Page 32 of Played By the Fool

“She said she’s going to come and visit us next month. Maybe stay for a few weeks.”

“Aww that will be fun. Maybe I can come too.”

“Of course. You know I won’t say no to that. Well I love you, Court. But I have to finish packing and shit. I’ll text you later.’

“Love you too, sheepy.”

I laugh as I hang up. There’s a knock at the door and I frown. I’m not expecting anyone. I walk into the living room and Carmelo motions for me to stay back. He walks over to the door and looks out the peephole. He’s so tall that he has to bend down to do it.

I hear him chuckle as he opens the door. But then I don’t hear anything.

“Carmelo?” I call out.

When he doesn’t answer, I poke my head around the corner.

“CIARÁN!” I yell as I run and jump into his arms.

Ciarán laughs and peppers my face with kisses. Aisling comes in behind him, smiling.

“You’re both here!” I say as I get down and hug Aisling.

“It was hard to keep this quiet.” Aisling laughs.

“I was so grumpy earlier.” I laugh. “I was just telling myself ‘one more week’. I can do it. And then here you are!”

“Frank knew.” Ciarán chuckles.

“What? Who else knew you were coming?” I squint at Carmelo. He looks at the floor and ignores me. “You suuuuck.”

Everyone laughs as Ciarán hugs me again.

The next day we all pile into the car. Frank takes the first shift of driving. Our plan is to stop every three hours for food, or just to stretch. This reminds me of road trips we took when I was growing up. We’ll be in Lake Renegade in two days. We plan on staying the night in Pennsylvania. Even though between the four of us, we could just keep switching off. But Ciarán and Aisling haven’t driven this route. Last time, they went through New York.

Part of me is sad to leave Starlight Bay. It’s where I learned to stand on my own two feet and be my own person. It’s also where I met the love of my life. The man who showed me what unconditional love is.

Wherever Ciarán is? That’s home for me and always will be.

Ciarán

Life in Lake Renegade has been like a dream. Aisling and I opened our dental practice, we named it The Cavity Crusaders. Our new town has embraced us and our practice. Emilia works as our receptionist and handles everything we don’t. I like it because I get to see her all day, everyday.

Emilia’s family lives a couple hours east of us and they come to visit at least once a month. They even switched to our practice so that Aisling and I are their dentists. Since then, Courtney’s bitten me once. I told Aisling she had a new patient after that.

Frank decided he wanted to open a pizza parlor. He’s renting the space from the Mancinis. They don’t charge him much, which makes him a little grumpy. He says they should chargehim the same amount they would charge any other person. Enea laughed and said ok. He still hasn’t raised Frank’s rent. Frank specializes in making pizza puffs. All sizes—bite-size, calzone-size and even mini-bites. All different flavors too. He also makes regular pizzas. But he’s becoming well known for his puffs.