One More Time

She looked over at us with a smile that took my breath away. Her long, dark curls hung loosely over her shoulders. They were wet so I knew she only just got out of the shower. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants that hugged her body and a T-shirt that was a little too small. I grinned at her and walked over, eager to kiss her.

I leaned down to kiss her, but she pulled away quickly, glancing frantically at the kids.

“It’s okay,” Tommy said. “You can kiss him. He told us you like him.”

“Oh, he did?” Emily asked with a laugh. She looked at me with raised eyebrows, and I just shrugged.

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “We don’t care if you kiss, just don’t make it a habit.”

Emily and I both laughed before we leaned together for a light kiss. The kids both grinned and then went about their business, playing games and ignoring us.

We spent the rest of the day playing together, eating lunch and then dinner. At night, we all curled up on the couch under one big blanket and watched a movie. We shared a bowl of popcorn and laughed some more. Tommy and Sarah both fell asleep before the movie was half over, but Emily and I stayed there for hours, just holding the kids and each other. It felt so safe under that blanket that neither of us ever wanted to move.

EPILOGUE - EMILY

Sean’s book tour started a month ago, and finally the kids and I were able to join him. He tried to plan the tour over summer break, but they insisted on starting it during the month of May. It was hard, but we managed to make it work.

I stayed in Telluride to take care of Tommy and Sarah while Sean started his tour on the west coast. On weekends, I flew Tommy and Sarah out to see him, and sometimes, when he had enough time, he came home to spend the day with us. It was difficult, but now summer vacation was upon us.

I packed up the kids and my luggage, and Janie drove us to the airport. We were meeting Sean in Chicago that morning. He already had three events booked for today, and the kids and I would meet him at the second. His agent had everything set up: our car, our hotel, everything.

I was so excited as I got the kids situated in their seats and stowed our bags away above us. When I sat down, I tapped my fingers against my knee until the flight took off. I was so impatient to see Sean that I could barely sit still throughout the entire flight.

We landed in Chicago right on time. Tommy and Sarah both jumped out of their seats with excitement. I followed right behind them as we all hurried through the airport. At baggage claim, a man was waiting for us with a sign that said, “Sean Evans’s guests.” The three of us felt like VIPs as we headed outside and were loaded into a black car. The driver threw our luggage in the trunk and then drove through the city of Chicago. It took an hour for us to reach our destination, but when we did, we were all speechless.

Sean’s second event of the day was at a college campus. He was giving a speech to a class full of undergrads, all pursuing the art of children’s books. They were aspiring writers who hoped to learn from someone successful. The campus was beautiful, and I couldn’t stop looking around as the driver drove us closer to the building. When we pulled up to the front, Sean’s agent was waiting for us right outside. She waved and smiled brightly, running over to open the door and let us out.

“What about our bags?” I asked as the driver suddenly drove away.

“He’ll take them to the hotel,” Anne Marie, Sean’s agent, said. “They’ll be waiting for you tonight.”

“Okay,” I said with a nod.

“He’s right inside,” Anne Marie said.

She led us through the front door of a tall building. We followed her down a few hallways and up a flight of stairs until we reached the entrance to a classroom. Sarah was vibrating with excitement as she jumped around, trying to catch a glimpse of her dad. Tommy was doing the same, but he kept stopping himself, as if he wanted to appear older, more mature.

“Where is he?” Sarah complained after a few minutes. “I don’t see him.”

“He’s in there,” Anne Marie said. “We’re going to wait until everyone is seated, and then we’ll sneak you guys in the back. Remember, this is really important so we have to be quiet, okay?”

“We can’t say hi to Daddy?” Sarah asked. “But we haven’t seen him in so long.”

“You’ll be able to see him right after the event,” Anne Marie said. “It won’t last long. Only an hour at the most.”

“An hour?” Sarah whined, and I bent down to talk to her face to face.

“It’ll be fine,” I said. “Just think, you’ve gone weeks without seeing him, and now, he’s right inside that door.”

Sarah smiled and tried to remain calm. When we could finally go into the classroom, we were ushered into three seats at the very back. I could see Sean standing at the front of the classroom, his eyes focused on the notes in front of him. A smile spread across my face when he finally looked up and his eyes fell on us. He waved, and the kids waved back, practically jumping out of their seats.

I’d never been prouder of Sean as I sat there and listened to his speech. He said so many wise, intelligent things about the art of writing children’s books. My mind was racing with his every word, but what was most impressive was how many applauded him for choosing such a difficult subject.

“You know,” he said after someone brought it up. “Just over two years ago, my kids lost their mother. She died from cancer, and it shook all of us deeply. But they were both so young that there wasn’t much I could say to comfort them. They barely

understood what happened, and because of that, I felt lost and hopeless. My own emotions were nothing compared to theirs, and I found myself wishing for a way to break through to them. About a year later, I thought of an idea for a book. It was hard at first. Writing didn’t come easily to me, and I had to push myself a lot. I had the support of so many amazing people though, and eventually, it worked. I wrote the book, and well, here we are now.”

The room erupted in applause, and I joined in, slamming my hands together frantically. Just listening to Sean talk was enough to make my heart race. As I watched him finish out the class, I became more desperate to be near him. I hadn’t felt his lips against mine in far too long, and when we were finally able to walk over to him, I threw myself at him with desperation.