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second of it. While Romi worked at the store, she’d scaled back her hours

so that she could do more volunteer work with theater and local

productions, which was her first love.

Amelia was very intrigued by theater and Romi urged her to get into the

drama club at her new school. Amelia did, and for months she’d come

home chattering excitedly about the play they were putting on. Kiera and

Romi had been counting down the days until they’d get to see Amelia on

stage. Kiera found it hard to contain her excitement, which bordered on

nervousness. She knew Romi was even more excited.

“I can’t believe it’s here already.” Kiera sighed happily. “I feel like we’ve

been waiting years for this. She’s so excited.”

“I hope she continues on with it. Theater is such a wonderful experience.

But it’s okay if she doesn’t.” Romi was always like that. So supportive.

Whatever the girls were going through, she was always there.

It had been her idea to bring the girls into the store on the weekends or

bring them on picks. They loved it. They loved sorting through the treasures

and took to it like naturals. It made Kiera’s heart swell with pride to see her

daughters enjoying something that she herself loved.

“I was thinking that once the school year is over, we should go

somewhere amazing for the summer. Or for one of the breaks. The four of

us. I’m not sure where yet, but I know you’ll probably come up with

something awesome.”

“Me?” Kiera laughed. She went back to stirring waffle batter, but her

heart was full to bursting. Romi trusted her so completely that it still floored

her.

“Okay. We can come up with it together. But do you think we could get

the time off?”

“Of course. It helps when you know the owner.”

Romi grinned. She leaned in for a kiss that wasn’t chaste or brief. Even

after two years it still made Kiera’s head spin. She wrapped her arms