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“How’s the woman with the baby?” Ned asks me.
“Her name is Triss,” I inform him.
“Triss,” he repeats. “Last name?”
I shake my head because I haven’t asked. I haven’t asked her for any personal details, actually, because I don’t see the point. Nor do I want to risk scaring her away.
“She was better when I left. She’ll be fine. Her baby, too.”
“And they’ll be staying with you?”
I hear the hint of disapproval in Ned’s voice.
“That’s not a crime, is it?” I ask him.
He lets out a deep sigh and scratches the back of his head. “I was hoping you were joking when you said you were going to take them in.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Since when do I tell jokes?”
“Right.” He lowers his arm to anchor his hand on his hip. “Anyway, are you sure about this? You don’t know anything about this woman. What if she steals from you or burns the house down? Worse, what if she turns out to be some psychopath and tries to kill you?”
“Wow,” I say sarcastically. “I didn’t know you were that bored.”
He frowns.
“I already told you the woman’s harmless,” I answer his question.
“How do you know?”
“I just know.”
Ironically, even though I have no clue who I really am or what kind of person I used to be, I’ve proven to be very good at judging other people’s characters.
“Even so, I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Ned tells me. “You know the whole town will find out about her soon. Maybe not about her past, which I don’t intend to divulge, but they’ll know she’s at your house. They’ll talk.”
“I know that, too.”
But should I turn away a woman in need, a single mother with a baby, just for fear of what people might think? They can think whatever they want. I’m not doing anything wrong.
“So what? You’ll just throw away the reputation you’ve worked so hard to build? What if people lose faith in you?”
“Your reputation hasn’t exactly been pristine, but people still have faith in you,” I point out. “At least, most of them do.”
“That’s because I’m not an…”
Ned stops suddenly and looks away.
“An outsider?” I finish his sentence.
He gives me an apologetic look. “I didn’t mean…”
“You’re right,” I tell him. “I’m an outsider and I always will be, so it doesn’t matter what people think of me.”
Ned puts a hand on my shoulder. “Antonio, I’m sorry about that. You know I didn’t mean it. You’re my brother. You’re one of us now.”
Am I?
“I know you’re helping this woman because you think she’s the same as you once were. You’re doing what Mitch and Abby did for you. But you don’t have to…”
“I’m helping her because it’s the right thing to do,” I cut him off. “That’s all.”
Ned falls silent. His eyes clash with mine. They plead with me to reconsider my decision. I answer with determination. In the end, Ned gives in. He takes his hand off my shoulder and lets out a deep breath.
“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Thanks,” I tell him. “But you don’t have to worry about me.”
I pat his shoulder as I walk past him towards the pickup truck. Sally approaches the vehicle as well.
“Are you okay?” she asks me as she occupies the passenger seat just after I’ve slid into the driver’s. “You and Ned looked like you were talking about something serious.”
“It’s fine.”
I grab my bottle of water and take a sip.
Sally closes the door. “Was it about Triss? Do she and Lara have to go?”
“I wasn’t aware we had a law about not allowing strangers in our homes,” I tell her.
“We don’t.”
“Then no. They’re not going anywhere.”
Sally lets out a breath of relief. “Good, because I have to admit I’ve fallen in love with little Lara.”
“I noticed.”
“And I’ve noticed the way you were staring at her mother,” Sally says. “You haven’t fallen in love with her, have you?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Not funny.”
Just because none of the women in Summerset manage to hold my interest doesn’t mean I’m going to jump on the first woman who comes here from out of town.
Though I have to admit she is interesting.
“I wasn’t trying to be,” Sally tells me. “I’m just stating a possibility and telling you to be careful.”
“You’re not going to give me a lecture, too, are you?” I ask her. “I am almost thirty, you know.”
“I know.” She puts her hands on her lap. “But Wilson is over thirty and he still does some stupid things sometimes.”
“No offense, but I think I’m smarter than your husband.”
Sally chuckles. “True.”
I start the engine and start driving. “By the way, after we check on Helen, I’m sending you to the city to buy supplies for Triss and Lara. You can visit Wilson if you want or wait for him after work and have dinner before you come home. I’ll pay for it.”
