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Ally grinned around a fry, taking her time to answer. He didn’t deserve the easy way out. “No, but would you blame her?”

“I have mixed emotions and am probably not the most impartial person to ask.”

She gestured with a fry. “Fair.”

“I’m guessing it’s serious, between you two?”

Allison nodded, all the while shouldering that nagging feeling that she was maybe more serious than Megan was. “I think so.”

He nodded and watched his food. “I don’t love hearing that but at the same time can be happy you’re happy.” He seemed to rethink. “Well, some of the time I can. I’d like you to keep an open mind.”

“Brent.”

He grinned ruefully. “I know. I hear myself. But I have to say it. We were good together, Ally. Our lives click and we just…work.”

“I know. But there’s more to consider, you know?”

He tossed his napkin onto the table. “Yeah, I do. And I’ll take you any way I can get you, and if this is the new us, then I will work on being grateful.”

“You can do it.”

“Of course I can.” He signaled for the check. “Gotta get back to the office, and then I’m heading to the store on Lovers Lane. We have a whole reorganization in place to better suit traffic flow.”

“It’s the weekend. You’re gonna shake up the Shake ’n Bake?”

“You know it. Let’s do this again soon. You can regale me with the details of your love life, and I’ll bite my cheek. If we do it enough, maybe I’ll lose the cheek biting.”

“In spite of the biting, I’m glad we’re doing this. I would hate seeing you disappear from my life.”

“Yeah, that didn’t feel like a great option.”

“Are you thinking of dating at all?” It was strange to even say it, but it was time.

He offered a half smile. “Maybe. There’s been interest.”

She wasn’t shocked. The second he was whispered to be single, she was confident that the sharks began to circle. The women in his world had batted their eyelashes and giggled at him even when he’d been spoken for. She could only imagine the attention he received now.

She held up a hand. “Just don’t go crazy, okay? Keep your wits about you.”

“That’s what I have you for. To keep me grounded.” He signedthe credit card slip their server presented, and they were off to their respective days.

She called Megan on the drive home and left her a voice mail, wishing her an easy end to wedding weekend. She got a short and sweet text message back later that night. No call. Guess they would connect later.

She headed to school on Monday morning feeling weirdly off-balance, as if something in the universe wasn’t right. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but as the day pressed on, the feeling evaporated in favor of spelling words and interpersonal conflicts at recess. At the end of what felt like a very long workday, Allison tried to unwind on her drive home by zoning out to the radio.

When the local station returned from commercial, the DJ offered a brief local news update: “Quick update on the incident just south of town. Brent Carmichael, son of BeLeaf Foods mogul Dalton Carmichael, was transported by EMS following a serious four-wheeler accident. Tune in to our sister station WFAA for more at five…”

Ally could tell the male voice had moved on to weather, but his words stopped carrying true meaning. She stared at the radio in disbelief. Her heart stopped and started in a weird do-si-do. She covered it with her hand to try to regain some control and get her thoughts together. This was bad. She knew how dangerous those ATVs could be and had told Brent on more than one occasion that she worried for him. How could this have happened while she’d been teaching compound sentences?

She pulled over at a gas station along the highway to figure out what to do. Her fingers started to move across the screen of her phone but stopped because she wasn’t sure what to type, or who to call, or what to do. As she stared helplessly, her phone rang. Megan. Thank God. “Hi,” she said, after sliding on to the call. Megan would know what to do. She was the cool-headed type in any situation.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard but—”

She closed her eyes, willing it away. “Brent was in some kind of accident.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m calling. The news is making its way through social media. I tried to find out what I could.”

“Megan. I told him to take it easy on that thing. What did you hear?”