Almost two months later, I sat across Sarah’s desk from her while she stared at me with narrowed hazel eyes, her head tilted to the side. “There’s something different about you.”

“Different good? Or different bad?”

“Definitely good.” She tapped her index finger against her chin. “It’s been four years since your transplant, and you look really healthy. How was your most recent round of blood work?”

“The results from November were great, but I haven’t seen the report from the lab for the last draw. It was just at the end of last week, so I should get those numbers back soon.”

“Are you getting more rest? Drinking more water?” She leaned forward a little, her gaze scanning my face. “Whatever you’re doing is really working for you.”

I’d just taken a sip of water, and I almost spewed it right in her face because what I’d been doing was Dillon. A lot. Like all of the time. Once we’d had sex that first time on Christmas Eve night, we hadn’t been able to keep our hands—and other, more interesting parts of our bodies—off each other.

My cheeks filled with heat, and Sarah’s eyes widened. “Is that a blush I see on your face?”

“Um,” I mumbled, my blush getting worse. “Maybe?”

“And is it caused by a boy?”

Shit. I hadn’t been able to keep it from her for even five minutes into our conversation. Not that I wasn’t planning to tell Sarah about Dillon, but I’d thought I’d bring him up at the end of my visit. After we’d gotten past all the important life stuff we needed to discuss because I was only three months away from graduation. “Yeah,” I admitted softly.

“Someone special?”

I grinned at her. “Dillon’s definitely special.”

“Dillon? How did you guys meet? And when? I can’t believe so much has changed since I saw you last.”

“Remember when I told you about Elaine Montgomery?”

“Of course I remember! How could I forget the woman who’s made such an impact on all of your lives?” She leaned back in her chair, shaking her head. “I still can’t believe how much she’s done for you guys.”

“Well,” I drawled, chuckling to myself a little. “What she’s done for me is a little different than everyone else.”

“Really?” She set her elbow on her desk and rested her chin on her palm. “How so?”

“I met Dillon through her.” I took a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous to explain their connection unless it was just that I wasn’t used to talking about my dating life since I’d never had one before. “Because he’s her son.”

“Whoa. How’d that happen?” Her voice dropped to a whisper and she leaned so far forward that her chin slipped from her palm. She fell over, her face coming only a couple of inches from smacking against her desk.

“Through his mom.” Dillon’s secrets were his own to share, so I kept my answer vague. “I totally missed the signs that she was trying to find reasons for us to meet until Dillon pointed her matchmaking attempts out to me at Thanksgiving.”

“Thanksgiving, huh? You guys are serious enough that you’re spending holidays together?”

“Not back then. Not really.” I shook my head. “We’d only been on one actual date, and Elaine was the one who invited me.”

“But it’s serious now?”

“Yeah, it is. Dillon opened up to me about a lot of stuff at Thanksgiving, and it was kind of a turning point for us.” I traced a circle on the top of her desk with a finger. “I guess you could say that’s when we officially became a couple.”

“Oh, wow,” she breathed. “You really like this boy, don’t you?”

“I do. I really do.” My lips tilted up in a goofy grin. I couldn’t stop it, and I didn’t even care if it made me look like an idiot. Because I was happy. Being with Dillon made me happy.

“If he makes you smile like that, then I approve. Big time.”

“Thanks.” I felt my grin getting even goofier, but it only made Sarah offer me a big smile of her own.

“I’m happy for you, Faith. You’ve faced so much adversity, and yet you still managed to come so far from the girl I met all those years ago.” Her eyes filled with tears and she sniffled. “In three months, you’re going to be a college graduate.” Another sniffle. “With a promising career in social work ahead of you.” One lone tear slid down her cheek. “Where you’re going to continue the amazing work you’ve already started doing, with whatever job you take.” She reached for a tissue to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. “And you’ve got a serious boyfriend! Someone you’ve clearly let inside your heart, judging by the dreamy look on your face any time you mention his name. I’m so, so proud of you.”

“Why do I feel like me having a boyfriend is the part you’re proudest about?”

A startled laugh burst from her throat. “Because it is?”

“Sarah!” I couldn’t believe she’d said that.

“Stop! You know I didn’t mean it that way.” Her expression turned serious. “It’s just that I didn’t have any worries about you when it came to college or a career. Not since the day you agreed to apply. Once the decision was made, I knew you’d succeed because you’re smart and driven.”

“Sarah.” I was so moved by what she’d said I could barely speak. Her name was just a whisper of sound that time. I’d felt like she’d believed in me, but to hear her put it that way was just…wow. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She gave me a watery smile. “Thank you for letting me remain a part of your journey these past few years. Watching what you’ve accomplished with your second chance has been an honor.”

“You’re the one who set me on this path,” I reminded her. “I would’ve been working a dead-end job with only a high school diploma if it hadn’t have been for you.”

Sarah shook her head. “I might’ve given you the nudge you needed, but you took it and more than ran with it all on your own. You’re on course to graduate with honors, and you’ve got all those other foster kids coming up behind you and following in your footsteps. Because you inspire them, like you inspire me, to be a better person each and every day.”

Shit. Now I was the one crying. Sarah was one of the best people I knew. To know she found me inspiring was almost more than my heart could handle. “That inspiration runs both ways, Sarah. You’re the reason I picked social work for my major. Because I wanted to follow in your footsteps.”

“Oh my God, Faith. I can’t even tell you what it means to me, to hear you say that,” she cried, reaching across her desk to squeeze my hand.

“It’s the truth,” I sniffled.

We sat there like that for a couple of minutes before she yanked a few tissues from the box and passed them to me before grabbing some for herself.

“You know what I wish?” she asked.

“What?”

“That I could thank your kidney donor and their family for giving you the second chance you needed. To be able to tell them about the difference you’ve made in so many lives.”

My eyes filled with tears again and they spilled out, trailing down my cheeks. Thinking about my donor and what their family had lost sent me back to that time when I’d thought I was going to die. I hadn’t even really known what I would’ve missed out on back then. Not until I met Dillon and opened myself up to love. Because that’s what it was with him...love. Neither of us had used that particular four-letter word yet, but it didn’t make the feelings any less real or true. Just unspoken. And the only reason I got to experience love was because someone gave me the gift of life in the depths of their own despair.

“Hey.” Sarah tapped on my hand, and it pulled me out of the past and back into the present. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I am.” I nodded and offered her a watery smile. “Or I will be.”

Once we pulled ourselves together, the conversation turned to graduation and my plans for the future—which I hadn’t figured out yet. I was focused on finishing up my classes and making it to graduation...and my relationship with Dillon. But the future was barreling towards me, and I was going to have to decide what I wanted to do soon.