“Dick,” he said. “Or Dad, if you want.”
The offer hit me so hard I almost forgot the question entirely.Dad.
I’d never had one of those. Not really.
Except now, maybe, I did.
“I…” I paused as my voice broke. “That would, umm. Wow.”
Tears stung at the corners of my eyes.
“If you want,” Mr. Richards—Dick—Dad?—repeated, voice low and warm and kind.
“I… could do alotworse,” I said, my own voice a little rough from the tears I was absolutelynotbursting into in the Richards’ kitchen at eight o’clock in the morning. “But, uh,” I continued, clearing my throat. “That was actually my question kind of.”
“Oh?”
“Well, I was wondering… is your name reallyDick Richards? I mean, did your parents really name you…?”
He burst into laughter. So did Cooper, a sound I loved enough not to be offended by the reaction. Even if I was confused.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said, waving his hand in apology. “No, no. It’s just that when I met the most beautiful, smartest, most unbelievably sexy woman in the entire worldandher surname was Richards…”
“Dad took Mom’s name when they married,” Cooper clarified.
That… made a lot more sense.
“You’ll get used to the sense of humor,” Cooper’s dad said. “That is, if you’re sticking around?”
I looked over at Cooper, a smile spreading over my face that I couldn’t have stopped if I’d wanted to. Iwassticking around.
The more often I thought it, the more right it felt. There was nowhere in the world I wanted to be more than in this kitchen with this family.
Except, maybe, in a little cabin with my own little family. Cooper, Benji, and me.
“I want to be wherever Cooper is,” I said. It was the surest I’d ever been of anything in my life. The first decision I really felt was all mine to make.
With a start this strong, I wasn’t sure I could ever top it.
“You know,” Cooper’s dad began. “I always wanted another?—”
“Felix!” Benji interrupted, tiny feet pounding on the kitchen floor as he ran toward me. I turned just in time for him to crash into my shins, throwing his arms around my waist and squeezing tight. “You’re back!”
My heart clenched as he looked up at me, bright eyed and excited. Then my stomach swooped as I reached out to ruffle his hair, nerves and excitement coiling around my insides until I made contact. Benji didn’t flinch, or pull away, or whatever I’d been afraid he might do. He leaned into my touch, beaming up at me.
It felt exactly right. It felt as though this was exactly what I was meant to be doing with my mornings.
Mrs. Richards followed Benji into the kitchen at a slightly more sedate pace, nodding and smiling at me as she came over to kiss her husband.
I had a vision of doing that with Cooper in thirty-odd years, when the two of us were mostly grey and Benji was the one making pancakes just like Cooper had.
It was the first time in my life I’d imagined a future that had nothing to do with ballet. I grabbed the image with both hands, tucking it away in a pocket of my heart where I was sure I wouldn’t lose it.
Avery wasnevergoing to let me live this down. I couldn’t wait to tell them about it anyway.
“Promised I would be,” I said, tugging lightly on one of Benji’s curls. “How could I miss an opportunity to see my favorite ballet dancer?”
Benji broke into one of his heart-stealing grins.
