Page 30 of Room to Breathe

“You got this.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smile, standing and putting his backpack on. “Maybe I should come next week too.”

“Next week is Thanksgiving. But the week after that for sure,” I said. “Tell your mom to schedule a good time online.”

He nodded and waved to his brother.

“Bye,” Beau said. Then he waited for Brady to be out the door and all the way into the car before he turned to me and said, “You’re good with him.”

“I’m sure you would be too. You’re just his brother, and he doesn’t listen to you as well.”

“I bet your siblings would listen to you all the time,” he said. “Hang on your every word.”

I laughed. “Of course they would.”

“But seriously, I think you’re more laid-back than me, and that’s better for him.”

“Well, that too,” I said, throwing the grape Jolly Rancher at him.

He caught it, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. “You have any more appointments today?”

“No, he was my last.” I stacked my papers and supplies, then grabbed a Lysol wipe from the container on the front desk.

“I need your playlist,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“You need to put together a playlist for me of all the best music so that I can be cool.”

“Yes, I do,” I said.

“I’m serious,” he said, maybe noting the smirk on my face.

“Oh, I know. So am I.” My playlist wasn’t all that special. It was just good songs from a wide variety of genres. I didn’t really have one standout artist or type. Maybe that’s why it was good—variety. Or maybe it was another area of my life that I couldn’t find a focus or passion about.

Beau went to the office door and knocked. There was a muffled “Come in,” and he opened the door.

“Indy and I are done for the day,” he said.

“Thank you. See you next time.”

“Bye, Lana!” I called, even though I couldn’t see her.

“Bye!” she said.

We walked outside to Beau’s car. It was a fairly new two-door Corolla with the tiniest back seat—the reason Ava refused to let Beau drive in the carpool. I buckled my seat belt as he turned the key in the ignition.

“I’m going to start your playlist now,” I said, pulling out my phone and opening Spotify. “I’m going to title it Cool Like Indy.”

“Must you?”

“I must.”

He chuckled. “Oh, my mom wanted to make sure you knew that your family is invited to Thanksgiving dinner at our place.”

“Tell her thank you. Maybe we’ll actually take her up on that invite this year.”

“Yeah?” he asked, looking over his shoulder to back out of the parking space. His arm brushed my shoulder as he did and the scent of grape Jolly Rancher invaded my senses. This combination made my stomach flutter.