“Mom?”
She hesitates for half a second, still visibly shaken.Then she nods.
“Pizza sounds perfect.”
“Good,” I say, rising again.“I left your keys with the principal, I’m having someone get your truck and deliver it to the house.”
“Thank you,” Kelly says, and the way she’s looking at me?Like I can right all the wrongs in this world.It’s doing something to me.Settling something wild inside of me.
I nod.And one hand settles on the back of her neck, the other on Evan’s shoulder for a moment.I give both a gentle squeeze before I guide them toward the exit.
“So,” I add casually as we start walking down the hallway, “I heard there’s a place in town that makes a pie big enough to feed a small army.”
Evan perks up.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Kelly walks beside me now, her hand slipping quietly into mine.
Her fingers are still a little cold.I squeeze them gently.
She looks up at me.That fear is still there in her eyes.But it’s fading.
Good.
“Pizza,” she says softly.
“Pizza,” I confirm.
Because right now, after a day like this?
My family deserves something good.Something delicious, familiar, and warm.
They deserve a few minutes where the world doesn’t feel so damn dangerous and we can all justbe.I can give them that.
And I will.
Because whoever scared them today?
They’re not getting another chance.
Chapter37
Kelly
Life with J.T.is fabulous.
Really, I didn’t think life could feel like this.
For so many years, I was married to a man who made affection feel like a transaction—something earned or withheld.Something that came with strings attached.
But J.T.?He loves me out loud.
Every day.
In ways big and small.
