I pulled the truck to the right and followed the lane along the curb, outlined by fluorescent orange cones. Jo was sitting shotgun and was anxiously fidgeting with the hem of her plaid shirt. She was wearing dark jeans with rips in the knees, black sneakers, and a plaid button down. Her hair was curled and in a messy bun on top of her head, and a pair of diamond earrings I’d bought her for our one-year anniversary winked in her ears.

She glanced over at me, her bottom lip pinched between her teeth, and I put the truck in park. Then we both turned to look in the backseat where Sam was unbuckling his seatbelt and grabbing his backpack.

It was his first day of first grade, and Jo and I were infinitely more nervous than he was.

He pushed his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose and slid across the back seat toward the back door.

“Hang on buddy,” I said. “Let me come open it for you.”

I hopped out of the truck and received a dirty look from the traffic director up ahead. I’d seen the “stay in your vehicle” sign at the entrance to the cone lane, but I’d never been all that good at following the rules. This was a parent drop off. I knew it was supposed to be short and sweet. But damn it all. It was my son’s first day of school.

I opened the back door and lifted Sam out of the truck to put him down beside me. His backpack slid down his shoulder, and he slung it back up. I crouched down in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder. “You ready for this, buddy?”

Sam nodded. “I think so.”

“You’re going to have a blast. I loved school when I was your age. Now, remember—”

“My inhaler is in the front zipper of my backpack.”

I smiled and patted his shoulder. “Have I said that already?”

“Yes,” Sam said.

“Okay. Well. Good. You’d better go in there before I get yelled at by the lady in the yellow vest up there.” I nodded at the traffic director, who kept looking over at us. “Don’t be afraid to say hi to the other kids first. It’s the best way—”

“To make friends,” Sam finished for me.

“I said that already, too?”

He nodded and smiled.

“Okay, kiddo. I’ll pick you up at the end of the day. Have fun, all right?”

“All right,” Sam said and then he hugged me, turned, and walked up the stairs to the front door of his new school like a little champ. If he was scared or nervous, it didn’t show. He paused at the top and turned back to us. I waved, and I knew his mother was waving from the front seat as well.

After he ducked inside, I got back in the truck and followed the line of cars that hadn’t moved since I’d put it in park. At the end, we were still stopped by the traffic director. She was a middle-aged woman with long black hair, full lips, and an expression on her stern features that reminded me of every teacher from my childhood that I hated.

“This is a no-stop zone,” she said dryly. “Drop off only, and then you keep moving.”

Had I been the same man I was only a year ago, I would have been a smart ass. But I was changed, so I smiled and simply said, “It won’t happen again. Your kid only has his first day of school once. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

It wasn’t an inconvenience. None of the cars ahead of us had moved, so even if I’d stayed in my truck, we would have just been sitting in the same spot.

She lifted her nose at me. “Good. Carry on then.”

I nodded at the car ahead of us. “There’s nowhere to go.”

Jo nudged my ribs with her shoulder, and I grinned at the director as I rolled my window up. Jo started chuckling once it was closed. “What a rule stickler,” she mused.

“She’s surrounded by children and their lunatic parents all day. I guess it would make anyone cling to any form of control they could get their hands on.”

“I can’t tell if that’s mean or just a very astute observation.”

I shrugged.

The traffic started moving again within a couple of minutes, and Jo and I hit the road, heading to her pub, where Jo was working early mornings and afternoons all week to complete a massive inventory count. Jo stared out the window as we got closer.

“You all right?” I asked.

I heard her sniffle. “Yeah. It’s just… first grade.”

“Time flies.”

She nodded but still didn’t look at me. I reached over and put a hand on her knee. She closed her fingers over mine, and soon, I was turning into the pub parking lot. Rosie was sitting on the front steps waiting for us, wearing a bright yellow floor-length sundress. Her lips were red, and her hair was pinned back.

She hopped down the steps when I parked the truck and came over to say hi as Jo leaned over the console and gave me a kiss. I rolled my window down, and Rosie rested her arms on it.

“How’s it going, Rosie?” I asked, squinting under the bright morning sun.

“Good. Although it could be better. I could still be at home in bed. But no. I’m here at the crack of dawn about to count hundreds upon hundreds of salt shakers and glassware.”

Jo had walked around the truck. She put her hands on her hips. “It’s not the crack of dawn.”

“Feels like it,” Rosie muttered.

“It’s almost nine!” Jo exclaimed.

“Uh, yeah, your point?” Rosie asked. “It’s too early.”

I chuckled and nudged her elbows off my truck. “Speaking of which, I have to head to work. You ladies have fun counting your glassware and what not. I’ll see you at home later tonight, pretty girl.”

Jo waved at me, and she and Rosie went up the steps. I waited to make sure they got inside and then pulled out of my parking stall to head to work.

I was still working at the same office I’d been placed at for my humanitarian assignment. My old Air Force buddy, Grady, had been placed alongside me four months ago after moving to Houston.

He and I had stayed in touch a lot more frequently. He was my only friend with a child, so I called on him for a lot of things. He was a good support system, and my constant calling and focus on building my family made him realize that he wanted the same thing, and staying on base was only costing him more time that he could be spending with his daughter.

He’d quit, moved back, and somehow convinced his ex, Darlene, to take him back. He had moved in with her and his daughter Emma shortly after coming back to Houston, and the three of them seemed happy.

I was glad to have my friend back.

Just before eleven o’clock, Grady poked his head in my office door. He had two mugs of coffee and held them up in offering.

“Come on in,” I said, motioning him forward and gesturing at the empty chair on the other side of my desk.

Grady took a seat and pushed one mug of coffee toward me. “So,” he said. “First day of school was today, right? How’d that go?”

“Good,” I said. “It was easier for Sam than it was for me and Jo, though. The kid has nerves of steel.”

“Sounds familiar,” Grady said, staring at me flatly.

I chuckled. “He’s a weird kid. He likes change. Doesn’t that go against all the norms?”

Grady shrugged. “Maybe. But it’s not surprising. He’s a little genius in the making, you know. And I’m not just saying that to blow smoke up your ass because you’re my superior here.”

I sipped my coffee. “Good. Because we both know I don’t like suck-ups.” Grady flipped me the bird, and we both leaned back in our chairs and chuckled at our own dumb humor. “How’s Emma and Darlene? Things are still good?”

“Things are great, man,” Grady said with a slow nod. “I can’t believe my luck, to be honest. Can’t believe she took me back.”

“She missed you.”

“I guess. Which is also surprising. She was always so mean and angry whenever I tried to get in touch with her on base.”

“Probably because it hurt her.”

Grady pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I’m an ass.”

“Yes, but you’re back now. She welcomed you with open arms. And you have your daughter back. I’d say you’ve made it up to her.”

“I want to do more,” Grady said.

“Then do more.”

“Like what?”

“Fuck if I know,” I said. “Take her out for a nice dinner someplace. Go to a show. Plan a backyard date or—”

“A show like a movie?”

I stared at him blankly. “No.”

“What then?”

“A show,” I said. “Like the theatre. Not the movie theatre. A real show. Like a play or a musical or something special.” When Grady physically winced, I rolled my eyes at him. “The whole point is that it’s not about you, Grady. It’s about her. I bet there are even some great shows you could take her and Emma to. Like a Disney musical of some sort.”

“It doesn’t sound too terrible,” he muttered.

“You said you wanted to make it up to her. Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone to do so. Stop being a baby.”

“You’d take Jo to a show?”

“If I thought she liked theatre, in a heartbeat. But I know she doesn’t.”

Grady sighed and picked at a loose thread on his knee. “All right. I’ll try it. How are your plans going? Everything falling into place?”

I grinned and took another sip of coffee. “Just a few more loose ends to tie up, and then I can get the show on the road.”

Grady nodded knowingly. “All right. Well, let me know if you need anything, brother. I’d better get back to my office before they accuse me of time theft.” He got to his feet and left, waving over his head as he went.

I was left to finish up my work. I checked the clock around noon and hurried to tidy up my workspace before ducking out. I had plans to see my mother for lunch before picking Sam up from school at two-thirty. She said she had something exciting she wanted to tell me.

I’d been wracking my brain over the last three days since she said that, trying to figure out what it might be. I had no freaking clue. My mother was not a spontaneous woman. She also was not the sort of woman to get excited about things. She liked her routine, her cozy apartment, and her fleece blankets. Her idea of a fun evening was sitting by her open window, letting in the cool evening breeze, while her gas fireplace worked to restore warmth as she cuddled under a blanket with a book.

Usually a historical romance. Barf.

I said goodbye to Grady once more before leaving for the day, who called me a lazy waste of space for never working a full shift. I justified it by saying I was efficient, which was true. I got everything done and more than what was required of me. No one ever complained when I left early.

It was the perfect job to line my pockets, fill Sam’s college fund, and give me the flexibility to be home with my family when I wanted to be.

It also gave me the time I needed to tie up the loose ends I told Grady I was working on. I had a plan in the works, and it would all come to fruition soon.

In just a few days, in fact.