“How old was his stepmom?”Honor asked, having pushed her plate away a little and sat back in her seat.I could tell my child was visibly repulsed by what she’d just heard.Fair enough.I’d vomited after Lennox told me.
“She was thirty,” I said matter-of-factly.
“That’s criminal,” Austin said.
“Which was why she went to prison.”
“And she’s still there?”Honor asked.
Shit.
“No.She just made parole yesterday.Which means she will be—or has been—released from prison.However, there will be rules regarding her release.She’ll have a parole officer she’ll need to check in with, and won’t be able to leave the state of Florida.I’m sure there are other rules too.”
“Was that why Principal Paul went all squirrelly at game night?”Austin asked.
“Partially.”
He blew out a breath.“Jeez.”
“You’re not seventeen years older than him, right?”Honor asked.“Just eleven.”
I nodded.“It’s still a big gap, but not as big as the one with his stepmom.”
“Is it weird?”Austin asked.
“Is what weird?”
“Knowing that stuff about him now?”
I shook my head.“No.I have a greater understanding of why he reacted the way he did last night.And now I know why he’s so protective of his and Mabel’s privacy.”
“Could her mom come and try to take her?”Honor asked.
“That is a fear.But that’s why he moved here.To be as far away from her as possible.”
Honor made a disgusted face.“Doesn’t seem far enough to me.Should have moved to Alaska, or Hawaii, or Antarctica.”
“We can’t put ourselves through misery forever running from our past.That’s how we let it win.He heard about the job posting, heard about how wonderful our island is, and decided to make the move.Hopefully, it was the right one.Hopefully, it was far enough away.We just have to make sure they feel as safe and welcomed as possible.”
“Jolene Dandy cannotfind out about their secret,” Honor said.“The whole island will know.”
I had to smile at how organically we managed to circle around to the topic I wished to discuss in the first place.“Well, funny that you should bring up The Island Mouth—”
“Oh no!”Honor’s eyes widened again.“She already knows?”
“About Lennox and me, yes.I was at his house this afternoon, and who should just pop in to pay him a visit and meet Mabel but The Island Mouth herself.”
“I don’t think Jolene would understand Mabel’s … Mabelness,” Honor said.“She’d be mean to her.”
Austin nodded and ladled Alfredo sauce onto the pile of fettuccini on his plate.“Jolene would think Mabel was weird and tell the whole island.But she’s not weird.She’s autistic.There’s a difference.”
Honor speared a chicken breast from the tray in the middle and put it onto her plate.“What would happen if Mabel’s mom came here?Would she try to take Mabel away from Mr.Paul?”
“I don’t know the answer to that, honey.It’s hard to guess how the mind of somebody as … horrible as that works.I hope not.”
“Me too,” she muttered.Then her eyes lit up.“We should have them over for dinner.”
This time it wasn’t just air in my mouth.I nearly choked on my fettuccini.“Uh … it might be a little early for that.”
