“Jordan… I mean, Ms Hill, grew up with Iris.”
“Oh,” Skylar exclaims, surprised.
“Her parents died when she was fifteen,” Iris says, cautiously. “Her mother worked in my shop. She was like a daughter to me.”
“So you’re not related? She’s not really your granddaughter?”
“I was the only person she had left, and she was the only family I had.”
“Did you adopt her?”
“I became her legal guardian. Her entire life was here: her friends, the places she loved, her roots. She had just lost her parents – I’d never have let her lose everything else, too.”
“I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me.”
Is my daughter really apologising for something she didn’t even do?
“You weren’t insensitive.”
“Okay.”
“She was a great girl – like you.”
Skylar smiles a little.
“And she grew up to be a strong, beautiful woman.”
“Yeah, she’s cool.”
I smile, too, watching my daughter, who seems to comfortable and open with Iris.
“Now, let’s sit down. You two must be starving.”
“I am, to be honest,” I tell her, shamelessly.
My appetite has tripled since I moved back here.
“You go and dig in. I’ll be right there.”
I head towards the table nestled between the kitchen and the living room, where my daughter is already sitting. I put down my glass of wine, but before I can sit, there’s a knock at the door.
“Would you mind answering that, please, Niall?” Iris calls from the kitchen.
I do as she asks, reaching the front door. When I open it and find her standing in front of me, I realise that my return to this town has more than one motive. Fate – or just blind luck – has decided to give me a second chance. A chance I don’t intend to lose hold of, this time. Not for anything.
Jordan
“Ican never find my keys in this damn bag! The door downstairs was open, so…” I lift my gaze and said bag goes crashing to the floor from my hand.
“Hello, Headmistress.” His warm, mischievous smile catches me off-guard.
He bends down to collect my bag from the floor and hands it to me.
“What…what are you doing here…?”
“Iris invited me for dinner.”
“Iris…what?”
