Page 54 of Sterling Fight

When we reach the kitchen, I stop and pull Trudy’s cookie jar on the counter toward me. I can never pass up one of her homemade snickerdoodles, and I remove one from the jar for me, and another for Simon.

“No telling,” I state as I hand him the cookie.

Simon motions zipping his lips and tossing the key over his shoulder. Then he turns around, pretending like he’s looking for something on the floor, pinches at the invisible item, and stands. He places his pinched fingers near the corner of his mouth and twists them like he’s uncaging his lips.

“Can’t keep my lips locked if I want to eat this thing.” He raises the prized cookie and takes an exaggerated bite.

I adore this kid. He’s quirky and spunky while introspective and smart. So freakin’ smart. He hates school because he’s bored, and I’ve talked to Trudy about him taking more advanced classes, possibly even skipping a grade.

For a little man, he has big concerns. What if Trudy dies next? Like me, both his parents are dead.

I’ve promised Simon I’ll always be here for him, and I intend to keep that promise, in whatever form that takes. He knows Trudy loves him. We’ve talked about it, but his fears run deeper. Without Trudy, who else will love him?

In my own way, I love him although I haven’t said the words. I’ve never said the words to anyone before, minus mumbling a shortened version back to Stone or Clay or Vale as they so freely offer them to me.

I smile at the boy chomping on his contraband cookie, and I take a bite of my own before heading outside where Trudy and Genie have taken a seat in the shaded section of her patio.

My eyes instantly seek out Genie, who is watching me with a puzzled expression on her face. Then she smiles, slow and lazy, before her cheeks flush. She’s so pretty. Like a sunflower that seeks the sun, only the sun wants to worship her like I do.

When Simon’s hand slips into mine, I’m drawn to him. He tugs me over to a plastic bin kept beneath the shaded overhang where a collection of balls, a variety of bats, and two mitts are kept. Simon hands me one leather glove before finding his, and we step into the grass.

“Don’t be telling my girl any secrets,” I tease Trudy, as I toss the ball to Simon.

“You only got one secret worth telling, Judd Sylver, and that seems to be this pretty thing sitting here staring at you like you set the sun in the sky.”

The ball Simon tosses to me hits me in the arm, because I turn to see what someone looking at me like I set the sun in the sky would look like. All I see is Genie watching me.

“She’s the one who set the sun in the sky.” I wink at Genie and return my attention to Simon.

“Woo-wee,” Trudy hums. “There’s a fire on my lawn. You two are scorching a line through the grass.”

I grunt and Genie laughs.

“Seriously, why didn’t you mention Genie before? You’re the one keeping secrets.”

“Wasn’t anything to tell until a few days ago,” I admit, lobbing the ball lightly into the air for Simon to catch. “But I’ve been waiting years for Genie to come back to me.”

I hear the soft clink of a plastic cup settling on a glass-topped table.

“I wasn’t the one who disappeared,” Genie counters, reminding me that I had. I didn’t show the night of prom, and I went away to college as soon as I could leave. A college we’d both attended, and I’ve been beating myself up ever since learning that fact. I’ve lost so much time I could have had with her.

“Well, you shouldn’t have been waiting, boy. You should have been chasing.” Trudy hums teasingly.

She’s right. What have I been waiting for? I should have sought Genie out years ago. Hell, I’d been around Janet Hurley often enough I should have asked about Genie. Where was she? How was she?

But I can’t dwell on the past, at least not on these concerns. What matters is Genie is present now and I won’t waste a minute.

Trudy announces she needs to go and proceeds to tick off a list of items. Lunch options for Simon. Time she’ll be back. Reminding me I have her number for an emergency.

“Go,” I reassure her. “I’ve got this.”

I’ve watched Simon often enough and spent enough time with him to know peanut butter and bananas on wheat is Simon’s favorite meal when lunchtime comes around.

As I slather peanut butter on one piece of bread, placing the bananas on the other piece, I glance up to see Genie watching me.

“What?” My mouth slowly curls, my face heating from her looking at me like she is.

Her eyes glisten. Those flecks of gold in them sparkling like pinpricks of light. “You’d make a great dad.”