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“Your parents?”

“Horrified at my behavior. I caused them so much stress. I had a lot of microwave meals if I came home at all. I pushed them away as I spiraled. Maggie was my only friend that wasn’t a burner. She and I would still get together, and when she decided to go to France, she convinced me to go too. She didn’t know I was barely hanging on in school. I told her when we were in France. But I had no money to even get there in the first place, and Maggie said I should try for a scholarship.”

“And the church people…”

“I showed up on Sundays in my best dresses and glad-handed, volunteered to bring meals to shut-ins. I was a total lie during the day and a disaster at night. Instead of studying, I worked at the church for the money to go to Paris. The school agreed after I sweet-talked them and turned in some missing assignments, which I convinced a church kid to do. I was passing enough to go. With the caveat I had to repeat my senior year.”

I shrug because that’s the worst of it.

“Holy shit.” Gasps out of his lips. Cool, wasn’t sure I could surprise him.

I continue, “Literally. I became a holy shit. But I still haul my ass to Reno once a month to do odd jobs for them. The ones who remember have forgiven me and told me it’s ok. But I show up anyway.”

We walk around the corner, and I grin at the tiny, fake town that was created at the center of the community. The colors are all bright like it’s Disney or what I think a Caribbean island town looks like. It’s so out of place here in the desert. I wander forward then glance back with a shy smile.

“Come on, I’ll show you around my home.”

Tony cocks his head to the side. “And you have nothing to do with Los Angeles?”

I pop a hip and glare at him. “Tony, this will go a lot faster if you accept I lied about all of it.”

We float next to each other, and he brushes his hand across mine. I don’t think I’ve earned a handhold yet, but we’re closer.

After a while, he says, “This church?”

“Yeah?”

“Do they need new pews or something? Maybe an organ? Can I buy them carpet or a jungle gym?” He removes his jacket and slings it over his arm. His shirt buttons tug a bit as if they want to remind me of his gorgeous chest.

My eyes are wide. “Why would you do that?”

“Because they believed in you enough to bring you to me. Without them, we wouldn’t exist. I’ll forever be grateful to those saps and suckers that they were taken in by a heathen witch.” He grins, and I’m crying, but this time it’s happy.

“They need a new roof patch over the chapel.”

He pulls me to him, and my breath is gone. He kisses me with perfect soft pressure. It’s the dawn of a new day. It’s Valley of Fire all over again. It’s a chance. “I’ll pay you back.”

“I’ll never be able to repay them for you, so don’t worry about it. I’ll patch it.”

I cock an eyebrow and say, “You’re going to buy them a whole new roof, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” He doesn’t hesitate to say, so I don’t hesitate either.

“I love you.” I stand by those words that seem to only belong to him. I shift my weight back and forth.

“That’s good because I’m not sure how I can explain away that expense otherwise.” He jokes. “Let’s move on. Paris.” There’s so much, I can’t expect him to tell me he loves me. Perhaps church roof buying is his love language. Fingers crossed.

He approaches me, and we walk side by side. “My Paris lies were to cover up my lack of scholastic achievement. I never went to class and never got into college, obviously.”

“You never went once?”

I shake my head. “I explored the city a lot. And worked at a secondhand clothing store while you were all studying. Not even Maggie knew that one. I had a sap in each class sign me in and occasional assignments were handed in. Some were done by me. Mostly the science ones. When you kept asking me to come to Boston, I floated Northeastern because you were going to Harvard. And, in reality, I was hoping the church didn’t press charges for fraud instead of deciding between colleges.”

“All this lying seems exhausting.”

“You have no clue. And in hindsight I should have just done the fucking math workbooks and art projects. Would have been a lot less stressful.”

He says nothing. Then finds a wall near the bike path and leans up against it. He’s in a navy suit, light yellow shirt, and stunning vibrant silk tie that blazes with orange and red. His hair is producted up, and his dark scuff is just coming in. And then there’s his blue eyes, deep and full of pain and something else. I hope it’s hope.