I got a text from Drake shortly after Jase left. Having a cell phone was foreign to me, and texting proved to be a painful inconvenience. I wondered why people were slaves to their phones when I felt it was a wretched piece of technology. When I sat down to dinner with Miss Pearl, I stuffed it in my pocket and focused on those seated around the table. I loved seeing the twins happy. Trace had never had another little boy to play with regularly, and it was obvious Derrick had been lacking male companionship. Megan and Emmy took to Miss Pearl the same way I had-as if they'd known her their entire lives. Even when I was with Ryan, I couldn't remember a time where I'd felt genuine happiness like this-or maybe it was just that I was content. Life wasn't perfect, but we were mending.
"Penny fo
