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Penelope smiled at the mother, then asked Emily, “Did I do okay?”
“Yeah, so cool.” Emily nodded with a wide smile.
Darryl stood flabbergasted. Penelope had drawn a cartoon of Emily and Tyson at the beach eating tacos. He’d never met anyone who surprised him so much. Or who he’d gotten so wrong. He always thought life was very much black and white, but these days proved that theory wrong. Penelope lived in the gray, and he happened to like that spot very much. She wasn’t bringing him trouble like he thought, she was bringing him warm things that hit him straight in the chest; things he didn’t even know he was missing, and that he didn’t want to lose.
Emily and her mom started talking about the drawing, so Darryl stepped forward, nudging Penelope’s shoulder, and gestured her out the door. He gave the mom a quick smile and mouthed, We’ll be right out here, leaving them with Tyson loving all over the girl. When Penelope finally joined him in the hallway, he asked, “You draw?”
She shrugged. “I became a doodle expert in high school, since you know…I was terrible at school.”
Darryl chuckled. “Luckily for Emily, that was the perfect skill to have today.”
She snorted a laugh. “If I could only tell my dad now, then he wouldn’t think that my entire education was wasted.”
She sounded flippant, but Darryl assumed there was some truth in there too. “Maybe you should tell him what you’ve been doing with your time here.”
“Maybe.” She smiled.
Bullshit. He could sniff that lie out easily. She wasn’t going to tell her dad shit, and Darryl knew enough about her family that he imagined they wouldn’t care anyway. They didn’t even seem to see Penelope at all from what she’d told him.
“So,” she said, changing the subject, “why are we out here?”
He allowed the shift and moved down the hallway to the chai
rs. “I always leave for a little while.” He took a seat.
She dropped down next to him. “Why?”
“Because we’re strangers to Emily and her mom.” He crossed his arms, settling back into the cold, hard chair. “They’ll be more guarded if we’re in there with Tyson. And he’s good for the kid. Good for the mom too.”
Penelope watched him a moment then closed the distance and threw her arms around him so tight that it completely caught him off guard. It’d been so long since a woman offered affection. It didn’t take him long to catch up and return the embrace. The aroma of her vanilla-scented shampoo filled his nostrils as he dropped his head into her neck. And when she leaned away, he didn’t want her to let go. “What was that for?” he asked.
“Just giving you something you deserve.” She stared into the room across from them and dropped her hand onto his thigh, awakening a part of him that shouldn’t be stirring in this place. “It feels weird not bringing Christmas gifts or something.” She turned to him, gaze concerned. “Shouldn’t we have brought something?”
Darryl shook his head. “The mayor comes by on Christmas Day with gifts,” he explained, taking her hand to bring her touch closer to his knee. “That’s why I’m here to make sure we get those gifts right. Don’t want any mistakes.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” She sat back and watched Emily and her mother through the window, laughing and doting on Ty, who ate up everything minute, his eyes bright, tongue wagging out the side of his mouth. “You wouldn’t know, would you?”
Darryl glanced sideways. “Know what?”
“That Emily is sick,” Penelope said softly, squeezing his fingers tight. “They look happy.”
“I imagine they are happy,” he said.
“I wonder how that can that be possible?” Penelope asked, eyebrows drawn tight.
Darryl drew in a long deep breath before addressing her. “From being a cop, I’ve learned there are good moments within the bad. I imagine the families here probably hang on to those good moments more than people who haven’t experienced illness or tragedy.”
Penelope’s face suddenly become unreadable, but before he could check in on that, Tyson whined. That usually meant that Emily was getting tired or antsy, and Tyson knew it.
Darryl rose. “Time to move on.”
He took a step forward when Penelope caught his hand, pulling him back. “Thank you.”
“For?”
She stepped closer. Her eyes were watery. “For making me do this.”
He cupped her face and closed the rest of the distance. “I think I had my own motivation for suggesting the community service, and we both know exactly what that was.” More time together.
