Page 101 of The Embers That Remain

Her smile was small but genuine as she headed down the hallway. And for the rest of my shift, four words followed me through every room, every call light, every chart.

I’ll think about it.

Sometimes the first step wasn’t walking away. Sometimes it was finally admitting you wanted to.

Fifty

Lane

“Alright, that’s all for today,” I called, jotting a few final notes onto my clipboard. The team grabbed their water bottles and filtered toward the locker rooms.

“Coach.” Jace headed my way, and I lowered the clipboard. We both knew this conversation had been coming. Cali and I hadn’t managed more than texts since the night at the pier, buried beneath responsibilities, but I’d planned to stop by her place tonight with dinner.

“Yeah, Jace?”

“Can I talk to you?” He looked uncertain, though the boldness only teenagers seemed to possess still lingered beneath it.

“Sure. Want to sit?” I nodded toward the bleachers. We sat a couple of feet apart, both staring across the field.

“Are you serious about Doc?” He leaned forward. Though I didn’t know every piece of his story, I knew enough to understand change hadn’t often been kind to him.

“I am.” I glanced at him. “Is that okay with you?” He turned fully toward me. My forearms rested on my thighs as I waited.

“She’s a good person.”

That was all he said.

“Yeah.” A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “She is.”

“If something happens between you . . . will I still be in her family?”

His voice barely wavered, but the vulnerability beneath it was written all over his face. I dropped a hand on his shoulder.

“Jace, nothing could make you stop being part of Cali’s family. She’d go to the ends of the earth for you.” No doubt lived in those words. “And I know you don’t know me that well, but I’d never do anything that would cost you her.”

There was more to say—that I’d fight for her, for all of them—but we’d only agreed to date two days ago. This wasn’t the time for promises he had no reason to believe yet. Afterward, I’d text Cali so she could reassure him herself.

He nodded once.

“Okay.” His expression softened. “Make sure you treat her good.”

His eyes met mine. Something warm expanded in my chest. This kid loved fiercely, and I knew that even though blood didn’t tie him and Cali together this was a direct result of her impact on him. I rose and held out my hand. Jace looked at it for a second before standing and shaking it.

“I will.” The words came easily because somewhere deep down, another promise echoed just as clearly.

I always will.

Fifty-One

Cali

The smile already tugged at my lips as the front door swung open. Lane stood there balancing two pizzas and a large salad kit from the local pizza place. Freshly showered, he wore gray athletic pants and a white T-shirt that somehow looked impossibly soft.

“Hey, baby.”

Heat rushed straight to my face.

“Bruh, you gotta save that stuff for when me and Ol’ Jim ain’t around,” Jace protested. Lane glanced past me as if only then noticing Jace and Grandpa sitting in the kitchen. Color crept into his cheeks before he stepped inside, toed off his shoes, and crossed toward the kitchen in nothing but his socks. Apparently, ankles were attractive now. Who knew?