Chapter Twenty-One
Ryleigh stood with her students in the center of the room. All the desks had been pushed against the wall and they’d formed
a circle—each of them staring at the clock.
“Ten,” Ryleigh said loudly.
“Nine!” every student yelled back.
“Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, ONE!”
There was a moment of silence, then the bell rang, signaling the end of the school year. A few of her students raced out the
door without saying goodbye, but most of them lingered, a few looking stricken.
“It’s okay,” she promised when two girls raced over and hugged her. “I’ll be right here next . . .” She pressed her lips together
when she realized she was making a promise she didn’t know if she could keep.
“I’ll be here all summer,” she amended with a smile. “Remember? I’m working at the bookstore. You can come see me there.”
“For real?” Alissa asked, her big eyes filled with tears.
“Yes. Come find me and I’ll ask Ramon to fly over and land on your shoulder.”
“I’m glad he found his way home.”
“Me, too. Now go find your moms and have a wonderful summer.”
“Bye, Miss Weaver. See you next year.”
“See you,” Ryleigh called after them, torn between year-end elation and relief and a wave of sadness at the thought of possibly
never seeing those kids again.
She started putting the desks in neat rows. She’d already packed up her personal things and taken her sub tub to her car.
She’d turned in her list of maintenance requests for her room and taken the unclaimed lost and found items to the main office.
This was it, she thought, turning in a slow circle to take in the big, bright space. The end of term and possibly the last
time she would stand in this school as a teacher. Yes, that was unfortunate but what about all the possibilities waiting for
her? What about the next phase of her life?
“Hey, pretty lady.”
She looked up and saw Alex standing in the doorway. “What are you doing here?” she asked, pleased to see him.
“I came to get Noah. It’s his last day, too.”
The boy in question burst into the room and rushed to her, then flung his arms around her. “It’s summer! It’s summer! I can’t
wait. Dad and I are making a list of all the things we want to do. When we’re finished, the three of us are going to sit down
together and make plans.” He stared up at her, his eyes bright with anticipation. “Dad said we’re going to Disneyland!”
“I can’t wait,” she told him.
“Me, either.”
He ran to the door and squeezed past his dad. “I gotta say goodbye to Bodie. I’ll be right back.”
Alex moved toward her. “You okay about Disney? We’d talked before. If you’re too busy . . .”
“Stop.” She moved as close as she dared, but didn’t touch him. Not in public. “I want to go. Absolutely. And do the other
things.”
“Yeah?” His gaze was hopeful. “Good. Us, too.”
They stared at each other, then Alex surprised her by asking, “You okay?”
“Sure. Why?”
“You’ve been quiet since you got back from your interview. I figured you had a lot to think about, but now I’m wondering if
it’s something more.”
“It’s mostly the move,” she told him. “And a little of me feeling—” She paused. “I don’t know how to describe it. Restless
maybe. Or unsettled.” As most of that sensation happened when she thought about him, she wasn’t going to go into more detail
than that.
“Plus you haven’t told Jax about your interview.”
She stepped back and glanced away. “You can’t know that. Maybe I have.”
He chuckled. “Ryleigh, come on. You haven’t and you feel guilty about it.”
An accurate assessment of the situation. “She’s going to be mad and yell at me and I don’t want to fight with her.”
“She’s going to notice when the moving truck pulls up in front of your place. She’s your sister and she loves you.”
“Yes, but she’s also the sister who doesn’t want me to move.”
He moved close. “In the end she’ll support you because she loves you.”
“Possibly, but it’s the part between here and there I worry about.” She just didn’t have any fight in her right now. “I’ll
tell her. Soon. Just not right now.”
“You tell her whenever you want. I’m just pointing out that part of why you’re unsettled is because of the guilt. You’re not
the kind of person who usually does something that generates guilt, so it’s extra hard to deal with.”
She sighed. “I feel like maybe you know me too well.”
“Only in a good way. Just like you know me.”
She did know him and liked him and trusted him. She enjoyed his company and being around him and Noah. But sometimes lately, when she looked at him, she felt . . . something. It was nameless and just out of reach but there, in a lurking kind of way.
“So about tonight,” he began. “You’re coming over for dinner.”
“That’s the rumor, yes.”
“Want to make it a sleepover?”
Her body immediately started cheering at the promise of a little one-on-one naked time with Alex.
She pretended to consider the question. “Lucy has been asking about that, so if it’s what she wants, then I guess I have to
say yes.”
“You’re feeling pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
She laughed. “I am.”
“I like it.”
“I thought we could go get lunch,” Marcus said, leaning against the front counter of the bookstore.
Jax smiled at him. “I’d like that. When?”
“Now. I have a picnic basket in my truck. I thought we could head to the beach.”
She glanced outside. The day was sunny and warm. Given all she’d been dealing with for the past week or so, she felt as if
she’d barely left the store at all. Yes there was work she had to do, but it could wait.
“It’s not every day a handsome man asks me to go on a picnic,” she told him. “Let me get my bag and tell someone I’ll be gone.”
“I’ll be here.”
A few minutes later, they were in his truck making the short drive to the beach. As it was a weekday, they didn’t have too
much trouble finding parking. Marcus carried the large basket to the shaded picnic tables. They chose one and sat down.
While he put out sandwiches, salads, a thermos and plastic glasses, she looked around.
The ocean was that perfect shade of blue and stretched out to the horizon.
The sound of the surf mingled with the happy shrieks of three kids and their parents playing a little farther down the beach.
The air was warm and salty, the sand a little shimmery.
“This is nice,” she murmured, turning her attention back to him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. With the whole Ramon problem, we haven’t seen much of each other. I’ve missed you.”
His words made her smile. “I’ve missed you, too,” she admitted. “Which is strange because we’ve seen each other every day,
but I know what you mean.”
She thought about everything they’d been through. “I can’t thank you enough,” she added. “You helped with so much. Your computer
client, the vet. Everything. You were a rock.” She wasn’t sure she would have gotten through the horror without him. “I’m
not used to having someone to depend on.”
“Or trust,” he added.
“Yeah, that, too.” She reached her hands across the table. He took them in hers.
“I don’t know when it started,” she said. “My need to be in control. Maybe when we moved here and I knew I had to look out
for Ryleigh. Maybe before. I’ve always been the older sister. It’s kind of who I am.”
“It doesn’t always have to be you, Jax,” he told her. “There are people in your world more than willing to take responsibility.”
“Including you?”
“Especially me.”
They looked at each other for a minute, then returned to passing out the lunch. They agreed to split the sandwiches.
“So about missing you,” he said, opening the bag of chips. “While being your friend is important, I was talking more about
missing the boy-girl part.”
A little quiver raced through her. She smiled. “You mean dating.”
“I do. I like dating you.”
“You’re a very nice date, yourself.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
Jax picked up a half of a turkey with mango chutney and apple slices while Marcus chose half of a roast beef sandwich.
“Ramon still doing all right?” he asked.
“He is. It’s like he was never gone. I’m still keeping the door closed, but he’s not shown any interest in going out.”
“You’re back with the kids this week?”
“Yes. We spent Saturday and Sunday night at the store, but starting on Monday he was by himself. Well, him and the cat.”
“Still no name?”
She shook her head. “Gentry made a comprehensive list of possible cat names, but Ramon didn’t like any of them. At some point
I’m going to have to insist. We can’t keep calling him ‘the cat.’ He deserves an identity.”
“Maybe ‘The Cat’ is his name.”
“Please, no. It would be oddly depressing.” She scooped some carrot and raisin salad onto a plate. “We posted his picture
on Port Palmas Talks, but no one’s come forward to claim him. I wonder if someone did dump him, which makes me sad. Why do that to a cat who’s
used to having a home? Take him to a shelter where he doesn’t have to fend for himself.”
“I agree. Some people don’t deserve to have pets.”
Talk turned to the remodel, which was wrapping up.
“You’re going to celebrate not having my guys around,” he teased.
“It was less disruption than I thought it would be, but I’m glad to have the job finished. We’ll have a grand-reopening party
for sure. Any excuse to reach out to customers.”
“I agree. And the diaries?”
“They’re mostly back in place. Cheryl kept out a few to read.”
His raised his eyebrows. “You’re okay with that?”
“I’m not, but after her finding out about that little boy being left alone, I’m not comfortable telling her no. Sometimes secrets need to come out.”
“Are you going to have the July diary event?”
She nodded. “I’m not sure anyone will show up after what happened, but we’ll give them the opportunity to continue the tradition.”
“Sorry for my part in the screwup.”
“It wasn’t you.”
“My guys, my responsibility.”
She knew he meant that. She liked that he didn’t try to blame someone else. Or get someone else to do the uncomfortable thing.