The smile kissing my lips is unstoppable. It’s been a permanent fixture ever since I left the Becks’ house a few days ago.

My weight sinks back into the chair, and I swivel back and forth. Staring off into the distance, I let my mind wander.

I’ve been grateful that rain has canceled baseball practice and that I’ve been too busy at work to see Cole. The texts we’ve exchanged have been fun. Flirty. But they’ve given me a second to gather my thoughts about Sunday afternoon.

The fact that I had sex with him.

In the morning, I wake up thinking that I’m going to regret it. I lie in bed and close my eyes and wait for the gloom that I expect to cloud my head.

But it doesn’t come.

I don’t feel bad for having sex with Cole. There’s not even a hint of dismay anywhere inside me for taking Ethan to the Becks’ for dinner. If anything, I’m glad I did it—both things.

Ethan has been extra lighthearted lately. I heard him talking about going to the cave with one of his friends during an online gaming chat. The happiness in his voice made my heart sing. How can that be a bad thing?

And Cole . . . I wiggle in my seat.

I look forward to his texts. Sneaking outside to talk to him last night reminded me of a time in my life when I felt free. Happy. Like a whole person instead of one split into a bunch of roles that serve other people.

I love my life. Ethan is my world, and I adore my job and Val and the community events I participate in. But this thing with Cole is something just for me—even if it’s only for a little while.

And that’s okay. It has to be.

“Hey, Palmer?” Kirk asks, coming into the doorway.

“What’s up?”

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

Oh great. “Sure, Kirk. What’s going on?”

A shadow ripples across his face. “There’s a bus auction Friday in Parkersburg. There’s no online apparatus for us to bid from here, and I was going to go, but the wife has a doctor’s appointment in Columbus. I—”

“Do you need me to go?”

He nods. “I hate to even ask you, but Charlotte gets her biopsy results back from her breast scan. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I really don’t want to send her alone.”

“You can’t send her alone.” I smile reassuringly at him. “Go with her. I’ll go.”

Relief settles on his features. “It won’t cause you any problems?”

“No. I’ll have Val grab Ethan from school, or he can ride the bus. It won’t kill him. And I should be back in plenty of time to take him to practice.”