Page 67 of The Saint

“They…”

My lips tilted up, and once again a smile lit up her face.

“Mom has an old friend who owns a studio, and he’s setting up a show for me next month.”

“Rolly, that’s amazing!”

“She knows me better than I know myself sometimes. And she knew I’d never do this unless I was forced. By the time I knew what she’d done, Mom had already taken a hold of the idea and there’s no stopping her when she gets going. She badgered me until I couldn’t stop seeing the possibilities. And it’s all thanks to Jael.”

Penny took a sip from her tea, her bright smile woven through her face like the ribbons wound through the braids in her hair. But then that look dimmed, her attention pulling to where my shirt covered my bullet wound.

“She’s a part of that?” she asked, tilting her chin toward my shoulder. “Whatever happened?”

“More so than I am now, and it runs in my blood.”

She looked down the hall, and I cringed.

“I would never let anything happen to him, Penny. To you or Mrs. T either. I never wanted you to know about that part of my life. I still don’t. But I owe this to you.”

“You don’t.” Her brow furrowed, and I hated the pain that was etched in her eyes. “You have done more for us than my own family. In fact, I owe you for everything you’ve done, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

Now it was my turn to comfort her. I reached for her hand across the table, and for a split second, that act took me by surprise. Because the delicate fingers that gripped me back weren’t what I was expecting, and I had to shake thoughts of Jael loose from my head.

“I would never ask you to pay me anything. The only thing I want is for you and Ty and Mrs. T to be safe and happy. And maybe”—I shrugged, giving her a playful smile—“a hot meal and your company a couple times a month?”

Penny chuckled and swatted at my hand. “Feed a man and he’ll be happy forever.”

My heart warmed, my smile tilting my lips.

Jael was better than any food I could dream up. Her touch, her taste, they brought me more happiness than I knew was possible. While food might fill my belly, Jael filled my soul.

As if sensing my thoughts changing direction, Penny’s laughter quieted. We both sipped at our tea, and I wondered what Jael was doing. If she was with Alvarez. If she’d come home early so I could see her before we went out to dinner tonight. I was so distracted by the thought of her, I didn’t notice Penny had leaned forward in her chair.

“I know this isn’t normal, and I don’t want to be presumptuous, but…” She wrung her fingers together, then lifted her eyes to meet mine. “Could I… could we… come to the show?”

My entire body stilled. Heart, lungs, blood in my veins. I had to force myself to breathe, force myself not to stare back at her like a deer stuck in the headlights of an oncoming freight train.

This was exactly what I’d never wanted.

And here it was, happening again.

I forced a smile, swallowing down my reaction and trying to breathe it out.

“Of course. I’d love it if you’d come.”

Her sunshine smile brightened the room, her laughter building, eating away at the walls I’d always kept up between us. Kept up to keep her and everyone else out. She opened her mouth to speak, but before a word come out, Tyler appeared at the entry to the hall.

“Where we going?”

* * *

Tyler dribbled the ball beside me as we walked down the sidewalk to the park. While I wouldn’t normally let him, he’d had been working on it at practice, trying to get better at controlling the ball on the move. And the whole point of getting him out of the house today was to work on his game. So once we got close to the park, I’d pulled the ball out of my bag and let him have it.

The courts were full but for a single hoop still open, and the boy rushed to it to keep anyone else from taking it. A few of my friends called out greetings to him as I approached, and I smiled as I watched him throw the ball up at the backboard, only for it to ricochet off and hit Dion in the chest.

“Helps if you keep your hands up, man,” I joked as I grabbed the ball and passed it back to Tyler.

“Funny.” Dion gave me a scowl that was so fake it was humorous.