Page 70 of The Love In Sunsets

“Well, it’s a trickle effect. One person leaves and the others fill gaps. There are only so many of us who teach what we do.”

Kiel and his sisters knew their dad was an instructor, but they had no idea what he taught or if that was even his real job. He learned a long time ago to never ask because the answer was always the same, “It’s classified.”

“So, you’re going to move and then what?” Ciara asked. “Come home on the weekends?”

Emmett shook his head. “It’ll depend on where I’m sent. The last I heard; they’re thinking of Norfolk.”

“Virginia!” Skyla threw her hands up. “This is our senior year, Dad.”

“I know and I’m sorry.”

“This is another reason I’m putting grad school off,” Kiel said. “I can’t stomach the idea of Mom, Ciara, and Skyla being home by themselves.”

Emmett nodded. “I appreciate you, son. But I can’t ask you to put off school because of my job.”

“You didn’t ask. I’m looking at this like one of your deployments. I was the man of the house then, and I will be again until the time comes for mom to move. Besides, she’ll need help getting the house ready for the movers. Ciara and Skyla don’t need to give up their senior year to help pack up the house.”

“You’re a good son,” Leona said.

Emmett’s cell rang. He excused himself from the table and took the call in the other room. The four of them sat there, waiting. When Emmett returned, he sat down and looked at each of them, saving Kiel for last.

“Do you remember mentioning the Naval college here?”

Kiel nodded.

“I looked into it and brought it up to my CO. They’ve just told me they could finagle a position for me here, on the island, if I wanted to move here.”

“They’re going to move you here?” Leona asked.

Emmett nodded. “I’d be able to come home on the weekends and wouldn’t miss anything important.” He looked at Ciara and Skyla.

“Or,” Skyla started and then looked at Ciara. She never took her eyes off her twin. “We could move here,” she said as if seeking approval from Ciara. “That’s if you’d want to.”

“I’d move here,” Ciara added.

Skyla held Ciara’s hand, showing a united front. “I speak for us,” she said as she looked at her parents. “It’s our senior year and while we should stay in Albany, we really love it here, and we wouldn’t be so far away that we couldn’t go back and see our friends.”

“Live in Seaport? What would Kiel do?” Leona threw the two questions out without pausing.

He cleared his throat. “I’ve had a lot of time on my hands as of late. There are jobs both here and off the island. I could take a year to figure things out, and there’s a university not far from here. I can take some extra classes or something. I don’t know. What I do know is I’m not willing to waste money on more education when I don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

“And what kind of job do you think you’re going to get here?” Leona asked.

Kiel shrugged. “The hospital is hiring in the administration department. Might as well put my bachelor’s to good use. Or construction. Hell, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be a delivery driver or start some messenger service. The fact is grad school doesn’t look good to me right now.”

“You want to move here because of Eloise, right? Are you in love with her?” Leona asked.

As much as he tried to hide his smile, he couldn’t. “I don’t know, Mom. I’ve only ever been in love once. At least I thought I was in love before. With Eloise, it’s different. Better. Even though I haven’t been able to see her the way I want, I still feel every bit for her today that I did weeks ago. Those feelings aren’t going away. If what I feel from missing her is any indication, then yes, I am in love with her.”

“You should tell her,” Leona said.

“I plan on it.” He had received a text from her, inviting him and his family to the showcase. He didn’t want to tell her he’d be there because he had already talked to her aunt. Staying away was something he had a hard time doing. Even though he had seen her on the piers and docks, he did as she asked. That was until he walked by the gallery one day. The urge to see her, to hear her voice, overwhelmed him and he went in. At first, he perused the art, acting like he was a buyer. When Eloise’s aunt came up to him, he thought he had the perfect ruse, but she knew who he was.

“Kiel, right?”

He nodded.

“Eloise isn’t here. She’s working.”

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