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“Did anyone try to adopt you?” Jenna says to me as she eats her French toast.
“No.” I laugh. “I was kind of a tomboy. People who want girls don’t want one that plays with trucks.”
“That’s not true,” Easton says. “I’d take a daughter like that. A lot of people would.”
“Yeah, well, maybe now, but back then nobody wanted me. Or maybe I wasn’t cute enough. Who knows?”
Penelope drops the pan she was washing and walks out of the kitchen.
“What happened?” Easton says to Jenna.
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I wasn’t looking.”
“Has she said anything to you about Dad?”
“Just that he’s going to be gone all week.” Jenna focuses back on me. “So then what happened? When no one adopted you?”
“Ted showed up and I went to live with him.”
“Ted’s her grandpa,” Easton says.
Penelope comes back and returns to the sink.
Easton’s watching her, but Jenna’s still staring at me, seeming fascinated by my story.
“Why do you call your grandpa by his name?” she asks.
“Because he told me to. And he wasn’t like a grandpa. He made me clean up after him and cook all his meals and give him my paychecks.”
“He did not,” she says, laughing.
“He did,” Easton says to Jenna. “Not everyone’s life is as perfect as yours. Maybe you should think about that next time you’re complaining.”
She looks down at her plate. Did what I say actually make her realize how lucky she is? I doubt it. I think she’s trying to come up with more questions.
15
Nova
“How are you feeling?”Penelope asks, coming up beside me and putting her hand on my forehead. “Your fever’s still hanging on.”
“It’ll go away. I just need to sleep more.”
“You want to go downstairs and rest?”
“Not yet. I kind of like it up here with the fire going and the snow coming down.”
“I hate the snow,” Jenna says, “especially when we can’t go anywhere.”
“You could have Elsa over,” Penelope says.
“Her grandparents are there. She’s supposed to spend time with them.” Jenna looks at me. “You want to see my clothes?”
“Me?” I say, like she must’ve meant someone else. I’m pretty sure she hates me.
“Who else would I be talking to? Easton doesn’t care and Mom’s already seen them.”
“Hey,” Easton says. “Don’t be rude.”
