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“No, even after being fired from the agent team, I had to spend my time looking for ways to make money that would not elevate my blood pressure.”
Jeron frowned. “You were on a team. You got paid.”
“I spent most of my time helping others in my situation. I ended up as a citizen, but I pledged my income to charities. When I recovered, I had nothing, so a friend from before the accident told me about housesitting. I get paid and have a place to live, and then I move on to the next place.” She smiled. “It has been convenient for spending the last couple of weeks with my sister.”
Leaf looked sad. “That’s horrible.”
“It really isn’t. I had eight and a half years of working for my keep benefiting hundreds. A year and a half with no worries about where I was sleeping. There was a weird freedom in it.”
Jeron stroked her neck and said, “If you are no longer contracted to Aksalla, I might be able to offer you a position when your activation recovers.”
She looked at him as she got to her feet with slow care. “I am going to keep my conversation polite, but it had better be something normal people can read.”
He chuckled. “First, we are going to feed you, then a tour, and finally, we are going to teach you how to swim.”
Leaf gasped. “You don’t know how to swim?”
“Nope. My life is landlocked.”
Jeron helped her sit and smiled. “Eat.”
Leaf looked at him. “Your meal is on here, too. Eat.”
He smiled and said, “Thanks, Leaf.”
Xeva ate the creamy, salty gruel with the fried egg on top and the shredded pork that had been set on the side. Jeron had four times the shredded pork and a double-sized portion of the gruel.
They ate, and Xeva felt precisely full when she set the spoon down. It was a moment after Jeron did.
He smiled. “Let’s go, and if my brothers are where they normally are, you can meet the rest of the family.”
Leaf smiled. “Let me know how it goes. I am studying for my exam.”
“I will.” Jeron helped Xeva to her feet and held his arm out for her to slowly walk with him out through the doorway that they had been using to come and go.
“No shoes?”
“Not at home. You have been staying in the guesthouse.” He smiled as they walked through the main area and then to a door that led to a covered hall.
“Where Leaf has been studying?”
“Yes, but she has been happy since she got to use her nursing on a live patient with a head injury.” They were out and slowly moving across polished wood. She could feel each seam under her feet, and when they entered the other building, they stepped into a warm and comfortable kitchen.
An older woman looked at them, looked from one to the other, and smiled. “Jeron, please introduce me.”
“Of course. Mom, this is Xeva. She’s the one I have been seeing on the mainland. Xeva, this is my mother, Revakka.”
Revakka wiped her hands and smiled. “Leaf mentioned her. Xeva, welcome to the island.”
Xeva extended her hand. “Hello, and thank you. I am hoping to not impinge on your hospitality for very long.”
Jeron snorted. “And I am hoping that you do. Around here, I will win.”
“Yeah, well, right now, I can’t even pick a fight with a taco. It isn’t an elite squad that could flatten me; a child could do it.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to her ear. “I really want you to stay.”
“I gathered as much.” She whispered, “I don’t know if I can.”
