Free Finally My Forever by Brooke St. James Page B

wrap it up, and by the time I made it inside there was only one other family there, and they were just leaving.
    "That was so much fun, Carly," Claire said sincerely when I came inside. "Thank you for taking time out of your week to come do that." She gestured to the door. "Vanessa was just telling me how much she and Mark enjoyed it."
    Thomas came to stand next to me. He stood close enough where our shoulders were touching and put his hand in mine, interlacing our fingers.
    "You have some pretty cool friends, Thomas," I said. "I'm sure glad you let me come meet them today."
    "Oh, you can come back tomorrow too," Thomas assured me, nodding his head as he stared at me seriously.
    I smiled.
    "She has a job, Thomas," Claire said. "It's a lot to ask for her to come do that for you guys—even once."
    "You're not coming back?" he asked with real, true fear in his eyes.
    "Of course I'll be back," I promised. I glanced at Claire. "Maybe we can set up something for a weekly or biweekly basis. Would that work for you?"
    "That would be amazing!" she said.
    Thomas continued to hold my hand, snuggling closer to me.
    "I won't always need to be outside," I said.
    "That'll be fine. You can just take over the art room if you want. Amanda's done in there at 5."
    "Are we gonna do the Cokes again?" Thomas asked staring at me.
    "Maybe sometime," I said, "but I have some other cool experiments for you guys to check out first."
    He held my hand to his chest and gave me a huge smile. I returned it before looking at Claire. "Wednesday nights should be fine, but I'll get in touch with you about setting up a regular time."
    "That sounds wonderful!" She reached out to hug me, and I hugged her back with one arm since Thomas still had a grip on me.
    "I'm gonna go home and eat some dinner," I said, looking at Thomas. "I guess I'll see you next time. Thanks again for having me."
    "You can eat dinner at our house," he said.
    I smiled at Claire, hoping that hadn't made her feel uncomfortable. "Oh, thanks for the offer, but my little dog's waiting for me at home. If I took too long, he would wonder where I was."
    "You have a dog?"
    "I sure do. His name's Roscoe. He's a scruffy, brown mutt."
    "Can he come next time?" Thomas asked, looking out of the corner of his eyes at his mom.
    "Carly can bring her dog if she wants to," Claire said. "I'm sure everyone would love to meet Roscoe… as long as he doesn't bite or anything."
    "He's really friendly."
    Thomas pumped his fist before raising his hand above his head in the famous Thomas pose. "Yessss!" he said.
    Claire turned off the overhead light, and we started making our way to the door. "Are you sure you can't come for dinner?" she asked.
    She seemed sincere with the invitation, but I instantly shook my head in refusal. "Thanks so much for the offer, but I have to get home."
    "Micah's coming to eat, isn't he, Mom?"
    "As far as I know," she said.
    We were walking when Thomas said that, and I seriously almost tripped. I had to concentrate on each step to keep from losing my balance. Man, why hadn't I just agreed to go eat? There was no way I could change my mind now, though. That would be totally obvious.
    Thomas was still holding my hand as we walked out together. "Micah's my baby brother," he said, as his mom locked the door.
    "He's not really a baby anymore, though, is he?" Claire asked, adjusting her purse.
    "He's younger than me," Thomas reminded her.
    "I met him," I said, smiling. "I think he was here the day when I came to help paint." I had to bite my own cheek to keep from laughing at myself for saying "I thought" he was there. Who was I kidding?
    "He was?" Thomas asked with a doubtful expression.
    "She probably did meet him," Claire agreed. "I'm sure he came up for the weekend to help."
    "Is he coming over to eat tonight?" Thomas asked again, rubbing salt in an open wound.
    "As far as I know, baby," she said, patiently.
    I wanted desperately to ask the unaskable questions. How's Micah? What's he look like