Elodie had tried to let go.
Really, she had.
But after carrying her daughter for nine months, raising her for years, being there for every scraped knee and bedti story, it wasn’t that simple.
Now, standing here surrounded by all these people, the lights, the music, the laughter... several mories kept crashing over her. One after another. No matter how hard she tried to push them away.
"Miss Miller?"
She turned.
Jimmy Hall was standing there, looking mildly surprised to see her.
She nodded politely. "Mr. Hall."
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" he asked.
Elodie pushed down the ache in her chest and forced a smile. "Just picking up a plant for my apartnt."
Jimmy stepped a little closer. He noticed the way she stood there, alone in the middle of the crowd. The look on her face was the definition of calm on the surface, but underneath, there was sothing heavy. Sad.
He didn’t know her well enough to ask what was wrong.
Instead, he said, "Want to grab a drink or sothing?"
She shook her head. "I’m just going to buy what I need and head ho." Then, to be polite, she asked, "What about you? What brings you here?"
"Dinner with a friend. He had to leave early."
There was a pause. Then Jimmy said casually, "There’s a big fireworks show happening here later. You might want to stick around for it."
He wasn’t asking her to stay with him. Just letting her know.
Elodie smiled faintly. "Oh. That explains all the people."
She and Jimmy weren’t close. She was about to excuse herself when she froze.
Three familiar figures appeared in the crowd.
Dante. Sienna. And Liora.
They were heading toward the main square, walking together like a family. Probably here for the fireworks too.
Elodie’s breath caught.
Jimmy noticed the shift in her expression imdiately. He followed her gaze and spotted Dante, Sienna, and the little girl.
He blinked, caught off guard.
There’d been rumors floating around recently. That Dante already had a kid. That he might even be married. But nothing was ever confird. Most people dismissed it as gossip.
Jimmy had too.
But now, seeing Dante out on Christmas with Sienna and a child? It made him wonder.
Still, just because they were together didn’t necessarily an the girl was Dante’s daughter, right?
And Sienna was only about twenty-five. She’d been studying abroad for years. Could she really have had a baby during grad school? That didn’t add up.
By the ti Jimmy sorted through his thoughts, Dante, Sienna, and the little girl had disappeared into the crowd.
He looked back at Elodie.
She’d already turned away.
He rembered hearing that she and Sienna didn’t get along. But the way Elodie had looked just now when she saw Dante and Sienna together... it wasn’t just dislike. It was sothing else. Sothing deeper.
"Want to walk over there?" Jimmy asked carefully.
He ant toward the square. Where the fireworks would be.
Elodie had actually wanted to see the fireworks.
But now...
Seeing Dante and Sienna here made her want to avoid the whole thing. It felt like a lose-lose situation no matter what she did.
Still, she forced a smile. "Alright."
They walked toward the crowd gathering along the waterfront.
Just as they reached the railing, the first firework exploded overhead. It was bright, loud, impossible to ignore. The crowd gasped and cheered, the noise swallowed up almost imdiately by the next boom.
People were pulling out their phones, recording, taking pictures, and making wishes.
Elodie just stood there, watching silently.
Jimmy noticed. "Want to take a video for you?"
She shook her head. "No. I’m good just watching."
He didn’t push it.
A few ters away, Sienna’s gaze wandered through the crowd and landed on them.
Jimmy was tall, and his polished, put-together look made him easy to spot even in a crowd this size.
She’d t him a few tis before. They weren’t close, but she knew who he was.
She was about to ntion it to Dante when she noticed who was standing next to Jimmy.
Elodie.
Her smile vanished.
What were they doing here together?
Events like this were for families. Couples. Not... whatever this was.
Elodie and Jimmy had barely interacted except for that one dance at the banquet. So why were they here? Together?
She looked again, just to be sure. Yep. Just the two of them.
"Aunt Sienna, look! It’s so pretty!"
Liora tugged on her sleeve, eyes glued to the sky, not wanting her to miss a single burst of color.
Sienna blinked and looked back down at her. "Yes, sweetie. Auntie sees it."
Dante noticed Sienna seed distracted. "Sothing wrong?"
"No," she said quickly. "Nothing."
Liora’s attention was completely locked on the fireworks. She didn’t glance around, didn’t notice her mother standing just a few ters away.
As Dante turned to say sothing to Sienna, his gaze drifted and he saw Elodie.
Jimmy was saying sothing to her, so she was facing their direction.
Their eyes t across the crowd.
Elodie froze. Her lips pressed together. Then she looked away, fast.
Jimmy turned back toward the fireworks just then, and his profile ca into Dante’s line of sight.
Even from the side, Dante recognized him imdiately.
Sienna noticed that Dante had spotted them too. She leaned in slightly. "They ca here together to watch the fireworks..."
"Mm," Dante said, voice flat. He looked away.
Seeing how unbothered he seed, Sienna smiled.
But then... Thinking about Jimmy and Elodie showing up here together, her smile faded. She turned her gaze back toward them, watching.
Jimmy happened to glance over at the sa mont.
Noticing Sienna looking his way, he gave her a polite nod.
Sienna smiled and nodded back at him.
They knew each other well enough that Jimmy probably should’ve walked over to say hi.
But rembering the obvious bad blood between Sienna and Elodie, he decided against it.
Sienna’s smile tightened. She turned back toward the fireworks.
After that one quick glance, Dante didn’t look at Elodie again.
And Liora? She was completely in her own world... snapping photos, laughing, totally absorbed in the colorful explosions overhead. She had no idea her mother was standing just a few ters away.
"Miss, would you like to buy a hot dog?"
Elodie turned.
The sll hit her first. It was salty, smoky, exactly how she rembered. Her stomach did a little flip. Moon goddess, it had been forever since she’d had one of these.
Her eyes drifted over to Liora without thinking.
Sure enough, Liora was holding a hot dog, taking big happy bites, ketchup sared on her fingers.
And Sienna, she had a bouquet of red roses now, tucked under one arm. She leaned into Dante, saying sothing that made him smile. Then Liora held up her hot dog, offering Sienna a bite.
Sienna took it, laughing. Then she handed it back to Liora, who imdiately turned and offered it to Dante.
He shook his head, said sothing Elodie couldn’t hear, and didn’t take a bite.
Elodie tore her eyes away.
"I’ll take one," she said to the vendor.
She was about to ask Jimmy if he wanted one too when he beat her to it.
"Let get it."
He’d already pulled out his phone, paid, and taken the hot dog from the vendor before she could argue. He handed it to her with an easy smile.
It was like five bucks.
Elodie took it. "Thank you."
"No problem."
They were just talking. Casually. Neither of them noticed that Sienna and Dante were watching from across the crowd. They’d seen the whole thing, saw Jimmy paying, handing her the hot dog.
Dante’s expression darkened slightly.
Sienna’s smile disappeared.
But Elodie and Jimmy didn’t notice.
The fireworks were still going. They turned back to watch.
Liora tugged on Sienna’s sleeve. "Daddy, Aunt Sienna, what are you looking at?"
Dante glanced down at her. "Nothing, sweetheart."
Sienna smiled too, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
A few minutes later, the grand finale lit up the sky and the huge bursts of gold and silver that made the whole crowd cheer.
Then it was over.
Elodie turned to Jimmy. "Thanks for bringing to see this. And for the hot dog."
"Heading ho now?"
"Yeah. I still need to grab that plant, then I’ll head back."
Jimmy didn’t push. "Alright. Take care."
"You too. Bye."
"Bye."
Elodie turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Jimmy started walking toward the parking lot, following the flow of people. He’d barely gone a few steps when soone called out.
"Jim?"
Rex’s voice.
Jimmy stopped and turned. "Rex. Hey."
Rex walked over, hands in his pockets. "What are you doing here?"
"Grabbed dinner with a friend earlier. You?"
Rex looked a little uncomfortable. "Sa."
"I’m heading out. You?"
"I—"
Rex stopped mid-sentence. His eyes locked on sothing in the distance, and he went completely still.
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