I’m biting into the white slice of pizza in my hand, frantically looking to make sure it’s okay.
“Go ahead. I’m glad someone actually likes it,” Bella says, pulling a chuckle from my throat.
“What about you, Vero? Do you like white pizza?”
She shakes her head. “Peppewoni.”
“Got it. Pepperoni only.”
“Did you mean it?” Bella asks between bites.
“What?”
“That you don’t mind us talking about him?”
I shake my head. “Not at all. I would be honored to get to know him too.”
“Don’t say things like that, or she won’t stop crying.”
I look at Natalie for the first time since we started this conversation, and, like Bella said, she’s wiping away a tear.
Bella and Vero talk about the pizza while they eat. Natalie and I are silently having a conversation, one where I ask if I overstepped, and she makes me feel at ease with a simple smile and a nod. I find myself dreaming this could be my new normal.
These three girls are incredible, and I can see myself falling in love with all of them.
34
RADIANT SUN BURSTING THROUGH THE CLOUDS
Here Comes The Sun by Cristina Perry
Natalie
I turnoff the main road onto a narrow gravel driveway. Just by looking at it, I can sense how this place is magical. Healing Pals appears slowly, unfolding in the background behind white fences. It sits in the middle of a wide field, a red barn softened by age, with the sun beating down on it, and what looks like a house in the middle.
I park and sit there longer than I mean to, my hands resting on the steering wheel, Bella’s face flashing through my mind the way it always does when I let myself pause and think about everything my girl has been through. Fourteen years old. Too old to be a little girl, too young to carry grief the way she’s been forced to. But she’s so resilient and brave. I want to give her the tools she needs so she can continue to heal. I hope Healing Pals is that for her.
I finally get out of the car, the air wrapping me in the smell of hay and warm earth. Before I can even find the entrance, awoman steps out onto the porch of the farmhouse-turned-office building and waves.
“Natalie?” she calls.
“Do you welcome all your new prospective parents outside?” I ask, forcing a smile as I walk toward her.
She laughs. “Only because someone has already called me three times about you coming today.”
I stop short at that. “I promise I didn’t tell him to do that.”
She smiles. “Oh, I know. But I’m excited to meet you, too. It’s like meeting a unicorn. I’ve known Holden for years and have never met a girlfriend.” She extends her hand forward. “I’m Julia,” she says, shaking my hand. Her grip is steady, reassuring, and friendly. “Welcome to Healing Pals.”
“Nice to meet you.” Girlfriend? Did he call me his girlfriend?
“Come on. I’ll show you around.” As we walk, a golden retriever ambles up and nudges my leg.
“Hi there,” I whisper.
“That’s Sunny,” Julia says. “He thinks he owns the place.”
“Oh, but you would be the cutest owner, huh?” I murmur, scratching behind his ears.
