Mia did. "You came!" she shouted racing over. Emily smiled as Mia took her hand and pulled her toward the tables. Ryan watched from across the room, something warm and cautious moving through him. Later, while Mia sold raffle tickets, Emily stopped beside a display of student drawings.
One picture made her completely still. It showed a little girl standing between a brown-haired man and a blonde woman beneath three uneven stars. In the corner, written in a child's careful handwriting, were the words "People who need a second chance." Emily touched the edge of the paper. "Ryan," she whispered.
He stepped beside her. "What is it?" Emily looked toward Mia, who was laughing 20 ft away. Then she asked a question that made the noise of the crowded gym seem to disappear. "When did Mia draw this?"
Ryan checked the date beneath the picture. "3 weeks ago." Emily's face lost its color. 3 weeks ago was before the parking garage, before the missed dinner, before Ryan had supposedly entered her life at all. Across the gym, Hannah Reed quietly appeared through the doors, saw the drawing in Emily's hand, and stopped walking.
Hannah did not move until Emily looked directly at her. For one long second, the three adults stood separated by 20 ft of folding tables, paper stars, and families buying cupcakes for $2 a piece. Ryan felt the change immediately. "Hannah." Emily called.
Hannah approached slowly. Mia was still busy selling raffle tickets, unaware that her drawing had turned an ordinary school fundraiser into something else entirely. "You knew about this," Emily said. Hannah glanced at Ryan, then at the picture. "I knew about the drawing."
Ryan's voice remained calm. "Would somebody tell me what is happening?" Hannah exhaled. "Mia entered a district art project last month. The theme was second chances."
Ryan looked toward his daughter. "She never told me." "Because she wanted it to be a surprise." Hannah reached into her purse and removed a small envelope. "WestBridge sponsored the project."
Emily stared at her. "And you judged the finalists." The memory returned to Emily all at once. A conference room, 20 children's drawings, one picture she had studied longer than the others. Three figures beneath uneven stars.
She had never known the child's last name because entries were coded for anonymous judging. "Mia was entry 17," Emily whispered. Hannah nodded. Ryan looked between them. "Then why did Mia recommend me?"
Hannah almost smiled. "She did not recommend you to Emily. She recommended Emily to you." Ryan went still. Hannah explained that after Mia's drawing was selected, she had recorded a short thank you message for the sponsor.
During that recording, Mia had asked who chose her picture. Hannah had answered only that it was a woman named Emily who worked at Ryan's company. Mia had apparently remembered more than anyone expected. "She told me her dad needed a second chance, too," Hannah said softly. "Then she asked if Emily was nice."
Ryan rubbed a hand across his jaw, and from that, you arranged a blind date. Not from that alone. I knew Ryan from employee volunteer events. I knew Emily. I thought two good people might survive one dinner.