“Ten o’clock.When the store opens.”
“I hope to see you there,” Simon said to Raven.“Thank you again for coming.”
“You’re most welcome.”She threw a dark cotton shawl over her shoulders, making her look momentarily like her namesake, and floated toward the exit.
“I’ve been thinking,” said Sarah, as they watched Raven disappear out the door.“About these kittens.”
“The Tumble Twins?”
“Yes.You said you would be willing to have Riley come over to play with your kitten if you get one.”
“I am ninety-eight percent sure I will have a kitten living at our house within the week,” he said.
She laughed out loud, causing people to turn and stare at them.Shrugging off the looks, she went on in a lowered voice.“And given that Riley is becoming a whiz at making reasonable arguments and, as you point out, may be ready to take on some responsibility, I’m leaning toward the idea as well.Though I’m only”—she held out her hand and tilted it from side to side—“sixty percent sure, if I’m honest.”
“Uh-huh.”It would help if she could move from sixty to one hundred.He suspected Riley would feel put out if Sally got a cat and she didn’t.The girl liked to win.
“If she can come up with a plan for looking after the kittens, and because our children spend a lot of time together anyway, we could make a case for adopting them.”
“Why the change of heart?”
“Guilt.”She smiled sadly.“My ex got remarried recently.”She looked up at him and pushed her long dark hair away from her face.“He and his new wife are expecting a baby next month, and I fear—no, Iknow—that Riley will not have as much of her father’s attention.The cat could be a good distraction, and if they let us each adopt a Tumble Twin, I’m sure we can come up with a workable arrangement to give the cats bonding time.I can take the kids and the cats some weekends, and for a few days when I get my annual holidays at the end of August, for example.Give you a break.”
“Actually, that could work well,” he said.“I’m taking on a grade five class next year, which means a new curriculum.I’ll have a lot of planning to do late August.”
“Well, how about we meet at the bookstore on Saturday at ten?”
“And you can tell me then if you’ve shifted to one-hundred-percent certainty,” he said.
“Oh, I think we both know the answer to that,” she said, laughing again.She quickly brought her hand to her mouth when she noticed the rest of the room was silent, waiting for the meeting to begin.
After he’d returned to his seat, he looked over at her.She was looking at him, her eyes dancing with mirth, and he found himself smiling in return.
The long summer ahead suddenly held new possibilities.He was looking forward to his new kitten, and, with luck, getting to know Sarah King better.
ChapterFour
Sarah sipped at the coffee and hoped, after she’d downed half, that it was decaf.She couldn’t afford to be awake for hours.Though the insurance agency, as she’d told Simon, followed more regular hours than her previous work as a trial lawyer, it was always busier in summer.That was when most of her colleagues took time away, leaving the agency short-staffed.
She listened to the information about the budget and voted to use the excess money in the account to upgrade the computer lab and purchase more books for the library, but all the while her attention strayed to the man on the other side of the room.Why hadn’t she noticed him before?
She scowled at herself.Of course she’d noticed him.Who wouldn’t notice a man who—by all indications—was a great dad and loved kids enough to spend his days teaching them?He wasn’t handsome in that chiseled-features-and-square-jaw sort of way, but he was a man of substance.Character.Like her father had been.A man who looked after his family.A man like she once thought Graham was.
And that was why she had written him off early in their acquaintance, she reminded herself.When he had moved to town as her marriage was breaking down, all those positive things she had loved about Graham seemed to be present in this man.And therein lay the problem.
She had once been certain about Graham too.Certain she had chosen well.Certain she understood the trajectory of her own marriage.Then one day he told her they had “grown apart,” as though their love was something that quietly thinned without either of them noticing.
She certainly hadn’t noticed.
If she had missed the signs once—missed the slow drift, the subtle retreat—how could she trust herself not to miss them again?Better to keep things clear.Contained.Predictable.
That was three years ago, and since then she’d found a new job, officially changed her marital status, and bought a new home.Thank goodness her mother had helped with the down payment, an amount she was working on returning, though her mother said that she should consider it part of her inheritance.
Mom had helped her sister too, and Lynette had no intention of paying back their mom.But then Lynette was her self-indulgent younger sister, who had always been spoiled.Always needed more help.After all, their mother hadn’t come to help Sarah when Riley was born.To be fair, her mother, Eileen King, had been working at the time, nursing her father as he fought cancer, and she had only had Riley.Not twins.So it wasn’t the same.And though Lynette, it seemed, sometimes twisted things to get her own way, Sarah couldn’t begrudge her mother going to help her.She told herself to be grateful for the help her mom had given her, not angry with her sister for needing her more right now.
Applause brought her focus back to the room and she listened to the final item on the agenda: volunteer opportunities for the following year.She should volunteer, she thought, considering that Riley was graduating to high school the following year, but there would be plenty of time to put up her hand next spring.No need to commit herself now.No need to face the fact that, at the end of next year, her daughter would be entering high school.The thought was terrifying.
She glanced again at Simon and caught him watching her.She was, unaccountably, both embarrassed to be caught in the act and thrilled that he was looking her way.She averted her eyes quickly, reminding herself that she didn’t have time for distractions.Especially not of the male variety.
