Page 108 of Full Circle

“We’re going to Boston,” I blurted out.

Iris broke into a wide smile. “Really? So I can audition for The Boston School of Ballet? You mean it?”

Her excitement gave me confidence in my suddenly emerging plan. “Yes. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Nana hummed her approval next to Iris. “I think I’ll go, too.”

Marla and I simultaneously dropped our forks.

“You will?!” I asked incredulously.

She nodded. “Life’s too short to keep missing out on family. Being here just reminds me of that fact.”

My eyes felt watery at her admission. Life was too short. We were all done missing out, myself included.

Hours went by before the door flew open. Wesley stormed in, his eyes an electric blue that locked in on mine. Nobody else in the room existed as he strode straight towards me, snatching me out of the chair to clutch me to his chest. As soon as my feet found the floor, Wes cupped my face in his hands and planted a firm kiss on my mouth.

It was the kiss that set me free. I realized the power of a kiss, the power of love. Because that’s what Wesley and I had—love.

Just as abruptly, Wesley turned to Iris and pulled her into a group hug with the two of us.

“Hey there, Rainbow,” he said to her. “I’m your dad.”

She rolled her eyes but hugged him back. “Yeah, duh…except…why are you calling me ‘Rainbow’?”

Wesley looked directly at me as he answered. “Because ‘Iris’ means ‘rainbow’…and you’re the rainbow at the end of our journey.”

Leave it to Wes to know exactly why I named her the way that I did. Only him. My eyes were shining with tears as I hugged both of them tighter. I had my family back.

We all sat down to catch up on what happened over the past ten years. Wesley scooped Nana up and twirled her in a circle before swearing, “It hasn’t been the same without you, Nana.”

She shrugged. “Well of course it hasn’t. Nobody can hold a candle to me!”

Everyone around the table, including Wes, shed tears and laughed until our bellies ached. It wasn’t until my phone started blowing up at the end of the school day that the outside world disturbed our peace. Desiree sent text after text demanding to know Iris’ whereabouts, which Wesley ordered me to ignore.

We couldn’t, however, ignore a snarling Desiree when she burst inside, her face twisted in fury.

“Iris, get away from that man, NOW!” she yelled.

All of us, Marla and Nana included, jumped to our feet and stood in front of Iris, forming a human shield against my stepmother. Wesley drew himself up to his full height, well over six feet, so that he had to stare down his nose at Desiree.

“You will never talk to my daughter again,” he barked. It was so forceful that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Blood drained from Desiree’s face. She froze, staring at Wes in horror.

Wesley stalked towards her until they stood nose to nose. I could see the tension in his spine as he tried to hold back from unleashing his full temper.

“Your games are over, Desiree,” he said. Pulling a cell phone out of his back pocket, Wesley checked something before shooting us a maniacal grin over his shoulder. “You see, I went to law school with the man who is now the assistant to the attorney general of Georgia. I had him double check a few things for me that just didn’t sit quite right when Celeste said you wouldn’t let her tell me about my daughter. That you are the reason I wasn’t able to support Celeste during her pregnancy, that I didn’t get to see Iris being born…you get the idea.

“As it turns out, you haven’t been very honest with any of us, have you, Desiree?” Wesley began to circle her, like a lion taunting a gazelle before striking. “Who really owns The Comfy Cushion?”

My stepmother began to quake. Her knees visibly clenched together as she forced herself to stay upright.

I, however, had no clue what he was getting at. “Someone else owns the diner?” I asked.

Wesley nodded, though he kept his eyes trained on Desiree. “The Comfy Cushion was left, in trust, to Celeste Hendricks after Rachel Hendricks died, isn’t that right, Desiree? Even your husband never actually owned The Comfy Cushion, did he?”

A lightness settled in my chest. Something that felt like the burgeoning of a new hope. If what Wes said was true—and I had no reason to believe otherwise—that meant Desiree didn’t have the right to sell it.

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