Afew days later, it was our last night at my father’s house. We’d spent the weekend moving our things out to Jace’s parents’ house. They were talking like they might be snowbirds, living part of the year in Green Valley and part of the year in Florida, though both Jace and Sarah have insisted that they’ll believe it when they see it.
I still couldn’t quite believe the turn my life had taken. I’d come to Green Valley desperate. My kids were miserable, I was miserable, having almost no friends and no family. And then Jace came waltzing into our lives, filling the house with laughter and magic, literally breathing life into us again.
Mr. Poppins, himself, was occupying the kids with ice pops, giving me time to move through the house slowly, somehow knowing that I needed a little time alone. I was thinking of my mother, working through memories from each room. But they were happy memories. Full of smiles and laughter. Like my father, the house no longer had any power over me. I lingered at the doorway of the library for a moment, and I could almost see the outline of a woman and her daughter snuggling on one of the leather chairs.
“I love you, Momma,” I whispered, and shut the door.
* * *
I joined my family on the steps in the backyard a few minutes later. Pinks and yellows streaked across the sky as the sun set. I smiled down at my kids who were diligently licking and slurping away on their ice pops.
“It’s a little melted.” Jace held out a red one for me. I sat between Ryla and Jace, Max was on his other side.
“Thank you.” I pressed my lips to his for a beat. He tasted like cherries.
“What were you, Rae, and Charlotte talking about for so long this afternoon?” Jace asked.
“Apparently, Brad Goldenstein stepped down today. Can you believe it?” I waggled my eyebrows, biting into my ice pop and crunching it with relish.
“I’m shocked.” Jace smirked and shook his head slowly. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
I dipped my head closer to Jace’s ear, whispering, “And your sister called me today asking for my ex-husband’s information. Any idea why she’d be calling me asking for that?”
Jace choked on his ice pop, then shook his head. “I swear I did not put her up to that. Did you give it to her?”
I lifted one eyebrow. “She’s incredibly persuasive.”
His lips quirked. “I’d have loved to see her face when you told her his last name.”
“Brain freeze!” Max suddenly shouted, slapping a hand to his forehead.
“Put your tongue to the roof of your mouth,” Jace explained, working Max through it.
“Why’s his brain freezing?” Ryla had paused the eating of her blue raspberry ice pop to check on Max.
“It happens when you eat something cold too fast,” I explained to her as something shiny on her shirt caught my eye. Leaning closer, I saw it was a Smash-Girl pin. “Where’d you get that Smash-Girl pin, sweetie?”
Ryla looked down, then pulled out her shirt to inspect the pin. “Miss Sienna gave it to me.”
“Oh, that was nice of her.”
I felt Jace shift next to me, having helped Max recover from his brain freeze. Jace’s slid his arm around me, pulling me to his side, brushing a small kiss to my temple.
“Yep! She said she had a ton and didn’t want them at her house anymore.”
I frowned. “Why would she have so many Smash-Girl buttons at her house?”
Jace’s body went rigid as Ryla replied, “Because she is Smash-Girl.”
I laughed, shaking my head at Ryla. “You must be mistaken, sweet pea.” What a cutie.
Jace’s arm fell slowly, and he cleared his throat. “Actually . . .” he started.
I whipped my head to him. “Jace Vargas! Do you mean to tell me that nice woman you work with, who acts like she’s your older sister, who helped us move and invited us and the kids for a playdate at the park with her three sons, is a bona fidemovie star?”
“Surprise?” Jace tried to look contrite even as his shoulders shook in silent laughter.
Opening and closing my mouth, I looked back and forth between Jace and Ryla. “Any other secrets I should know?”
