All That Really Matters by Nicole Deese (new books to read TXT) 📕

you think we could make a stop on the way to the Coles’ house after mentor group today? I need to pick up a birthday gift for Nate. Oh, and Silas said yes about the Star Wars sleepover tonight. Thank you! ?

Molly

Oh that’s wonderful! ??? And yes, of course! I never need an excuse to shop.

Wren

Thanks! :)

Despite my momentary frustration over Rosalyn’s unwanted input—via Ethan, I was sure—on my latest post upload schedule, stating that I “didn’t have enough content to satisfy my contractual agreements with specific sponsors,” I smiled down at Wren’s text.

I pushed away from my desk in my makeshift office at Fir Crest Manor and peered across the hall into the open door of a certain program director. The Coles had invited Wren to stay the night after her brother’s big Star Wars bash, and I’d gone to bat for her, pleading with Silas to allow her to stay, assuring him that I’d arrange transport there and back. He’d voiced reservations, concerned that bending the rules would seem like preferential treatment and be cause for animosity among the girls. But I disagreed. Ever since Wren’s moment of vulnerability in the fireside room that night at D&D, I’d seen the start of a transformation in her. A budding friendship between her and Monica, participation in extra activities around the house, and particularly her sharing during mentor group time.

Both Silas and I had met the Coles, and we trusted they were a safe family with a safe home life. Plus, it would do Wren’s heart good to have some real connection time with her brother, a fact Silas couldn’t deny. She had a phone to contact us if she needed to, which I would gladly be on call for. Ultimately, the final decision was Silas’s to make. I was thrilled he’d chosen to give Wren a night away to spend with Nate.

I caught a glimpse of him now as he strolled out of his office with his brother Jake and down the hall beyond my view.

I clicked out of my email screen and into my bulleted task list on my phone for The Event.

“I hear you’re making dreams come true around this place with your magic fundraising wand.” Jake’s voice nearly startled the phone from my hands.

He smiled good-naturedly and sauntered inside my office. My eyes flicked over his shoulder, wondering if Silas had made a quick U-turn as well and followed his brother. A niggle of disappointment settled in my gut when he didn’t appear.

“Hey, Jake. How are you?” I rose to give him a quick hug. He and Clara always seemed to be at the manor doing something or another. Sometimes I wondered how they managed it all—their jobs, their relationship, their constant service to the needs of these residents and this house. Then again, my own work-life balance had changed quite dramatically since I’d taken on planning The Event. I’d written somewhere in the ballpark of fifty donation emails to my current sponsors, informing them of the black-tie, invitation-only affair that would benefit a worthy cause and offer them a tax break.

So far, with the Dream Big money I’d been promised from Mr. Greggorio, and all the other sponsors who’d pledged, we were in for just over two hundred and eighty grand—a fun little secret I couldn’t wait to tell Silas on our date tomorrow. Or, rather, our shopping trip and dinner outing.

Jake looked around my cozy office space and reached his hand out to the wall. “What are these things?” He touched one of the giant summery flower decals I’d added this week to brighten up the room. “Stickers? Are they permanent?”

Men. “They’re decals. And as I’ve already assured Silas, they are temporary. They’ll peel right off if I ever get fired as a volunteer.”

“Fired?” He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“I don’t know, I’m pretty sure Silas put a big check mark by my name after the edible glitter fiasco in the kitchen last week. We’re all gonna need a bit more practice on our dessert platter arrangements before The Event.”

Again, he laughed. “Nah, you’re good, really. I haven’t seen Silas smile this much in . . . well, years.”

Warmth flared in my chest. I didn’t want to assume that statement was directly related to when I’d joined the ranks, but—

“And yes, in case I wasn’t clear enough, it’s you. You’re the reason. Clara and I are certain of it.”

The compliment thrummed though me. I so badly wanted his words to be true.

“Oh, that’s right,” Jake said, cutting through my happy haze with a snap of his fingers, “Clara wanted me to tell you she’s under the pavilion. She’s hoping you might have a free minute to chat about event numbers before mentor group.”

“I’ll make time, thanks.” I closed my laptop and slipped my phone into my pocket. “I’d be lost without her budgeting brain.”

“I’d just be lost without her, period.” The smitten, sincere way he said it caused my heart to swoon. They were young, yes, but they were also deeply in love with each other. What must that be like?

As I took the stairs that led outside to the pavilion, I wondered if I would ever truly be capable of sharing that kind of connection with another human being.

I hoped so.

Clara crossed the pavilion and gave me a hug as soon as I stepped off the grass into the shaded area. “I told Jake only to bother you if you didn’t look too busy. I know you’re trying to juggle two big jobs right now.”

There’d been less juggling and more ball dropping happening as of late, but The Event was more pressing than my socials. Dialing back on my posts wasn’t the end of the world, no matter what Rosalyn—or Ethan—believed. “It’s fine. Chatting with you was actually in my task journal today. I think it’s good for us to stay connected; then there’s less chance of me straying too far off track with the budget.”

Clara had been crunching all the fundraiser