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Kiera turned to face her, holding a towel in her hands. "You’re so good with them."

Izzy hesitated before answering, her throat tight with emotion. "I didn’t expect to feel so, um… It was really easy to hang out with them."

Kiera took a step forward, closing the distance between them.

For a heartbeat, Izzy thought Kiera might kiss her, but instead, Kiera reached out, brushing a loose strand of hair behind Izzy’s ear. The tenderness of the gesture made Izzy’s breath catch.

Eliza's voice, calling from the hall, interrupted them before either could speak. "Mama, Quinn stole my blanket!"

"Duty calls." Kiera’s soft laugh made Izzy’s insides swirl with affection and tenderness.

Izzy watched her disappear down the hallway, heart pounding, realizing that she wasn’t just falling for Kiera. She was falling for everything that came with her — the girls, the chaos, the laughter. All of it.

When Kiera returned downstairs, they curled up on the couch together, watching a mindless sitcom. Halfway through the episode, Kiera rested her head on Izzy’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry for what I said yesterday morning,” Izzy said finally, taking an unsteady breath. “I panicked, and I should have listened to your concerns so we could talk through it instead of acting like they weren’t important.”

“And I think I could be more realistic about what it truly means for you to consider being with me. It’s not just me you’resigning up for. I’m a package deal, you know?” Kiera said. “We can take our time, if you want to figure some things out.”

Izzy just reached out, squeezing Kiera’s hand gently. "I’m ready for the next step when you are. I love you, Kiera.”

Kiera’s eyes stayed locked on hers for a moment. Izzy held the silence like a breath, waiting for it to shift into something — a word, a nod, even just the softyes, I love you, tooshe was hoping for. But Kiera didn’t say anything. Just looked at her, eyes wide and unreadable. And that look — thatnot knowing— dug in deeper than any spoken rejection might have.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull her hand back. She just nodded like she understood, even if she didn’t yet.

Because this was always the risk, wasn’t it? Wanting someone who was still figuring out if they could want you back.

Her stomach twisted, but she kept her smile gentle, careful. She’d meant what she said — shewasready. But now, she had to accept that maybe Kiera wasn’t. Maybe she never would be. And Izzy would have to decide what to do with that truth — how much she was willing to wait, and how long she could sit in uncertainty without losing herself in it.

CHAPTER 25

Kiera

Kiera steppedout of the middle school and into the mid-May afternoon warmth, the door swinging shut behind her with a quiet click. Her heart was still thudding from the interview — not because it had gone badly, but because it hadn’t. The principal had been kind, engaged. The questions had felt like real conversations. For the first time in what felt like forever, Kiera had walked into a school and imagined herself there — standing in front of a classroom, her girls just a few blocks away, the rhythm of a life she could actually see unfolding.

And that scared the hell out of her.

She crossed the parking lot slowly, keys in hand but not unlocking the car just yet. It would be so easy to want this too much. To picture school supplies stacked in the front hallway. To imagine her girls growing up with the same neighborhood routes, the same familiar routines. Even without Izzy in the picture, it felt possible. It felt steady. Real.

But then came the flickers of doubt, just behind the hope. What if she got the offer and Izzy didn’t want this after all? Whatif Izzy said she was ready for the chaos — for the girls, the co-parenting schedules, the stress — but then realized it was too much?

And what ifshewasn’t ready? What if this whole thing with Izzy was just a moment, a break in the current before everything returned to normal? Kiera had been the one to put on the brakes before. Could she trust herself to say yes now, even if every piece of her still felt mid-recovery?

Izzy had said she loved her. And Kiera had heard it —reallyheard it. But she'd stayed silent, not out of doubt, exactly, but out of fear. Because what if she said it back and then took a job somewhere else? What if she made the wrong choice again, for herself and everyone else?

The truth was, she didn’t want to go back to Nebraska. Not really. But staying meant choosing uncertainty — professionally, emotionally, in every way. She would be asking Izzy to mean what she said. To show up. To share a life that wasn’t always convenient or easy.

She would have to show up, too.

She opened the car door and sat for a long moment before starting the ignition, the buzz of the cicadas filling the silence around her. Maybe she wasn’t ready to say everything out loud yet. But she was here. She was still trying.

For now, being honest with herself — even quietly — would have to count for something.

The girls’squeals of delight from the backseat made Kiera smile as she parked the car in front of her parents’ house, the full moon casting silver light across the yard. The girls were nearly vibrating with excitement in the back seat, clutching their overnight bags with gleaming anticipation. They’d been begging to stay with Grandma and Grandpa again, even though it hadonly been two days since they’d seen one another. As soon as the car stopped, they scrambled out, racing toward the coop with excited shrieks. Hard to compete with the flock.

Kiera watched them before stepping out, stretching her sore muscles from the long day. Not just physical, but a profound exhaustion settled in; the weight of unsaid things, unfinished matters, heavy on her soul.

Her parents were in the yard, standing barefoot in the damp grass, arms stretched skyward, their crystals glinting in the moonlight.