chest. He wanted to back away from her because if she touched him he wasn’t sure he’d be able to resist putting his hands all over her, but he was against the counter and couldn’t move. He curled his hands into fists to avoid temptation. “No, I’m sure you didn’t. I think you handled it just fine.”

“She’s probably scarred for life.”

Peyton’s lips twitched. “Let’s hope not. Be right back.”

She ran up the wide staircase to find Chloe.

Drew paced around his kitchen. What was Peyton saying to her? Probably that perfect sappy speech about her being a woman now, the things he hadn’t known to say.

She came back long moments later. When she caught his expression, she said gently, “She’s fine.”

He nodded. “Okay, good.” He blew out a long breath. “How did things go in New York?”

“Good. Mostly. You know.”

“The boss wants you back.”

“Yeah. And he’s right. I really need to get back there. I asked him to give me a month to get things organized and transition Chloe.”

His heart clenched. “A month.”

She tucked some hair behind her ear. “Yeah. That’s still going to be hard, but at least I’ve given him a time frame that we can work with, so I think that satisfied him. On the flight back I started a spreadsheet of all the things I’ll have to get done.”

He nodded, not sure he could speak.

Chloe bounded down the stairs with her backpack. “Are we going now?”

“Sure.” Peyton smiled. “Want to say thanks to Drew for helping out?”

Chloe stopped short of an eye roll but made a face. Nonetheless, she barreled over to him for a big hug. “Thanks, Drew. When are we going to seeWorld of Wizards?”

He caught Peyton’s eyebrow lift and managed to choke out some words. “I’m not sure. Need to check the schedule.”

Chloe said to Peyton, “We talked about it last night. It’s going to be so good!”

The house felt suddenly vacant after the girls had left.

His life felt vacant.

One month.

—

Drew’s somewhat cool greeting when she arrived at his place had taken Peyton aback.

Later that day she sat in the living room with her laptop while Chloe was out with friends at the mall. She had work to do and a spreadsheet of things that needed attention before she and Chloe could move to New York, but her thoughts kept drifting to Drew.

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