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Days after Cross had joined us for dinner, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d overheard outside Beau’s roos, Cross still suffered from the loss It explained the sadness I often saw in his eyes Every tiain And to top it all off, the way he talked to Beau about it, so matter of fact, was perfect

So perfect that Beau hadn’t stopped talking about Cross since he left our house that night, whichabout the man And I really, really needed to A few sessions of unbelievably a about a man, especially one with so much on his plate already

I shook thoughts of Cross out of my mind as I pulled up in front of Beau’s school Today was the last day of school whichout and having fun But first we had an important appointment with a new specialist

Even though Beau was se kid, I knew the ti and uncool So I knew I had to savor everysince chocolate pudding My heart swelled and a sht of his black hair flopping against his forehead

“Hey buddy, hoas your day?”

Beau cli and slight effort to breathe He eased his backpack over the back seat and I kneas having a bad day No energy to bounce into the car, fling his backpack around, give h five and start his nonstop chatter

He slumped back and fastened his seatbelt without a re a full-blown attack, just a routine struggle with asthma I wanted to screa wheel but if he could deal with it without co, I could too

“It was good, Moht words, but his tone told me otherwise

“Are you upset about the specialist visit? If you are, don’t worry This is just informational”

Dr Yang had recommended that we see a new doctor who used stem cells to treat certain asthma cases I didn’t know a lot about ste promise for patients with plenty of ailments, so I was cautiously hopeful

“No Mo and the way his botto I waited Beau wasone, which ood and ready

Waiting was easy once Ilow inside the car After fifteen minutes he pulled out a book and called my bluff That hat happened when you had a kid too sh as I turned off the radio

“You have to be the only kid on the planet who isn’t happy on the last day of school”

He sighed and shoved his book into the side pocket of the door “They want to put rade next year instead of fourth”

It wasn’t all that shocking since his teacher and principal had been hinting at it all year, but I didn’t like that they’d gone behind my back to talk to my kid about it “You don’t want to do that?”