“You’re quite the comedienne,” Layla said, shaking her head. She was in a healing phase and was not remotely interested in pursuing a romantic relationship at this time. The mere thought of it exhausted her. “I met him and his soon-to-be-ex-wife at back-to-school night.”
He had walked into the music room holding his daughter’s hand. He had short dark hair and was dressed casually in jeans and a navy-blue polo. Mid-to-late thirties, give or take. A gorgeous woman had been holding the little girl’s other hand. Her long dirty-blond hair had a few lighter, face-framing highlights. She wore a sundress and had a deep, golden tan, the type of which Layla would never achieve because her fair skin only pinkened in the sun and would burn to a crisp if she spent more than thirty minutes outside without slathering herself in something with an SPF of at least fifty. This woman looked like she belonged in a beach town, Malibu or Monterey.
Not Rochester, Minnesota.
Healing phase notwithstanding, occasionally Layla allowed herself to fantasize about the type of man she might fall in love with someday, and this was definitely one of those times. The fantasy was slightly marred by the presence of the woman. It was like that Alanis Morissette song about meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife. In another lifetime, Layla used to sing a lot of Alanis Morissette songs.
“Hi, I’m Josh Summers,” he said when they reached Layla. He shook her hand. “And this is Sasha.”
Layla crouched down so she was at eye level with Sasha. “Hi, Sasha. I’m Miss Layla. I’m going to be your music teacher. Are you excited for the first day of school?”
“I have an Elsa lunch box and backpack.”
“You do? That’s cool. Maybe I’ll get the chance to see it. Do you like music?”
“She likes the Frozen soundtrack,” Josh said. So did Layla. She often sang along to it when she was alone in the car. How could she not? It was awesome. Frozen II would be released sometime next year, and when that happened, the elementary school would be hit with a fresh tidal wave of Frozen merchandise.
“She certainly does,” the woman said. “Hi, I’m Kimberly. Sasha’s mom.” She stepped forward and clasped Layla’s hand.
“I’m sorry,” Josh said. “I should have introduced you.”
“No, it’s okay,” Kimberly said.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Layla said. “And I’ll see you at school in a few days, Sasha.”
Josh and Sasha drifted toward the door, but Kimberly hung back. “Well, that was awkward. We’re getting divorced. I mean, we’re just separated for now, but we don’t live together anymore. We’re trying our best to remain united where Sasha is concerned while we figure everything out.” She said it as if Layla wasn’t the only one she was trying to convince. “We’ve given the school contact information for both of us.”
“Of course,” Layla said. “Thank you for letting me know.”
Kimberly smiled and hurried off to catch up with Josh and Sasha.
Now they watched as Josh and Sasha reached the sidewalk on foot, the Elsa lunch box swinging from Sasha’s fingers. The parents of kindergartners often elected to skip the drop-off line and walk their children into the building on the first day. It was usually a good call.
“What do you think those pants are called?” Annie asked, her voice low. She motioned toward Josh with the slightest tilt of her head. He and Sasha were getting closer.
Layla was wondering the same thing. The pants were khaki-colored and had a lot of pockets. Cargo? Painter? He was also wearing a gray T-shirt and work boots, and until then Layla hadn’t realized how much she liked that look. Liam wouldn’t have been caught dead dressed like that.
“I have no idea,” Tonya said. “But I’m going straight to the mall to buy my husband a pair as soon as I’m done here today.”
“Uh-oh,” Layla said. “We might have a runner.”
Sasha had stopped dead in her tracks. Layla had had enough experience with the first day of school to know that the kids usually fell into one of two camps: super excited or a total flight risk. Josh reached down and picked up Sasha. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him.
Layla walked over to them. “Hi, Sasha. I’m Miss Layla, your music teacher. Do you remember meeting me?” Sasha lifted her head and peeked at Layla. Then she shook her head.
“Well, I remember you. I was thinking about you this morning because we’re going to sing a song from the Frozen soundtrack in music class this week. Do you know the words to ‘Let It Go’?” She had planned no such thing, but if she could assist in eliminating the first-day jitters of a reluctant kindergarten student, she would.
Sasha lifted her head from the crook of Josh’s neck and nodded.
“Could I take a look at your lunch box?”
She nodded and Layla took the lunch box out of her hand and examined it. “Who’s your favorite, Elsa or Anna?”
“I like Olaf,” she said.
Layla smiled. “Me too.” A bell rang in the distance. “We’ll be starting soon. Now, are you all ready for your first day of kindergarten? We can’t sing if we don’t go inside.”
“Okay,” she said.
Josh placed his daughter’s feet back down on the ground. “Come on, Sasha. Let’s go find the line for your homeroom.” Sasha placed her hand in Josh’s. “Have a nice day,” he said to them.
Layla smiled. “Thanks. You too.”
“Hmmm,” Annie said when they were a safe distance away. “I really hope that wasn’t a one-off. We need something to shake up the morning routine.”
“I think you mean someone,” Tonya added in the same singsongy voice Annie had used.
“Settle down, you two,” Layla said.
chapter 2
Josh
Josh climbed back into his truck and stifled a yawn. The house he’d bought after he moved out was too close to the school to qualify for bus service, but he didn’t mind. One of the reasons he enjoyed self-employment so much was that it gave him the flexibility to take his daughter to school and pick her up at the end of the day. He was already used to filling in the gaps when it came to Sasha’s care, and he was happy to do it.
Sasha had awakened at 5:00 A.M., too excited for the first day of school to stay in bed a minute longer. He’d tried to gain another hour of sleep by coaxing her back into her room, but Sasha wanted nothing to do with that plan.
Wide awake with no hope of falling back to sleep, he’d admitted defeat and rolled out of bed. Sasha bounded into the kitchen alongside him as he started the coffee. He poured her a bowl of cereal and sat with her while she ate. When she was done eating and the caffeine had started to clear out the cobwebs, he told Sasha to get dressed while he grabbed a quick shower.
He and Kimmy had a fifty-fifty physical-custody split. It wasn’t ideal and neither of them liked the thought of Sasha having to go back and forth between two homes, but neither of them wanted less time with her, so that’s what they decided on. A few years ago, Kimmy landed her dream job as a legislative policy analyst for the City of Rochester and often worked long hours as a liaison with the state and federal governments. An important meeting prohibited her from accompanying Josh and Sasha to school on the first day, and she’d been feeling guilty about it all week. Josh tried his best to assuage it. “It’s okay,” he’d told her last night when she called to speak to Sasha and apologized yet again for not being able to join them.