Page 22 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

“Follow your dreams, Hannah. Follow the yellow brick road,” he crooned.

“Maybe Iamliving my dream.”

A single mom working in a job that would never allow her to pay her bills without her ex-husband’s support. How couldthatbe her dream?

“Maybe there’s room for more.”

“Like a teaching certificate?” She jutted out a hip, daring him to agree.

He shrugged.

“Going back to school sounds so fun. Let’s see…” She ticked things off on her fingers. “I’d be pinched for time, traveling to the city several days a week—if not actually moving there after finally settling the family here, or even worse, leaving the boys behind and becoming a long-distance mom. A busy, distracted, stressed mother, as well as in debt. Sounds like I’ll provide my boys the kind of childhood everyone dreams of. And for what? The possibility that I might be able to teach a classroom full of kids and financially support myself and the boys without having to ask Calvin for things like shoes and back-to-school supplies?”

She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes damp.

“Sometimes we have to make minor sacrifices in order to—”

“You’re not a parent. You don’t understand.”

“Enlighten me.”

“Try listening!”

“You see the problems, but what about the rewards?” She shut her eyes as he continued. “Financial security. Sharing the same holidays as your sons. Using that amazing brain of yours.”

She opened her eyes, a flash of anger reddening her complexion. He softened his tone, reaching for that curl that had sprung loose from her bun. She tipped her head away, her brows scrunched in confusion. He grasped the tendril, stepping closer to delicately tuck it behind her ear. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed nervously. He saw a flash of longing, but didn’t know if it was for his touch or for the career and lifestyle he’d described.

“Maybe you need to learn to be happy with what you have,” she whispered, her feet tucked between his, their bodies almost touching.

“I’m trying. I keep failing at it.”

“Well, maybe I already reached out to get what I want. I have a home. Two kids. A job. A car. I don’t need more.”

“Did you pick it all out yourself?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. “Calvin and I decide on many of these things together,” she said diplomatically. “As a couple. That’s what we do.”

Calvin was still running her life, making the major decisions, even in divorce. No wonder she didn’t trust herself to make a life-altering choice about going back to school.

“The house?” he asked, curious how deep Calvin was in her life, even though her former marriage was far from being his business.

“It has good insulation. It keeps us cool during the summer.”

“What did you pick out?”

“It doesn’t matter, Louis. That’s the point! He makes good decisions and considers things I don’t. Like an all-wheel-drive SUV is better with kids than a cute sedan.” She must have caught something in his expression because she stepped back, saying, “I got to veto the expensive bungalow he chose for himself, as well as the bigger SUV he’d thoughtI’dlike.”

“Okay.”

She threw her arms in the air. “So what’s your problem?”

“There’s no problem.”

“Then why are you so bossy?”

“I’m good at it.”

“Expert level,” she muttered, turning away to sweep a palm through the dust gathered on the piano top, then smacking her hands together to clean them. She gave an adorable sneeze.

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