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"I had all the paperwork, man." He groans. "I had a lawyer friend draw it up, all it needed was her signature, but I failed Emmie."

"No, your mother's selfishness failed Emmie. You can't blame yourself for that," I remind him. "Did Emmie tell you anything about what her and Mia talked about?"

"Yeah, she did. Which was a hard conversation to have, because it was literally history repeating itself. She was doing the same thing for our mom that I did for years. She saw me getting out of there as an accomplishment."

"And it was." He doesn't look convinced. "Liam, if you hadn't gotten out of there, you might not be in a position to take care of hernow. No one knows what would have happened if you had stayed. You can't change the past, so show up for the future."

"You're right. I know you're right. I just…I don’t know how to do that. I don't know how to make her understand that I want her to be a kid. I don't want her to worry about paying bills or making sure I have the freedom to do whatever she thinks I need to do."

"I've owned Operation Fly since 2019, and I've worked with a lot of kids in very similar situations. All they want is someone to say those exact words to them. To say, ‘hey, I've got this, don't worry.’"

"And you really think that'll get through to her?"

"Maybe, but I also know she's been doing this for a long time. The words are a great place to start, but follow it up with actions. And try to show up for her."

"Oh, I'm planning to," Liam promises. "I already gave Katrina the meet schedule and the school schedule, so she knows when I won't be available. Though in hindsight, she probably doesn't need the meet schedule because she could ask you for it."

With a laugh, I nod. "Yeah, she helped write the schedule."

"Can I ask you something as someone who knows Emmie better than I do at this point?"

I know it's going to be something that seeks validation, because as unstable as Emmie's life is, Liam's is as well. He needs to know he made the right choices, that he's doing everything he can to help Emmie. He’s including her in big moments like finding an apartment that caters to both their needs, helps her both feel in control, and capable of letting it all go.

"If you're about to ask me if you made the right decisions, I say yes," I tell him. "This can be a second chance for both of you, if you let it. Plus, I have some bad news for you."

"What?" The panic on his face makes me grin.

"You're Emmie's guardian, which ties you to Adair; and you're Katrina's friend and new employee," I say. "These people adopt people. You're not getting away from this group."

He looks a little uncertain as he lets out a nervous laugh. "It sounds like you're saying it from experience. Should I run?"

Through the window of my office, I see Bryce and Carter arguing about something and then Mia hits them both with a folder, flashes me a grin, and heads into her office. I look back at Liam with my own grin. "Nah, I wouldn't run."

From the moment Emmie walked back through the doors of Adair Swim Club after quitting, she's been on fire. Putting in extra work, pushing herself harder, and doing whatever she can to prove to me she's taking this seriously. Knowing that so many people—both here and at home—want to see her achieve whatever dreams she has seems to have ignited more sparks in her. She's not ignoring instruction or allowing her teammates to distract her. She's shown up early to practice with races queued up on her phone, some of them mine or Carter's, asking why certain technique decisions were made or what could have been changed to achieve a better outcome.

Hell, she even showed a brief interest in the IMs. Bryce ran her through a quick training session, assessing her skills in the other strokes, and then had her race Carter. They were both dead on their feet by the end of it, and Emmie loudly declared she was never doing it again and asked Bryce why he had a death wish. A question I still ask most IMers.

At least I know she's interested in other strokes, though. As long as I don't put them together in one race.

She's proven to me how stability at home can impact kids. It's given her the freedom to start finding herself and to chase her dreams. It's a constant reminder to all of us about why we do what we do.

Although, she's not happy when I announce I need to head to California for a couple of days. Neither is the rest of the team. Because they're kids and I'm about to upset their routine. They don't understand why the trip has to interfere with their practices. Or maybe they don't associate the state of California with having real business hours. Either way, they aren't happy.

Mia agrees with them, if her distant behavior is anything to go off of. The way the light faded from her eyes when I told her about the trip was almost enough for me to break and tell her all about my plans. About how I can’t promise it would work out the way we want, but this is what I want. I held myself back, though, determined not to disappoint her if this doesn’t go the way I want it to. It would hurt more than holding in the truth for a few days.

I know what they’re all worried about, and yeah, I should tell them; but there’s still the smallest chance the board gives me a reason not to step down as president, or Mel decides she’s not ready for the step up. Both of them seem highly unlikely to me, but I’d rather not get anyone’s hopes up.

My plan is to get to San Francisco, get through the meetings, and not let anything else hold me up. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be back in Columbia before anyone can miss me. This time, for good.

Normally, I love the stillness of Ronan's place. Especially when I'm snuggled into his insanely comfortable bed with a wall of muscle against my back and a tiny, but rapidly growing, fluff ball at my side. But this morning, I hate it.

I can usually sleep through his alarms, but this morning, it has my eyes blearily blinking open at 4:15 a.m. I keep still while he slides out of bed after brushing a quick kiss to the top of my head. He scoops Lezak up before quietly padding out of the room. I feel the loss of heat from both of them. I know he's making the dog, who's also used to waking up early, go to the bathroom so he can let me sleep a little longer, but it makes me feel more alone in the massive bed.

He leaves for California today.

He plans to be in San Fracisco for three days, and though he booked his return flight and everything, something about it doesn’t feel right. His vagueness about what he's doing out there isn't sitting well with me. I know he has a business in need of his attention, but telling me he's got meetings about the future of it and the places it'll go, has fear settling heavy in the pit of my stomach.

He never realizes I'm awake, and I'm okay with it. I don't feel like talking. I don’t feel like trying to figure out if his vagueness is to keepme from getting my hopes up or if it’s because he already knows he might end up breaking my heart. He's always been restless. He has always loved traveling for meets or modeling gigs; I've always known that. This time, though, I let myself believe he'd found something to make him want to stay.