The back door slammed. Lane waved to the women as he passed to the fridge. “Just grabbing another water. Kids are thirsty.” After he retrieved a bottle, he brushed past Ronnie and squeezed her hand. Ronnie blushed and ducked her head, and her gaze fell to the engagement ring she’d recently begun to wear.

“You guys are so cute,” Andrea exclaimed. “Did you set a date yet?”

“Oh, I think we’re just going to do something simple,” Ronnie said absent-mindedly. “We don’t really have the money to throw a big wedding. Lane’s parents have offered . . . but I don’t know. And anyway, it’s not like I have any family.”

She trailed off with a sad sigh. About a month after Vanessa left town, Ronnie received an envelope in the mail. Inside was paperwork entitled Termination of Parental Rights, intended to be filed in Cobalt County, Pennsylvania. Ronnie stared at Vanessa’s name at the top of the page for a long time. This was Ronnie’s chance to officially adopt Esme. But it still felt like a trick, like too great a gift. She’d tried to call Vanessa to say thank you, to say that she could be part of their lives, but Vanessa didn’t answer.

Ronnie found a lawyer in Pennsylvania and got things moving with Vanessa’s relinquishment hearing. Vanessa was being responsive, at least to the lawyers—the hearing was scheduled in a few weeks. Ronnie still felt on tenterhooks; she still waited for the other shoe to drop. But then again, she’d also allowed herself to dream. Esme might get to stay with me. Always. She’ll never have to leave. I’ll get to worry about normal parenting things, like teenage drama. Texting while driving. Heartbreak.

Esme was thriving, though. Lane had taught her to read over the holidays—simple sight words, mostly, but it was a start. And Ronnie and Lane were doing great, too. Ronnie said she’d told Lane about Esme and her past, and it had really opened a floodgate between them. They were so vulnerable with each other now, truly soul mates. It had been Lane who’d encouraged Ronnie to go back to work. After a lot of discussion, she’d decided to return to Topless Maids—not as a dancer, but in the office. She’d gone in with a proposal for Bill about how the group could be more of a community.