Page 48 of One Breath After Another

And he tried.

Often.

Or as much as he could lately.

“Luca?”

Sure enough, his mother appeared in the doorway of the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hands. Her confusion quickly melted away at the sight of him and Penny waiting down the hall. He didn’t get to see his mother enough and even he knew it. So, when he did randomly show up like this, the last thing Katya cared about were the details as to why.

Instead of asking what was going on or anything, for that matter, his mother smiled and said, “I’m just making stew and bread. Do you two want anything else?”

Luca laughed. “Nah, Ma. We’re good. I just, uh—”

He jerked a thumb back at Penny.

Katya’s smile didn’t fade even as she raised her brow like she was encouraging him to continue. “Yes?”

“I brought Penny over to say hi. And talk, maybe.”

“Talk about what?”

Behind him, Penny shifted from foot to foot, her socks making noise as they rubbed against the entry hallway. “Hi, Mrs. Puzz—”

“Katya,” his mother spoke up quickly. “Just call me Katya. Is everything okay? You look ... sad.”

“It’s been a day,” Penny muttered.

For a second, his mother said nothing as she looked Luca’s way again. He only shrugged in response, hoping that would be enough for Katya to get the hint without him actually needing to give her details. If this entire day ended with Penny talking to his mother about anything ... then he figured that was a giant leap forward.

Katya was always great at reading the room. Once, she told him because she had to be ... a long time ago, knowing the mood of a room before she walked into it was one of the only things that saved her life.

Yeah.

His ma really was amazing.

Penny could use someone like that in her life. Even if it was just to have someone to talk to that understood what it was like to be her ... especially in a world that didn’t understand at all.

“A rough day?” Katya asked.

“Really rough,” Penny muttered.

Katya nodded. “Yeah, that happens. Come on, I’ll show you how I braid and cut my bread, so it looks pretty when I put it on the table.” Then, to him, his mother said, “And you ... your father left some boxes at the basement door that need to go into storage downstairs. Would you do that, so he doesn’t have to when he gets home?”

Nice. Get me out of the way, Ma.

Luca didn’t even mind. “Sure, I’ll do it now.”

“Thanks. Come with me, Penny.”

He shot Penny a wink when she headed past him after his mother who had already disappeared back inside the kitchen. She smiled back. No blush that time, either.

Luca figured maybe he was doing this thing—whatever it was—with Penny right. Except he didn’t really know, and it wasn’t over yet.

10.

Penny

EVENTUALLY, braiding bread turned into making tea while the stew did its thing in the large pot on the stove. The longer it stays on the heat, the better it is, Katya told her as they took their tea upstairs to drink. Penny didn’t know if that was true. Cooking wasn’t her thing when she was barely able to boil water without forgetting it on the burner. She had to admit there was something wonderful about the smell of freshly cooked bread wafting through the home, though.