“Fucking small towns.”
“It wasn’t her fault. She was just trying to calm me down and then I knew that she knew something, and I made her tell me after Raven left.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That you went up to the firehouse to… check an item off your list last night.”
“Fudging popsicles.”
“I want a Fudgsicle!” Levi cries.
“Of course that’s the part of our conversation he hears.”
“Can I have a Fudgsicle, Mama?” Micah asks.
I sigh. “You can each have one Fudgsicle, just eat them in the kitchen over the counter.” I turn back to Summer. “That’ll buy us a few minutes.”
“So it’s true? You and the firefighter hottie?”
I nod, unwilling to share more.
Summer keeps her squealing to a minimum. “Did you see anyone else while you were up there?”
“Nope, just Mike.”
“Oh,” she says, and I remind myself to ask her about that later. “Are you going to see him again?”
“I don’t know. I’m not looking for anything serious. I don’t want to bring someone into Micah and Levi’s lives just to have them leave.”
“What makes you think he would leave?”
“Everyone leaves. You and the girls are the only people I can count on.”
“What about your sister?”
“Her too if she lived closer.”
My sister and I didn’t have the best childhood. Our father regularly cheated on our mom, and they bickered constantly. He’d always been a yeller. They finally divorced when I was in middle school, and when my mom wanted to move to start over in Chestnut Mountain, I went with her. But my older sister stayed with my dad. She was two years away from graduating and was planning to go to a school in state for college. Even though my mom has since remarried and left Colorado, I decided to stay. And it’s in large part because of these women and the community we’ve found in one another.
Summer grips my shoulder and smiles, pulling me from my thoughts. “I’m excited for you, but I’d love to see you in a relationship if you decide that’s what you want. You deserve someone who will treat you like a queen. Maybe Mr. March is up for the job?”
“I don’t know. He seems nice enough, but he hasn’t truly seen what my boys are capable of.”
She chuckles. “They’re a handful, but they’re good kids. Try having three on your own. It’s a never-ending cycle of chaos.”
“No thanks. I’m good with my two.”
“I’m gonna head out. I left the twins in the car, and they’re liable to figure out how to hotwire it and turn it into their getaway vehicle.”
“Thanks again,” I say, pulling her into a hug.
“Seriously, though, Lucy—if you want something more with him you should go for it. You never ask us for anything, but any one of us would be happy to help with the boys more. That’s what we’re here for. I know I’d have a whole lot more grey in my hair if it weren’t for Raven and Bella helping with mine.”
“I’ll think about it.” It’s not that I don’t want the help, but I’ve just been doing everything on my own since they wereborn. And I’ve been doing everything for myself since I was a kid. I wouldn’t even knowhowto ask for help.
I walk her to the door and say goodbye, shutting it behind her. When I turn back to check on the boys, Levi is missing.
“Have you seen your brother?”
