Summer had wrapped the town in warm silence after the storm. The sidewalks still shimmered with puddles, and the campus of Holy Oak Elementary looked sleepy under a dim blue sky. Ainsley stood at the edge of the teachers' parking lot, arms folded across her chest, looking up at the clouds that had finally broken.
"I thought you hated walking in wet shoes," a voice teased from behind her.
She turned.
Calvin was leaning against the brick wall just outside the library, sleeves rolled up, rain flecks still on his shoulders.
"I do," she replied, "but I like the quiet after the chaos."
He nodded. "You always did."
There was a pause, one of those moments thick with unsaid things. He walked toward her, his steps slow, deliberate.
"Want to come in?" he asked, nodding toward the library doors.