Page 13 of We Can Forever

Chapter Five

HANNAH

Pulling into a parking spot at the local elementary school, I take a moment to check my reflection in the rearview mirror. To my surprise, my pulse is racing.

Though I love teaching, it’s been years since I’ve actually set foot in a classroom. The demands of an in-person teaching job are heavy enough, but add fibromyalgia flare-ups to the mix, and it doesn’t end well.

So, I left my art classes at the high school. Just like I had to leave so much in life behind.

Yet now, here I am. About to teach a knitting class to kids, courtesy of Maya. While I once thought I’d left this passion behind for good, it turns out I only put it on pause.

Realizing that washes away any lingering anxiety. This is what I’m meant to be doing, where I’m meant to be.

Grabbing my purse and bag of things for the class, I leave the car and stride across the parking lot.

It feels weird to have left the shop so early in the afternoon, but Flick more than has it under control. Besides, I could use the distraction. I’ve already finished everything on my to-do list for the next two weeks, and I even completed two of the knitting projects I abandoned months ago.

It would probably be wise to slow down, just to prevent a flare-up, but I’ve been on hyperdrive the last few days. Ever since that date with Michael, he’s been on my mind nonstop.

We’ve texted a few times, but other than that, it’s been radio silence. Flick has assured me this is normal—he probably doesn’t want to come on too strong, and he might be busy with work and his daughter.

Even though she’s right, I can’t stop myself from checking my phone every five minutes. I feel like a teenager with a crush.

It’s thrilling. But terrifying too.

What if this whole thing crashes and burns? What if…

Shaking off the worries, I sign in at the front office. No more catastrophizing. Not for now anyway. It’s time to bring my A game.

After locating the classroom, I knock on the door and wait. Maya appears in the window, wearing a bright smile and a knit sweater over a sundress.

“Hi!” She opens the door for me to enter. “Class, this is our knitting teacher, Miss Hannah.”

The kids are gathered around the room, doing various things, but they all stop and turn to me. I smile and wave at them all, wondering which one of them is Katie—who Maya informed me would be in this class.

“Hi, everyone.” I lift the bag I’m carrying. “I brought lots of yarn to choose from. Today, we’re going to learn how to cast on, and then we’ll start scarves. How does that sound?”

The responses vary from completely ignoring me to clapping in excitement, which is to be expected. Putting the bag on a table, I start unpacking the skeins and needles.

“Thank you for this,” I whisper to Maya.

“Of course. I’m so glad you could come.”

When I mentioned to her that I need experience teaching crafting to add to my funding application, she jumped in with the offer to have me come to one of her classes. Luckily, the school cleared me as a volunteer almost immediately.

With the skeins set out, I turn back to the class. “Let’s start by picking out the color that you’ll use for your scarf.”

The kids advance on the table, and I scan their name tags. Right away, I find Katie. Her skin is darker than Michael’s, but she has the same wide mouth and intelligent eyes. The girl next to her, Rose, has a name tag with the same last name.

Katie’s cousin? And Jenny’s daughter?

Seeing them makes me nervous all over again. Have they heard about my date with Michael? Has he mentioned me to them at all?

Everyone takes a skein, and then we all gather on the cushions in the back corner of the room.

“To start off, you want to figure out how thick you want your scarf to be.” I demonstrate, then show them how to cast on stitches.

Predictably, some of the kids catch on right away, while others need to see me do it over and over again. It’s always like this when people first start knitting, and the jubilant look on their faces when they finally get it right never gets old.

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