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Mischief sparkled in his blue eyes, but I didn’t miss the way he swallowed roughly. He was getting choked up.
So was I.
He was replicating our thing.
When we’d lived at the Freeman group home, Thanksgiving wasn’t any different from any other day. Sure, Marie and Derek hung a wreath on the door and arranged pumpkins on the porch, but it was all for show. Inside, there was no holiday spirit.
The first year I was there, I’d been so distraught about my parents that Blake had tried to cheer me up by taking me out to No Man’s Land. He’d stolen whatever he could get his hands on to make us a Thanksgiving feast.
“You remembered,” I said, overwhelmed at the sentiment.
“I never forgot a single moment.” He moved to the bed and placed the tray down before pulling his damp hoodie off. His T-shirt got caught up in it and rode up over his abs.
“See something you like?” Blake smirked before rounding the bed and shuffling next to me.
“Jerk,” I replied, ducking my head to hide the blush staining my cheeks. He pulled the tray between us and handed me a paper plate. “You came prepared.”
“I figured a trip down memory lane couldn’t hurt, you know, given the circumstances.”
We ate in comfortable silence. I helped myself to a piece of pie and a can of soda. The snow was still falling outside, the shadow of the flakes reflecting on the wall.
“What happened to you, Penny? After you left the home.” He didn’t look at me, but I didn’t need to see Blake’s eyes to sense the change in him.
I set my can on the tray and shifted down slightly, so I was lying back against the pillows staring up at the ceiling.
“I left Lancaster. The social worker said she could help me find somewhere to stay and consider my options, but I couldn’t be in that town for another second.
“I had some money saved. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get me to downtown Columbus. I’d already researched my options, and they were bleak. Finding a job was my priority. There was no way I could afford college, and after what happened with Derek, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to apply for scholarships…”
Blake flinched beside me. He was still sitting up against the headboard. I reached out and found his hand. Pushing the tray out of the way, he laced our fingers and lay down beside me.
“I picked University District as I figured there would always be work and cheap accommodations. The guidance counselor at Lancaster High had given me the name of someone at the University library, but I didn’t know if I was ready for something like that. So I asked around for kitchen work.”
“Fuck, Penny, where did you stay?”
“I stayed in a hostel for a few nights, found a job, and then found a room.”
His hand clamped around mine. Something was wrong. I risked turning my head slightly to glance over at him. With his eyes set on the ceiling, Blake’s jaw ticked, and I could feel the anger rolling off him.
“Blake?”
“I can’t imagine what that was like. It shouldn’t have been like that. Things could have been different, Penny…” He let out a resigned sigh. “If only you hadn’t sent that card.”
“Card? What card?”
He stared at me for a second, the air shifting around us. Then he ripped his hand out of mine and cursed under his breath, leaping up from the bed.
“Blake? What is going on?”
“I knew it. I fucking knew it.” He jammed his fingers in his hair. “He lied; that bastard lied. I didn’t want to believe it, but none of it made sense.”
I pushed up on my elbows and watched Blake pace the length of the small room. “Who lied? What are you talking about?”
“My uncle.”
His uncle?
What did he have to do with any of this?
