Forevermore Read Online Free PDF Page A

were still learning sign language, but they knew enough to keep up. The rest of his friends made the effort to learn a good mix of words, so he wouldn’t have to read lips all the time. It made going to a hearing school much easier for him. Now that he had a fluent best friend, friends willing to try, and an interpreter for classes, he didn’t feel as isolated as he used to. He’d never be the chatterbox that Caleb was, but he could communicate with almost anyone now.
    “Let’s split, bananas,” Caleb signed and spoke almost as naturally as Hank and I did.
    I herded the kids to my car. In all my life, I never thought I’d become a parental unit who needed a minivan to sit four or more kids comfortably. At the dealership, I found I couldn’t go through with it and swerved toward the midsized SUVs instead. Coming from a coupe, I was still getting used to this massive people mover.
    Willa greeted us as the elevator opened on her floor. “My brilliant testers, perfect timing. Terrance, your mom needs to see you before you start. The rest of you, follow me. You can be my focus group.”
    We barely made it a few steps inside her now crammed office. Colorful posters, mugs, pens, bags, and boxes were scattered around the room.
    “Cool,” Caleb said as he took it all in.
    “We’re trying to decide what to order for game paraphernalia,” Willa told us. “Nykos and I can’t agree on what we like best. It’s up to you guys now.”
    Olivia glanced around as if worried that Nykos would appear. A big, loud guy, he intimidated me, too. If he weren’t so funny and good to Willa, I’d probably try to avoid him.
    The boys went to inspect everything closer. Olivia stood by my side, taking it all in from a distance. Everything looked market quality to me, but I knew Willa would only make some of these items available. She wasn’t into paraphernalia like her business partner was.
    “Rad,” Caleb said, holding up a blue and black messenger bag.
    “Epic.” Hank picked up the bag next to it in green instead of blue.
    “Your preference, Liv?” Willa asked, her eyes sliding briefly to mine. She was up to something, and I hoped I was guessing right about it.
    “They’re both nice,” Olivia told her.
    “How about this one?” She pulled a black backpack with purple side panels out of the box by her feet.
    Olivia’s favorite color. Yes, Willa’s intent became clear. Olivia’s backpack was falling apart. Briony had already sewn three patches into it because Olivia wouldn’t let us buy her a new one. She didn’t like us buying things for her. She was very money conscious. I suspected she’d been told time and time again just how expensive it was to raise kids by other foster parents. We’d used Christmas as an excuse to get her some much needed new clothes and Caleb’s birthday as another excuse to get her a new outfit so she wouldn’t feel left out with all the presents he got.
    “This one, huh?” Willa guessed when she noticed that Olivia’s eyes hadn’t left the backpack. “It’s about what we thought. We’re going to have to produce all three. You guys get the sample editions.”
    Bless her. I’d mentioned once that Olivia wouldn’t let us shop for her, and this wonderful woman figured out a way to get Olivia to take a much needed new backpack. Olivia’s eyes grew wide while the boys high fived each other and showed off their bags.
    “Liv?” Willa held out the backpack.
    “Don’t you need them?” Her eyes were still glued to the bag.
    “No, these are samples. We pick the best and tell the manufacturer to mass produce them. The ones that come off the line might be a little different, but not by much.”
    “Don’t you want it? Or someone who works here?” Olivia persisted, looking first at Willa then up to me.
    “Nope. We all have company logo bags, so these are yours. You’ll be my secret gorilla marketers at your school.” She tossed Olivia the bag.
    I reached a hand out to run over the