“Yeah, and when we wake up, we’re going to Disneyland,” Emily says. The vacation was meant to be the main part of the gift, but my chest warms at getting to watch her deliver this news. Easy news. Good news. It’s been in short supply the last few years.

“Can we leave right now?” Paige says.

“What do you think, Mateo?” Emily asks me. “Are you ready to take us to the plane?”

“I was born ready. My car’s outside.”

Paige runs out ahead of us. Emily grabs the handle of her rolling suitcase. Her cheeks are pink with excitement. I wish I had a picture of it. Instead I focus on memorizing that pink all the way to the airfield.

“That’s our plane,” I say as we pull up next to it.

“A plane just for us?” Paige has her nose pressed to the car window. She’s still wearing the Minnie ears. This is the best thing about flying private, bar none. Driving up on the tarmac and soaring off into the sky. With Emily and Paige, it’s a double dream come true. I didn’t know I had this dream until it was happening, but here we are.

“Just for us,” answers Emily. “Let’s see what it’s like.”

Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

Beau Rochester

“Disneyland Paris,” Jane says with a sigh. She leans back in my arms on the wicker love seat we have on our porch. The sunset is in progress, orange and brilliant. It’s my new favorite part of the day. “That’s romantic.”

“I’ll take you to Disneyland Paris.”

She laughs. “I’d rather stay here with you. In our house.”

Jane likes to talk about our house. I feel another echo of the guilt that dogged me on her college tour. Our house. She should be talking about her dorm room. Her roommate. Not a house with me. I push it aside in favor of the sunset.

“I know they’re only going to be gone a couple days, but it’ll feel emptier around here.”

Jane nods and puts her arms around my neck. “I’m going to miss her, too. My trip to Houston was the last time we were apart for this long.”

It’s the first time Paige won’t be next door. Jane and I go up to Emily’s house, or Paige comes down to ours, every day. I can’t think of one time we broke the habit, until now.

“Did Mateo send you a picture of the Minnie ears?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Jane says wistfully. “It was the cutest thing. I wish we could have seen Paige in them before they left, but…”

“That would have put a damper on Mateo’s romantic Paris trip.”

“Oh, I know. Paige would have wanted us to come too.” Jane’s quiet for a minute. “I probably would have gone, if she asked. It’s good, though. For Emily.”