“For real?” Alissa asked, her big eyes filled with tears.
“Yes. Come find me and I’ll ask Ramon to fly over and land on your shoulder.”
“I’m glad he found his way home.”
“Me, too. Now go find your moms and have a wonderful summer.”
“Bye, Miss Weaver. See you next year.”
“See you,” Ryleigh called after them, torn between year-end elation and relief and a wave of sadness at the thought of possibly never seeing those kids again.
She started putting the desks in neat rows. She’d already packed up her personal things and taken her sub tub to her car. She’d turned in her list of maintenance requests for her room and taken the unclaimed lost and found items to the main office.
This was it, she thought, turning in a slow circle to take in the big, bright space. The end of term and possibly the last time she would stand in this school as a teacher. Yes, that was unfortunate but what about all the possibilities waiting for her? What about the next phase of her life?
“Hey, pretty lady.”
She looked up and saw Alex standing in the doorway. “What are you doing here?” she asked, pleased to see him.
“I came to get Noah. It’s his last day, too.”
The boy in question burst into the room and rushed to her, then flung his arms around her. “It’s summer! It’s summer! I can’t wait. Dad and I are making a list of all the things we want to do. When we’re finished, the three of us are going to sit down together and make plans.” He stared up at her, his eyes bright with anticipation. “Dad said we’re going to Disneyland!”
“I can’t wait,” she told him.
“Me, either.”
He ran to the door and squeezed past his dad. “I gotta say goodbye to Bodie. I’ll be right back.”
Alex moved toward her. “You okay about Disney? We’d talked before. If you’re too busy...”
“Stop.” She moved as close as she dared, but didn’t touch him. Not in public. “I want to go. Absolutely. And do the other things.”
“Yeah?” His gaze was hopeful. “Good. Us, too.”
They stared at each other, then Alex surprised her by asking, “You okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
“You’ve been quiet since you got back from your interview. I figured you had a lot to think about, but now I’m wondering if it’s something more.”
“It’s mostly the move,” she told him. “And a little of me feeling—” She paused. “I don’t know how to describe it. Restless maybe. Or unsettled.” As most of that sensation happened when she thought about him, she wasn’t going to go into more detail than that.
“Plus you haven’t told Jax about your interview.”
She stepped back and glanced away. “You can’t know that. Maybe I have.”
He chuckled. “Ryleigh, come on. You haven’t and you feel guilty about it.”
An accurate assessment of the situation. “She’s going to be mad and yell at me and I don’t want to fight with her.”
“She’s going to notice when the moving truck pulls up in front of your place. She’s your sister and she loves you.”
“Yes, but she’s also the sister who doesn’t want me to move.”
He moved close. “In the end she’ll support you because she loves you.”
“Possibly, but it’s the part between here and there I worry about.” She just didn’t have any fight in her right now. “I’ll tell her. Soon. Just not right now.”
