Page 53 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

They thanked Mrs. DeVoe and ended the call.

The meeting broke up and everyone devolved into a general chaos of hand shaking and back slapping. One by one, the council members filed out.

Cody passed behind Mia’s chair, then leaned down and said in her ear, “Good job.” Before Mia could respond, he’d walked out the door.

Across the table, her dad cleared his throat. “Yes, good job, Mia.”

She nodded at him once, then looked back at the papers in front of her until she heard him get up from the table and leave the room. Dani came back into the room and sat next to Mia.

“How do you think that went?” Dani laced her hands together and laid them on the conference table.

“So-so,” Mia said. She flipped through the stacks of notes. “I think we’re going to have to go to our second tier of applicants.”

“Will there be enough?”

Between them, the computer hummed as it cooled down from the meeting.

“I hope so. I’ll take a look tonight.” Mia jotted down a few more notes. “I will have plenty of time, the kids are at Evie’s.”

“Maybe you should take the night off. Do something fun.” Dani’s eyes lit up. “You could come out with Liam and me.”

“And be the third wheel? No thanks.” She didn’t need pity.

“Oh come on, it would be fun. You could invite Cody.” She singsonged his name.

“Stop. You’re not being funny.” But she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her. “Cody and I actually had a weird conversation yesterday.”

Dani propped her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. “Do tell.”

“Basically, he told me that he’d liked me when we were younger, but then Troy and I became a thing.” She crossed her arms, tucking them tight to her body. “And then, things got intense. He was looking at me and I thought…” She swallowed.

“Thought what?”

“I thought he might kiss me.”

“What?!” Dani’s squeal echoed through the room. “You guys kissed?”

“No.” Mia put her hand out to calm Dani. “I said I thought he might. But then Finn came, and the moment was over.”

“Uh huh,” Dani said. “Okay. So how do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know.” Mia buried her head in her arms on the table. “I think I might be starting to have feelings for him.” Hopefully her muffled voice carried to Dani’s ears, because she wasnotrepeating that.

Dani rested a hand on her back. “And how do you feel about that?”

She let out a long breath and sat up. “I don’t really know. I don’t have time to think about it, or feel about it for that matter. I can’t let a relationship get in the way of saving my house. Cody and I have always been friends, and we’ll just go on that way.”

Dani gave her a long, hard look. “Cody wouldn’t let you lose your house. You know that right?”

Of course she did, but still. “I’m just not ready, Dani.”

“I get that.” Dani gave her arm a squeeze. “But don’t close yourself off to the possibility. Now, let’s pack up and go out and do something together.”

“No. I need to get this work done. My kids’ home is more important than a night of fun.”

Dani sighed. “I suppose you’re right. But don’t let all this work take over your life. You are allowed to have fun sometimes too.”

“I’ll remember that.” Mia left the building and walked toward her home, trying not to think about the long, lonely night ahead of her.

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