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My smile only grew wider. “Wouldn’t our guests want to bring their coats up to their rooms?”

“Good point,” she said. “I knew I needed to run it by you.”

The sound of a toilet flushing came through the phone, and I said, “Are you working in your bathroom?”

“Needed some privacy from the kids, you know?”

“Sure,” I replied.

“Thanks for talking that over with me,” she said.

“Of course. If you have any more ideas... I’m here.”

She was quiet for a long moment before she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

36

Farrah

Mia was disappointed when I came home at nine with only a business card to show for my “date.”

But I wasn’t. Pascale and I had decent conversation, and he told me he’d connect me to anyone he knew who needed an interior designer. The evening was exactly what it needed to be.

And hearing Gage’s voice on the other end of the phone? It was a balm to my soul that I didn’t know I needed. And that scared me, because he’d been very clear about what he wanted from me. What if I told him how I felt, and he ended things? What if he didn’t end our casual fling, but couldn’t commit to the kind of relationship I wanted? Would it be too painful for me to continue?

All the worries and fears swirled through the back of my mind that night and the next morning as I helped the kids get ready for the drive to Austin.

We packed all of their things into the minivan, and on the way, I tried not to cry at how much I’d miss them while they were gone. I realized that in the last several months, we’d made a home here in Dallas. We had a rhythm, a routine, that worked for us.

And being away from them? It would feel like missing a limb.

Cora, Andrew and I played I Spy and road sign ABC most of the way while Levi sat up front, managing the playlist and texting on his phone.

“Who are you talking to?” I asked, trying to make conversation between games.

“Alyssa,” he said, not looking at me.

A girl?Be cool, Farrah. “Oh... is she a friend from school?”I think that was okay?

“Yeah.”

Gosh. I wished I could get more than one-word answers out of him. “How did you meet her?”

“Chemistry.”

I let out a small laugh at the irony.

“What’s funny?” Levi asked.

There was two words. One more than usual. “Your father and I met in a chemistry lab second semester of freshman year at Upton. He accidentally poured acid on my lab coat, and we had to use the emergency shower in the classroom to make sure I wouldn’t get a chemical burn.”

“Gross!” Levi said. “You had to shower in front of everyone?”

I laughed. “I was fully clothed. And it turned out fine. We ended up with you.”

The tips of his ears turned pink.