Page 104 of Kiss the Girl
He nodded. “For Charleston over President’s Day weekend. And several more reservations for every long weekend and holiday between now and the end of the school year.”
Twin feelings of hope and disappointment mingled in my chest. It produced the odd feeling of hope rising only to turn into acid reflux as it went. I cleared my throat. “That’s great.” Seeing him on holiday weekends when we couldn’t close the gap was only going to make things harder, but I knew I wouldn’t say no.
“There’s more,” he said. “Keep going.”
I shuffled through a few more reservations until I got to a map. I turned it around and showed it to him, my eyebrow raised.
“The best route to Charleston by car,” he said.
It was another papercut to the heart. “Nice,” I said, forcing the word around a growing lump in my throat.
“Keep going,” he urged again, his voice soft.
The next paper was another printout. I skimmed it, not understanding at first, then I froze, went back to the top, and re-read the title. “Application for Certificated Employment, Charleston School District.”
“Is this for real?” My eyes shot to his, which crinkled now at their edges with a smile. He nodded. “But you can’t. Paige and Evie.” I waved at them, more confused than ever.
“Well,” Noah started.
But my dad cut in. “I fixed that,” he said, grinning. “I’ve been trying to figure out something special I could do for you, and I decided giving you peace of mind was pretty good, so here you go: Paige here has turned out to be the finest assistant manager I’ve ever had.”
“Hey,” I objected.
“You know your stuff, kid, but Paige loves being in the store.”
She flashed me her own grin. “It’s true. I do.”
“And she’s accepted a full-time job as the store manager.”
My mom jumped in. “She and Evie are going to take over your apartment.”
“And Evie can’t wait to start at Creekville Elementary,” Paige said. “She met the principal and her new class on Friday.”
“I keeped it a secret, Toodles!” Evie announced, clearly proud of herself.
“That’s a good secret, Evie,” I said, but my eyes were on Noah, searching his face.
“I just found out yesterday,” he told me.
“There’s more,” my mom said. She rose and cleared her throat. “I’m pleased to announce that Paige and Evie have agreed to adopt usbothas Evie’s honorary grandparents.” She and my dad could not have looked more pleased.
“Noah?” I turned back to him.
“They were the only reasons to stay,” he said. “And now they’ve both threatened to disown me if I do, so if you’re willing, I’m applying for teaching jobs in Charleston and moving this summer.”
“Noah…” I didn’t know what to say.
“I know teaching doesn’t seem like the most ambitious profession, Grace.” He looked so earnest that I wanted to reach out and hug him. “But I promise you, I have big goals. I love being in the classroom right now, but eventually I want to get my admin credential and run an entire school. I promise that I love pushing myself as much as you do.”
“You think I have a problem with you being a teacher?” It was so far from what I was feeling that I almost laughed.
“You don’t?”
“Not at all. I love that about you.” There it was again, the almost-confession.
“You said she would say yes, Mama,” Evie said, looking up at her mom. “Why don’t you say something, Toodles?”
I met Noah’s eyes and hoped he could see everything I felt shining from them. “How do you find the words to describe the feeling of a dream come true?”
