So It Goes Read online

  CONTENTS

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Part II

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Part III

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Part IV

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Part V

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Part VI

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  SO IT GOES

  * * *

  Copyright © 2022 by Isis Molina

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  First Edition

  * * *

  Cover illustration and design by Senta

  To my family. The one I was born into, and the one I found along the way.

  PART I

  CHAPTER 1

  AARON

  Aaron had bought his dream house.

  The brown, one-story house with a small, pebbled pathway and a white picket fence was his. At thirty-one, Aaron was finally a homeowner.

  This was his new home.

  Karen, his girlfriend, was telling the movers where to set down their stuff as they carried them inside. Despite the long drive to Oklahoma City from Wilburton, Karen looked breathtakingly beautiful in her yoga pants, white tank top, and a blue flannel shirt. Her wavy dark hair was up in a ponytail and her light brown skin was glowing. When she caught him staring, she shot him a grin and Aaron melted inside.

  While Karen took care of business, Aaron was keeping Danny entertained. And they’d run out of games to play in the front yard while they waited for the movers to be done inside. They’d already played tag and rock-paper-scissors dozens of times. Danny might only be five, but he still required a high level of entertainment, which Aaron was clearly not providing at the moment.

  “Can I have a lollipop?” Danny asked.

  Luckily, Aaron did have a few lollipops in his pocket. He took one out—a red one—and handed it over to his son.

  “Here you go, kiddo,” Aaron said, messing up Danny’s silky black hair.

  Danny threw him a smile, and he looked just like his mother. Sometimes, Aaron was sure Danny looked a little bit like him, too.

  Aaron couldn’t believe that his little family had a house of their own.

  “Dad!” Danny yelled enthusiastically. “Look, a dog!” He was pointing to his right, where a huge golden retriever had just been let outside onto the next-door neighbor’s front lawn.

  Aaron covered the top of his eyes with his hand as he looked closer. The dog wasn’t alone. A man and woman were standing on the porch, and it took him a moment to realize they were waving at him. Aaron waved back, and the couple made their way towards Aaron’s front lawn.

  Since Aaron had lost his breath after their last game of tag and had been lounging on the grass with Danny—which, yeah, that was embarrassing—Aaron stood up, wiping the dirt off his pants. Then he offered Danny his hand and hoisted him up.

  The couple made their way to the small gate on their fence, and Aaron unlatched it to let them in.

  Now that they were closer, Aaron took them in. The woman was much shorter than the man, with curly black hair and dark brown skin. Both of her hands were on the small bulge in her belly. Aaron assumed she was pregnant, but made a mental note not to bring it up in case he was wrong. That would make for a terrible first impression on their new neighbors. The man stood tall and confident, with the greenest eyes Aaron had ever seen, pale skin, and day-old stubble. His dirty blond hair was messy, like he couldn’t keep himself from pulling on it. Aaron did a double-take when he saw him because he had one of those moments when you look at someone so attractive you think you’ve seen them on television or something, but then realize that no, they’re just really attractive.

  They looked like a nice couple, and their dog had good manners since it was just standing calmly beside them.

  “Hey, neighbor,” the woman said in a smooth voice, offering her hand for Aaron to shake. Once he did, she introduced herself as Angelica Adams. “And this is my husband, Lucas Adams.”

  Aaron shook Lucas’s hand next, and he immediately liked the way his nose crinkled when he smiled. “It’s nice to meet you guys. I’m Aaron Santos, and this is my son, Danny. Say hi, Danny.”

  Danny pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and said, “Hi. Can I pet your dog?”

  “Of course you can,” Lucas said, bending his knees so he was at Danny’s eye level. “Her name is Daisy because those are our favorite flowers. How old are you, Danny?”

  Danny lifted the hand he was using to pet the dog, fingers wide. “I’m five! Dad says I can get a dog now that we have a house. I want a big dog like this one.”

  Lucas laughed, looking up at Aaron. “Sounds like you’ll have your hands full.”

  Aaron sighed. “You have no idea—hang on, sorry.” Aaron looked over his shoulder, locating Karen by the front porch. “Karen! Hey, hon, can you come over here?”

  Karen said something to one of the movers and then went over to Aaron. “Hi there, you must be our new neighbors.” She shook both of their hands.

  Angelica nodded. “That’s right. I’m Angelica.”

  “Lucas.”

  “I’m Karen. It’s so nice to meet another family so soon. This looks like such a lovely neighborhood.”

  “Oh
, it’s the best,” Angelica said. “I hope you get to meet everyone. Our neighbors are great, even the Johnsons who don’t particularly like children. I’m sure they’ll make an exception for our first one.” She chuckled, motioning to her belly.

  Lucas shook his head. “I really doubt it. Cole and Margaret can’t stand children. I have this theory that they’re secretly and collectively the witch from Hansel and Gretel.”

  Angelica threw her husband a look. “Lucas, dear, don’t scare our new neighbors. We’re trying to make them feel welcome.”

  Lucas smiled. “Welcome.”

  This guy was weird. Aaron was starting to like him.

  “Well, I don’t know about you, K, but I feel welcomed,” Aaron said.

  “Oh, yeah.” Karen nodded in agreement. “Congrats on the upcoming baby. When are you due?”

  “Thank you,” Angelica said. “She’s due in about six months. We just learned she’s a girl two days ago.”

  Lucas grinned. “We had originally planned for it to be a surprise until the day she was born, but my wife changed her mind during her last appointment. We’re both very excited.”

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple, which was such a soft gesture that made Aaron a little uncomfortable. Aaron didn’t come from a highly affectionate family. His father, Rodrigo, had never been very touchy-feely with Aaron or his younger brother, Jay. Aaron and Karen rarely ever kissed in public. They were just not that type of couple.

  “Kids are great,” Karen said.

  At that moment, Danny was about to feed Daisy some of his lollipop, so Aaron scooped him into his arms. “Danny, dogs don’t eat candy.”

  “Why not?” Danny asked. “It tastes good.”

  “It makes them sick, honey,” Angelica said. “But that’s really sweet of you. Daisy seems to really like you.” She looked from Karen to Aaron. “We weren’t sure when you were moving in, so we had nothing prepared. But we’d like to invite you to our house for dinner sometime next week. Whenever it’s convenient for you guys.”

  Aaron glanced at Karen. They shared a smile. It was nice having friendly neighbors for once. Back in the apartment they’d been living in since Danny was born, they’d had the rowdiest, most unapologetic neighbors ever. Aaron had wasted his breath trying to get them to quiet down at night when they were trying to put Danny to bed. This was why a house was so much better in so many ways. And, somehow, this felt like a good sign.

  “We’d love to come over soon,” Karen said.

  “We really would,” Aaron agreed.

  After getting everything off the truck and into their house, they had a lot of unpacking to do. Since this was no longer a one-man job, they left Danny with his Lego set while they started with the kitchen items, since they would need those in the morning.

  As they unpacked their dishes, Aaron sang along to Café Tacvba’s greatest hits, which were playing from his phone on the kitchen island. They had an actual kitchen island.

  “God, I love this house,” Aaron said, unwrapping another big ceramic plate.

  “Me too,” Karen said, washing the dishes as Aaron handed them over. “I think we made the right choice with this house. At first I thought it was too small. Three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms wasn’t my first choice, but it’s kind of cute.”

  To Aaron, this house was like a castle. Growing up, he’d never had a stable home. He’d lived in about a thousand motel rooms and a hundred apartments, none of which he could call home because right when he was getting used to the place, it was time to move again. This was the first place where Aaron felt like he had his feet firmly on the ground, where he could grow his roots.

  Speaking of, Aaron said, “We should grow a garden.”

  Karen raised an eyebrow. “A garden?”

  “Yeah, a garden. Plant some roses, sunflowers, lilies, tulips. We could also grow vegetables. The soil looks good.”

  “Aaron, we don’t know the first thing about gardening. Besides, that takes time. We’ll both be busy with work and Danny. I don’t see how that would work.”

  But Aaron wasn’t deterred from his gardening dreams. “I think we can do it. Next week, I’ll go pick up some seeds and tools. I’ll grow us a garden.”

  Karen looked over her shoulder, and there was a smile in her eyes. “Alright, grow the garden. Make sure you get one of those sun hats like my grandma always wore. You’ll look just like her.”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes. “You can mock me now, but wait and see. Maybe I’ll be better at gardening than your grandma.”

  Karen threw her head back in laughter. “Yeah, right.”

  Aaron snorted. “Shut up.”

  The next morning, Aaron cooked breakfast while Karen got ready for work. She got a job at a local yoga studio as an instructor. Aaron got a job as a mechanic at Tony’s garage. It was one of the reasons Aaron was so sure about the move. Being in Wilburton had kept him away from Jay and Tony. Now, they were all a short drive from each other.

  Karen strode out of the bedroom in her yoga clothes, attempting to tie up her hair and pack up her backpack with her wallet and phone at the same time.

  “Hey, eggs are done,” Aaron said. “Just waiting on the bacon to finish frying.”

  Karen shook her head. “I have to skip breakfast today. I’m running late. I told Joey I’d get there by seven-thirty and it’s already seven-twenty-three.”

  Aaron frowned. “But I made so much food.”

  Karen made a face at the food cooling on the kitchen island. “Remember to get Danny to read one book this morning. I unpacked a few last night and left them on his nightstand. Gotta get him ready for first grade.”

  “It’s summer. He deserves to rest from all that school shit. Kindergarten was tough on the kid.” Danny would be six in July, and then he would start first grade. It felt like it was yesterday when Danny took his first steps. Or when he said his first word: dad.

  Karen gave him a look. “It’s not shit.” She leaned in to kiss him. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  And with a deep sigh, Karen left.

  Aaron focused on finishing the bacon and then served himself a plate. He didn’t enjoy eating alone, but he knew Danny wouldn’t be up for a couple of hours. The move had been hard on him. This was his very first move, after all. Aaron just hoped he’d get adjusted quickly. He wanted Danny to have the stability that Aaron and Jay never had growing up.

  After breakfast, Aaron tried unpacking a few more boxes, but he gave that up quickly when he decided to check out the backyard. Yesterday, none of them had wandered back there because they’d had a lot to do inside. Aaron stepped outside and was greeted by a small cemented square that turned into long uncut grass, and he could envision his garden.

  It would look perfect once he mowed the lawn and swept the leaves off the cement. Aaron would designate an area for the garden and leave a wider space for a small swing set for Danny. He loved swinging at the park. Aaron couldn’t wait to see Danny playing in their backyard. He would teach him to play football, and soccer, and baseball, and basketball. They could get nets and hoops and cleats.

  One step at a time.

  The sliding glass door opened behind him, and Aaron turned to find Danny standing there, barefoot and holding his stuffed dog. Ever since Aaron won him that stuffed dog at a carnival a year ago, Danny hadn’t slept without it. He called it Doug the Dog, and he would often pet and talk to him like it was a real dog. This was why Aaron was so set on getting Danny a real dog to play with. The only problem was that Karen hated pets. All pets, even fish. She wanted nothing leaving a mess behind that wasn’t human. But Aaron would try to get her to agree to the dog somehow. He could be highly persuasive.

  “Hey, kiddo,” Aaron said, leading Danny back inside. “You hungry? I made breakfast.”

  Danny nodded. “I want eggs.”

  “Awesome. I’ll get you a plate. Sit down.”

  While Danny ate breakfast, Aaron continued un
packing the kitchen boxes. Danny was going on about the latest PAW Patrol episode since that was, of course, his favorite TV show. Aaron listened and asked for more details, making sure most of his attention was on Danny as he worked. Danny was a perceptive kid, and he could tell when Aaron wasn’t really paying attention.

  “And then what happened?” Aaron asked for the hundredth time.

  The sound of the doorbell ringing cut Danny off. Aaron was a bit startled by it. Back in their apartment, their doorbell had always been broken, so their few guests would simply knock. But their new doorbell was damned fancy.

  Aaron opened the door, surprised to find none other than Lucas, his new neighbor.

  “Hey there,” Aaron said, leaning against the doorframe.