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“Do a few more carrots and tomatoes.” She pointed with her chin. “I’m doing what I should be doing, what I want to do.”
“Then who cares about what I think? Or anyone else for that matter. You said it isn’t going to stop you, so why let it bother you?” I followed her motions as she washed another carrot. Had I ever done this? Maybe when I was a kid? I couldn’t remember.
Other than Nancy, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a home-cooked meal.
“Do you cook a lot? Did you? For Penelope when she was growing up?” Each question spilled out before I let her answer the previous one. But I wanted to know, even though I already had a pretty good idea. Just washing these vegetables was too natural for her.
JoJo’s shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, I do cook a lot. Penelope’s better than I am, but we’ve been cooking together all her life.”
The image of her with a little girl standing on a chair in front of a stove came unbidden into my head. They laughed and there was music on, but I couldn’t quite recognize the song. And there was so much love, I felt it as though I had been there.
“She has a green thumb too. We always have a garden, even if it’s just a small plot.” JoJo smiled fondly, the way only a mother could at the thought of her child. “When she was seven, we were on a farm in southern India. They were the most gracious people.” She patted the stack of vegetables dry. “Anyway, they had chickens and Penelope thought she was one. She’d run around with them and peck in the yard.” A faraway look came on her face. “Sorry, I don’t know what that had to do with her green thumb. Oh! The grandmother taught her a lot about growing things. That’s what it was.”
She was a different person when she spoke of her daughter. Lighter. Brighter, if that was possible. If I’d had kids, would I be so excited to talk about them running around with chickens?
I supposed I’d never know.
“How long did you live in India?”
“A few months. We helped sick children get the medical care they needed.”
She was a saint. Pure and simple. No wonder she wasn’t fond of me.
“I’m sure the whales were willing to sacrifice some of their time with you for the children.”
She deflated, and I instantly regretted I’d caused that.
“You’re poking fun.”
I shut off the water and turned her to face me. “I’m an ass. But you already know that.”
That lifted one corner of her mouth. I’d take that as a win.
“I didn’t mean to be insulting, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” I gripped her shoulders. “I’ve never known anyone as good as you. Iadmireyou. Not very many people could give for so long and keep doing it.”
“I’m lucky to be able to do what I love. That’s not hard,” she said quietly. “Well, it is sometimes.”
“Where else did your travels take you?”
She brightened. “It might be easier to answer where theydidn’ttake us.”
“I know they didn’t take you to New York.” I recognized the bitterness in my voice, though I didn’t quite understand it.
She looked down. “I couldn’t.”
“Because of me,” I said flatly.
She lifted her green-gold eyes. “Mostly.”
I dropped my hands from her shoulders as if I’d been burned. I didn’t have the right to be angry about that. And normally I wouldn’t care what anyone thought. But I did care what she thought.
“I don’t want to argue.”
There was an earnestness in her gaze that caught me off guard. I spent so much time with people who said what they needed to say to get what they wanted, I didn’t take much of anything at face value. With my clients, I mostly didn’t want to know the truth.
The thought of JoJo being anything less than completely authentic bothered me.
“Admit it. You like arguing with me.” I brushed her cheek with my thumb. I couldn’t stop touching her.
