Page 40 of Finding Forever

“It’s not that simple, Kayla.”

“Why not?”

Beth opened her mouth, but realized she didn’t have an answer, not a real one that held up against her daughter’s loving expression.

“I don’t know,” she admitted finally, quieter than she meant to. “I built a different life after your father died. It was careful and contained.” She looked at where Dave had gone. “Somewhere along the way, I stopped knowing how to want anything for myself, Kayla. I’m not sure I remember how to start again.”

“You didn’t forget.” Kayla gently squeezed her arm. She was so much her mother’s daughter in that moment, that Beth felt something catch in her throat. “You’re just scared. That’s different. And for what it’s worth, your more confident than you’ve been in six years.”

Beth held her daughter’s arm. “Confident or not, we have to be at the restaurant soon. We can talk about Dave later.”

They walked back to Beth’s truck in a comfortable silence, the air sharp and clean around them. Beth thought about her daughter’s dress fitting in two weeks’ time, the cake sketches on the kitchen table, the whole bright future Kayla was walking toward.

And she wondered, just for a moment, if there was a bright future waiting for her, too.

Chapter 24

Dave knew he was in trouble when he realized he was watching Beth drive away. He should have been finishing the trim. Instead, he was thinking about the way Beth had smiled when she’d introduced him to her daughter.

It wasn’t her usual smile, either. Dave had become something of an expert on Beth Kowalski’s smiles over the last couple of months.

There was the polite one she gave people she didn’t know well. The distracted one when she was thinking about three things at once. The relieved one when something she’d worried about finally went right. And lately, there was the smile she gave him when she forgot to be careful.

He liked that one the best.

“Are you planning on using that drill?” Hank asked.

Dave turned. His friend was standing beside the ladder, watching him.

“I’m thinking.”

“That what we’re calling it?” Hank asked with a grin.

Dave ignored him and crossed the room.

Hank picked up another length of trim. “Kayla seems nice.”

“She does.”

“Looks like Beth.”

Dave glanced at his friend and sighed. “You’re about to say something I don’t want to hear.”

Hank laughed. “Not just yet. I’ll let you figure it out first.”

Dave’s phone buzzed on the workbench. He picked it up and saw a message from Rick at the building supply store.

Your order’s ready. Added the acoustic panels and extra trim. Total is $1,442.73. Want me to put it on the arts center account?

Dave stared at the message. He’d added the panels yesterday after Beth mentioned wanting somewhere teenagers could practice music without disturbing the classes next door. She’d said it casually, then immediately followed it with, “Maybe next year. We can’t afford them now.”

Dave knew exactly how much was left in the renovation budget.

Not enough.

There were still sinks to install, shelving for the pottery room, paint to buy, and dozens of small things that somehow became expensive when there were enough of them.

He typed a reply. No. Put it on my account.