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Andi sighs. “Do the trash cans have smiley faces?”

“Of course they do,” Nora tells her.

I look up at Lawson.

He looks so excited to show me whatever he has in mind, and honestly, I really want to see it. “Okay. I guess I’m free.”

“Great. Before I do more with it, I wanted to be sure you like it.”

“I’ll meet you out front in a minute.”

“Okay.” He lifts a hand and waves to the other women. “See you later, ladies. Thanks, Nora.”

As soon as the door bumps shut behind him, I get a chorus of “Ooooohhhhh.”

“What?” I ask as I go to retrieve my purse and jacket. But I can feel how huge my grin is.

“That boy likes you,” Astrid says.

Everly nods. “He really liked that journal page.”

My hands fly up to my cheeks. “Oh my God,” I say. “He doesn’t know it’s me.”

“Then you’d better tell him quick,” Everly says. “It’ll make his day to find out that the dirty journal came from the woman he has a big crush on.”

I stop. “You…think he has a crush on me?”

“Go on,” Nora says, nudging me toward the door. “It looks like stalking Lawson just got a whole lot easier.”

I pull her in for a little hug. “Thank you for understanding about the class.”

She squeezes me. “I just want you to be happy. You do so much for everyone else. If you have a chance to do something you really love like this? I am behind you one thousand percent. And I am so thrilled that this guy is nudging you to do this.”

I pull back. “Yeah, he is. I don’t get it.”

She gives me a smile. “Oh, you will. Trust me, you will.”

CHAPTER 14

LAWSON

“Where are we going?” Sutton asks, as I help her up into the passenger seat of my truck parked at the curb outside of City Hall.

I feel a little bad, taking her away from lunch with her friends, but I am too excited to feel overly guilty.

“I think I want it to be a surprise,” I tell her.

I can tell that she likes this. The stupid little ache near my heart that started when I realized Sutton would happily make her dance lessons part of the town's agenda and never take credit for all of the extra learning she’s doing about adaptive dance and the heart she’s putting into it now intensifies.

She was completely ready to let Nora take over the planning and organization, and I’m so grateful that Nora Delaune is exactly who I think she is. She might not have realized that Sutton wanted and needed to teach dance lessons that were all her own, but once she saw the opportunity and understood that Sutton was excited about it, she did exactly what I expected her to do—she not only gave her blessing, she encouraged it.

It’s not a long drive, and I pull up at the end of the lane and shift the truck into park, looking over to see her wide, curious gaze go from the scene outside the window to me.

“Is this George Perkins' place?

“Have you been here before?”

She shakes her head. “Not beyond this point, but I know this place belongs to him.”