The late afternoon sun turned the playground woodchips gold, kids shrieking like tiny, sugar-powered banshees. Jasper sat on the edge of the sandbox, sneakers half-buried, iced coffee sweating in her hand, praying the sunglasses-and-hat combo made her look like a vaguely tired mom and not, well… her. Sapphire, meanwhile, was on a mission. “Mommy—MOMMY—look!” she whisper-yelled (which was just yelling at a slightly lower pitch). She dropped her plastic shovel like it offended her and took off across the play area. Before Jasper could ask what, Sapphire skidded to a stop in front of a boy by the slide. “Noah!!” she announced, star-bright. “Mommy! This is Noah from my class! He has the coolest dinosaur toy and he shared his crayons with me and he made the teacher laugh when he sneezed and fell out of his chair—”
Jasper winced. “Oh… oh, we’re sharing all the lore today.” And then Sapphire waved her over like she was summoning a stagehand. Jasper stood, brushing sand off her jeans, and walked toward the pair just as a man stepped up beside the boy. Their eyes met. Jasper felt her pulse hiccup. “Oh.” She offered a small, apologetic smile. “Hi. I’m—uh—Jasper. Sapphire’s mom.” She tipped her sunglasses down just enough to actually see him. “And apparently your son saved her entire kindergarten experience by lending her crayons.” Sapphire nodded vigorously. “He did! He’s my friend.” Jasper glanced at Nate, a shy spark of humor tugging at her mouth. “Guess our kids decided we’re meeting today whether we planned to or not.” @hxrricvnes
