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Once he’s fully dressed in a stranger’s clean, lost-and-found clothes, I wrap my hands around him and reach on my tiptoes for a kiss. He presses his mouth to mine and gently slides his tongue between my lips. Before I know it, it’s getting heated, and I have to peel myself away to keep from doing something very illicit in the back of Gladys’s Laundromat.
“Gladys should be able to get these stains out,” I say, picking his dirty clothes up off the floor. Then we walk hand in hand out to the main area of the Laundromat, and I catch Gladys staring at him in surprise.
“I hardly recognize you,” she says with a laugh.
“Thanks for…uh, letting me borrow these,” he stammers.
“Anytime,” she replies, patting him on the back.
“Hungry?” Mary asks, already busy making him a plate.
“Very,” he replies before taking it from her with a smile. “Thank you so much.”
Then he takes the newly empty seat at the table, smiling at the man sitting next to him. The two of them strike up their own private conversation, and I can’t seem to tear my eyes away as something swells inside my chest at the sight.
Adam wanted to feel closer to God, and I can’t help but wonder if he realizes how close he is now.
Thirty-Three
Adam
Sage holds open the black garbage bag as I scoop the remaining paper plates and plastic cups in. I don’t even know what time it is. After I woke up to find her gone, I came down to an unexpected gathering.
And honestly, I haven’t been tempted to even check my phone in the last two hours, so I really have no idea what time it is.
I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun. There’s something so authentic about Gladys and Mary—right along with every person who joined them for dinner. I don’t know their situations, but it is obvious that that’s not what this is about. It isn’t about feeding the homeless to feel better about themselves or to fulfill some promise to God.
It’s about feeding them because they arehungry.
My mother would have loved this.
For the first time in a while, thinking about my mother doesn’t incite an immediate stabbing pain of guilt in my chest. Instead, I just focus on the memories, mostly of a time before the megachurch and Dad’s big career. Back when things were simple.
And then I look at Sage. Without any makeup, her cheeks take on a natural hint of pink to match her bubblegum hair. Even without those fake lashes and thick black lines around her eyes, they still pop with a deep ocean blue.
I have no idea what this thing is between us now. And I don’t think she does either. But it’s real. At least that much we know is true.
This morning she asked to stop the fake dating scheme, but even though I agreed, I’m not sure I’m ready to let it go. I can’t let my father get away with his lies just like that.
But do I still need Sage to do it?
I don’t want to think about that right now. So once we’ve cleaned up the Laundromat and closed its doors for the night, I stop her before she goes back upstairs.
“I want to take you somewhere,” I say. She stops in her tracks and turns back toward me with an arched brow.
“Where?”
“It’s a surprise,” I reply with a lopsided grin.
“Will I like it?” she asks.
“Maybe.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Could be.”
“Will you wear that?” She points to my borrowed outfit.
