Page 56 of More Than Falling in Love

“Hi.”Her smile doesn’t fade, but she crosses her arms and looks at Mason.“Is this your mom?”

Kent stills.“Mason’s mom—”

“She’s in heaven.With Uncle Keith.”Mason slips his hand in mine and gives it a squeeze.“Do you like my classroom?”

“I love it.Miss Rutgers, it looks fabulous.”

“Thanks.Mason, you can put your bag over there, then find your seat.”She keeps her focus on me.“It was nice to meet both of you.”

“Good to meet you too.”Kent keeps his hand glued to my back as he leads me out of the room, down the hall, and out of the building.“Now I’m doubly glad you came.She kept touching me.”

“The day we met, I did the same thing.I didn’t know it bothered you.”

He pulls open the truck door.“It doesn’t when you do it.”

As I buckle in, I get the message I’ve been waiting on.

Sarah:Press release is finalized.News will be out in an hour.

I won’t have a better opportunity to talk to Kent than this.“So, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to keep it under wraps for an hour or so.”

He turns out of the lot.“Okay.”

“My company is being sold.I’m getting a huge check.The press release goes out in an hour, but this is what I couldn’t discuss before.”

He turns into a parking lot and stops.“That’s wonderful.What’s next?Are you looking for another job?”

“As part of the sale, I have to stay on for a year.So there won’t be any big changes right now.”

“Oh.”And there is the disappointment I half expected.“I’m really happy for you, Poppy.I bet your dad is thrilled for you.”

“I haven’t told him yet.”

Kent clutches my hand.“He’s so proud of you.Want me to drive you to Jeffrey’s so you can talk to your dad?”

“Sure.Then I’m headed back to town to meet Tandy for lunch.”

His eyes narrow.“Tandy?She’s the writer who hounds us about posing with our shirts off.”

“Has she ever asked you?”I need to pay more attention to her covers.

“No but only because I make myself scarce when she comes around.”He shifts into gear.“Nobody wants to see me shirtless.”

I know for an absolute fact he’s wrong about that.

Tandy is waitingwhen I arrive at the restaurant.“Order.Lunch is on me.”

We get our food and settle at a spot far away from other people.But the tables are shared, and seats will fill in as it gets busier.At least we’ll have a few minutes of privacy.

I eat a bite of brisket and sigh.“This is so good.”

“The best around, but we don’t spread that around too much.We don’t want them running out of brisket or anything horrible like that.”She sips her tea.“It looks like things are going well for you.”

“So yes, kind of.And I’ve been thinking about what you said.A lot.But I need to know how you focused on your career and made the soul-tugging go away.”

“Still afraid?”

“No.But it’s not meant to be.We’re friends.That’s all.”

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