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her, and she was so miserable and out of her element in the new school, she applied to Rise Academy on her own. She told me she couldn’t take it any more in—“ she stopped herself, not wanting to give away where they lived. “—where we were living. It began to feel like I was being selfish by keeping her with me. So I let her go. It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.”
    Suro gave her a grave nod. “For me, too. Kenji has a similar story. He went to private school, but even there he had a hard time fitting in. I travel out of town on business a lot, but it seemed every time I came home there were messages from his teachers and administrators wanting to meet with me about him. He didn’t apply to Rise Academy on his own, but he did get my business partner to convince me he would be happier here.”
    She shook her head. “It’s strange, because every other mom I know thinks I’m so unlucky because my daughter’s autistic, but they don’t get that your kid is your kid and you love her just as much as they love their kids, even the weird stuff. As hard as it was to deal with Sparkle’s tantrums sometimes, I still get sad when I come home from work and she’s not there.”
    “Same,” Suro said. “My job requires a lot of travel, but when Kenji was living with me, I limited myself to three-day trips. Now I can go wherever I want for as long as I want during the school year, but no matter when I return, the house is empty. I have been looking forward to summer with my son for a long time now.”
    “Me, too,” she said. He had probably said more words to her in that one pass of conversation than he had the entirety of their heat-fueled night.
    Remembering that night made her uncomfortable now, though. She shifted on the blanket, trying not to think about how less than twelve hours ago his fingers, his dick, and his tongue had all taken turns inside of her. Or how good they had felt.
    As if picking up on her sexual thoughts, he gave her a heated look and said, “I would like to see you again.”
    “I have to head back to the dorms soon and get the rest of Sparkle’s stuff.”
    “Same for Kenji and me. But we can have a late lunch afterwards.”
    Real regret pooled in Lacey’s heart when he said that, but she made a big show of looking at her watch nonetheless. “That’s a great idea. How about if Sparkle and I go now and we meet you and Kenji back at your guest cabin at, say, two?”
    He nodded, and they both stood up.
    She tilted her head with a rueful smile. “I guess I’ll just give you a hug goodbye since there are people watching, and we don’t want to encourage the kids any further than we already have.”
    Again his face remained impassive, but his eyes glinted with humor. “I’ll take the hug for now,” he said.
    However, when she wrapped her arms around him, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “But I’ll be taking much more later.”
     
     
    BUT LATER NEVER CAME. To her credit, the woman from the bar only made them wait twenty minutes beyond the appointed time when the room phone finally rang. It was the front desk, saying someone who had referred to herself as “Sparkle’s mom” had asked the receptionist to convey the message that something had come up and she and her daughter wouldn’t be able to make it to lunch.
    “Is that all she said?” he asked.
    “Yes, sir,” the receptionist answered.
    He thanked her for the call and placed the receiver back in its cradle.
    “Who was that?” his son asked.
    “Sparkle and her mother won’t be able to make it to lunch,” he repeated, his voice almost as flat as Kenji’s.
    “Why not?”
    “She didn’t say,” Suro answered.
    “What about you two getting married?”
    Suro had to fight hard to hold on to his patience then. “You’ll have to let that notion go. It’s unlikely I’ll ever see her again.”
    “No,” Kenji said, suddenly morphing from a musical prodigy into a forlorn toddler. “I want to work