Updated Apr 8, 2026 • ~10 min read
Chapter 5: The Pantheon
Sienna
The museum is quiet on a Tuesday afternoon.
Sienna stands in front of a massive abstract painting—all blues and greens swirling together like an ocean mid-storm—and tries to look like she understands what she’s seeing.
She doesn’t.
Art has never been her strong suit. She’s more of a “literal interpretation” person. Show her a picture of a tree, and she sees a tree. Show her splatters of paint, and she sees… splatters of paint.
But Jace is standing beside her, hands in his pockets, studying the painting with the kind of focus he probably gives to blueprints, and she doesn’t want to admit that she has NO IDEA what this is supposed to be.
“What do you think?” he asks.
“Um. It’s… blue?”
He laughs. Actually LAUGHS, and the sound echoes through the quiet gallery.
“Very astute observation,” he says.
“I’m not good at this. The whole ‘interpreting art’ thing. I like books because they TELL you what they mean.”
“Art isn’t about what it means. It’s about what it makes you FEEL.”
Sienna looks at the painting again. “Okay. It makes me feel… confused?”
“Also valid.”
She turns to him. “What does it make YOU feel?”
He tilts his head, considering. “Restless. Like I’m watching something I can’t control. A storm, maybe. Or… grief.”
The shift in his voice—from light to heavy—makes her chest tighten.
“You see grief in this?” she asks softly.
“I see it in a lot of things.” He pauses. “My wife died two years ago. Cancer. Sometimes I look at abstract art and I think: that’s what it felt like. Chaos I couldn’t make sense of.”
Sienna’s breath catches.
He hasn’t mentioned a wife. Hasn’t mentioned being married. And now—
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. It’s not something I lead with on first dates.” He glances at her. “But we’re past first dates now. And I want you to know. I have a daughter. Harper. She’s ten.”
Everything CLICKS into place.
The way he didn’t want to talk about his personal life at first. The careful way he texted. The fact that he wanted to take things slow.
He’s a WIDOWER. With a KID.
“Harper,” Sienna repeats, testing the name.
And then her brain catches up.
Wait.
HARPER.
Harper Blackwell.
The girl in her class. The girl who wrote about her dad being sad but smiling at his phone this week.
No.
No no no no no.
It can’t be the SAME Harper.
There are lots of Harpers. It’s a common name. And Blackwell is probably common too. And—
“She’s in fifth grade,” Jace continues, oblivious to Sienna’s internal panic. “Smart as hell. Funny. She’s the best thing in my life.”
Fifth grade.
Oh god.
OH GOD.
Sienna’s heart is POUNDING.
It’s the same Harper. It HAS to be. How many architects named Jace have ten-year-old daughters named Harper in fifth grade?
She’s dating her STUDENT’S DAD.
She’s been texting him. Flirting with him. Going on dates with him.
And she had NO IDEA.
“Sienna?”
She realizes she’s been standing frozen, staring at the painting without seeing it.
“Sorry. I just—” Think, Sienna. THINK. “You have a daughter. That’s… that’s wonderful.”
“Is it a problem?” he asks carefully. “I understand if it is. Not everyone wants to date someone with a kid—”
“No! No, it’s not a problem. I love kids. I work with them every day.”
The truth of that statement sits between them like a landmine.
She should tell him.
She should tell him RIGHT NOW.
But the words stick in her throat. Because if she tells him, this ENDS. Whatever this is—this perfect, fragile thing they’re building—it ENDS.
Teachers can’t date parents. It’s a conflict of interest. An ethics violation. She could lose her job.
And worse—she could lose HIM.
“You okay?” Jace asks, stepping closer. “You look pale.”
“I’m fine. Just… processing.”
He reaches out and takes her hand. “I should’ve told you sooner. About Harper. About Meredith—my wife. I just didn’t want to scare you off.”
“You didn’t scare me off.”
“Good.” He squeezes her hand. “Because I really like you, Sienna. And Harper’s a huge part of my life. If this—” he gestures between them “—is going to work, you need to know that.”
“I understand.”
“And eventually, if things keep going well, I’d like you to meet her.”
Sienna’s stomach DROPS.
Meet her.
She’s already MET her. She sees her every day. She graded her homework last night—that beautiful, heartbreaking essay about wanting her dad to be happy.
“I’d like that,” Sienna hears herself say.
Liar. Coward.
But she can’t tell him. Not yet. Not when they’re standing in a museum and he’s looking at her like she’s the best thing that’s happened to him in two years.
She needs TIME. Time to figure out what to do. Time to process this disaster.
“Come on,” Jace says, tugging her hand gently. “Let’s look at something less depressing.”
They move through the galleries, and Sienna tries to focus. Tries to be PRESENT. But her mind is spinning.
Harper Blackwell is her student.
Jace Blackwell is Harper’s dad.
She’s falling for a man she CAN’T have.
And she has no idea how to fix this.
🔥
They end up in the sculpture garden outside, sitting on a bench with ice cream cones from the museum café.
It’s a perfect September afternoon. Warm sun, cool breeze, the smell of cut grass and late-blooming flowers.
Jace is eating chocolate. Sienna has vanilla with rainbow sprinkles because she has the taste buds of a seven-year-old and she’s not ashamed.
“Sprinkles,” Jace observes. “Bold choice.”
“Sprinkles make everything better.”
“Can’t argue with that logic.”
They sit in comfortable silence for a moment, and then Jace asks: “What do you want out of life, Sienna?”
The question catches her off guard. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… long-term. What are you hoping for?”
She licks her ice cream, thinking. “I want to matter. I want to make a difference. I want to be the kind of person who leaves the world a little better than I found it.”
“That’s a good answer.”
“What about you?”
He’s quiet for a long moment. “I wanted a family. A home. Someone to grow old with. I had that. And then I lost it.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m trying to figure out if it’s okay to want it again.”
Sienna’s throat tightens. “It’s okay.”
“Is it? Because some days it feels like I’m betraying Meredith just by being happy.”
“Jace.” She sets down her ice cream and turns to face him. “You’re allowed to be happy. You’re allowed to move on. That doesn’t mean you loved her any less.”
“How do you know?”
“Because love isn’t finite. You don’t run out. You just… make room for more.”
He stares at her, and his eyes are SO BLUE. So full of something she can’t name.
“You’re twenty-six,” he says quietly. “How are you this wise?”
“I’m not wise. I’m just… trying to figure it out like everyone else.”
“You’re doing a better job than most.”
He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear—the same gesture from their first date—and Sienna’s heart STUTTERS.
“I’m falling for you,” he says. “I know it’s fast. I know we barely know each other. But I am.”
She should stop this. Should tell him the truth. Should end it before it goes any further.
But instead, she says: “I’m falling for you too.”
And she means it.
God help her, she means it.
He leans in, and for a moment she thinks he’s going to kiss her. Finally. After two dates and a week of texting and all this TENSION—
But he stops. Just inches away.
“I want to do this right,” he says again, echoing their first date.
“I know.”
“But it’s getting really hard not to kiss you.”
“Then kiss me.”
“Sienna—”
“I mean it. If you want to do this right, then do it right. But don’t make me wait forever.”
His mouth quirks into a smile. “Impatient, are we?”
“Very.”
“Noted.”
He pulls back, and she wants to SCREAM in frustration. But there’s something sweet about it too. The way he’s being careful. Respectful. Like she’s something precious.
No one’s ever treated her like that before.
“Come on,” he says, standing and offering his hand. “Let’s walk.”
They walk through the sculpture garden, hand in hand, talking about everything and nothing. He tells her about his latest project—a library renovation that’s been stuck in permit hell for months. She tells him about the kid who brought a frog to class and accidentally let it loose during silent reading.
It’s EASY. Comfortable. Like they’ve known each other for years instead of just over a week.
And Sienna tries not to think about the fact that this can’t last.
That eventually, he’s going to find out she’s Harper’s teacher.
That eventually, this perfect thing is going to BREAK.
But for now—for this one perfect afternoon—she lets herself pretend.
Pretends that she’s just a girl falling for a guy.
Pretends that there are no complications.
Pretends that this can actually work.
🔥
He drives her home just before sunset.
They sit in his car outside her apartment, and the light is golden and soft, and Sienna doesn’t want this day to end.
“Thank you for today,” she says. “I had a really great time.”
“Even though you don’t understand abstract art?”
“ESPECIALLY because I don’t understand abstract art. You made it less intimidating.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
She laughs. “I doubt that.”
“It’s true.” He turns to face her. “You make everything less intimidating, Sienna. The world feels… lighter when I’m with you.”
Her chest ACHES. “Jace—”
“I know I’m moving fast. I know I should probably slow down. But I don’t want to. Is that okay?”
“It’s okay.”
“Good.” He reaches out and takes her hand. “Can I see you again? This week?”
She should say no. Should create distance. Should figure out what the hell she’s going to do about this DISASTER.
But instead: “Yes. Definitely yes.”
“Thursday? Dinner at my place? I’ll cook.”
“You cook?”
“I’m passable. Harper’s still alive, so that’s a good sign.”
Sienna’s stomach twists at the mention of Harper. But she forces a smile. “Thursday sounds perfect.”
“Good.”
They sit there for another moment, neither wanting to leave. Then Jace squeezes her hand.
“Goodnight, Sienna.”
“Goodnight, Jace.”
She gets out of the car and walks to her building. When she turns back, he’s still there, watching to make sure she gets inside safely.
She waves. He waves back.
And then he drives away.
Sienna leans against the door and lets out a shaky breath.
“I’m in SO much trouble,” she whispers to the empty lobby.
Because she’s not just falling for Jace.
She’s falling for the idea of them. Of a future. Of being part of his and Harper’s life.
And she has NO IDEA how to make that work without destroying everything.
Her phone buzzes.
**Jace:** I could do this forever. Just so you know.
Her heart CLENCHES.
**Sienna:** Me too.
And she means it.
Even if forever might only last until he finds out the truth.
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