Simon swiped his hands down his jeans. “Erm, so . . . I can’t coach your soccer team this year, not with my current commitments.” He picked up a thin present and handed it to Jeremiah. “But I did talk to your coach and he helped me work out the details on this. I . . . I hope you like it. All of you.”

Jeremiah ripped open the wrapping and gaped at the paper inside. “I get to work with . . . he’s one of the most famous soccer legends in England . . . he’s going to have a clinic here?”

Simon nodded, pulling a pamphlet from the stack of papers and handing it to me. “If . . . if it’s okay, I thought, well, since it’s hard for your parents to get to us as often as they’d like, and with the baby, you might want some help for when I can’t be around . . . Angelica and I worked out my schedule for next summer so I can stick closer to you all here in England with some short trips, a couple of overnights onto the continent. That way, you get time with your folks, Ella, and they can spend time with all three of you, but we’re together more.”

“I thought it a marvelous idea,” my father put in, smiling. “He asked me the other day before his concert.” Dad rubbed at a spot behind his ear. “Seemed a way to keep everyone happier.” He trailed off, turning to look at my mum, who patted his hand and beamed at him.

Simon sat next to me, showing me the dates. “Jeremiah can do the whole two-month course here. It doesn’t start until end of June, which will give you time to wrap up your classroom and grading and everything—if you go back to work after the baby.”

“I plan to stay home with her.”

Simon’s smile grew. “That’ll give us more flexibility as to when we come then. I didn’t make any reservations—I thought you’d want to decide on dates.” His cheeks reddened. “Um, that’s if you’re okay with us spending the summer here.”

“This will work for his touring schedule, Angelica?” I mightn’t love Simon’s newest career, but he did, and I needed to find a way forward that would best accommodate all of us.

“When he told me the idea, I started working with our team to rearrange a few things. It’ll totally work and should help build his international following. Jon’s on board.” Angelica smiled at me. “We only had to schedule three overnights between July and September 1.”

“Thank you,” I said, a bit overwhelmed.

Angelica raised her tea in salute.

I turned to Simon and cupped his cheek. “And thank you . . . for understanding . . . for wanting family time.”