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Damage control.
Saul helped me up off the ground, and when we realized that I couldn’t put any weight on it, he bent, lifted me in his arms, and carried me to his car. He placed me inside, where I saw two kids, both around my age, waiting patiently inside.
“Kids, this is Hanna. Hanna, this is my daughter, Whitney, and my son, Xavier.”
Sitting beside me, Whitney smiled and said, “Hi, Hanna.”
I offered an awkward smile. “Hi.”
“What are you doing here? Who are you?” Xavier asked, having twisted himself around in the front seat.
“Son,” Saul called out, a warning in his tone. “Not now. We’re going to go inside, get Hanna some ice for her foot, and then we’re going to eat some birthday cake. Okay?”
“Yeah, Dad.”
With Xavier’s agreement in hand, Saul put the car in drive and crept the remaining distance down the driveway and into the garage. After he parked, Whitney and Xavier got out. I attempted to, and the minute I set my good foot on the ground and stood, careful not to put any weight on my injured foot, Saul was there to lift me in his arms and carry me inside.
Ten minutes later, I was sitting at a table in the most exquisite house I’d ever been inside. Saul had gotten me some ice for my foot, giving me an extra chair to rest it on, and Whitney and Xavier had both taken a seat at the table as well. Saul brought out the cake, cut it, and he’d given everyone a slice. Everyone, including me.
I felt so uncomfortable. I’d never met these people, and my friends and I had just stolen from them. Now, I was sitting here, because Saul was taking care of me, and he’d just offered me a piece of the most decadent thing I’d had in years. In fact, it was probably the most indulgent and delicious thing I’d eaten in my entire life.
“Whitney’s just turned sixteen,” Saul informed me.
“Happy birthday,” I said to her.
She beamed at me. “Thanks. I can’t believe I get to drive now. I’m so excited.”
“You’ve got to pass the test first,” Saul reminded her.
Nodding enthusiastically, she assured him, “I know. I’m ready, though. I can’t wait.”
“Xavier turned fifteen a couple months ago,” Saul shared.
Well, that explained the bad mood. He was a teenage boy with teenage boy hormones. No wonder he’d been miserable from the moment I was put inside the car.
But then something dawned on me. Whitney had just turned sixteen and Xavier turned fifteen months ago. I wasn’t an expert on pregnancy, but it seemed impossible that they could bethatclose in age.
Despite the questions I had about it, I remained silent. And for the next few minutes, I merely sat, eating the cake, and observing the dynamic between Saul and his kids.
He asked them about their weekend plans, and I felt only marginally better about the fact that it seemed Xavier had just as much of an attitude with Saul as he’d had with me in the car. He muttered something about football practice, going to the gym, and having some buddies over to play some new video game that had just been released.
Whitney, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more jubilant. She rambled on and on about all of her friends that were going to be coming over and spending the entire weekend with her to celebrate her birthday. If I had to guess, Whitney was a daddy’s girl. She seemed to be incredibly close with him, and I couldn’t say that I wasn’t just a little bit envious of their relationship.
I’d never been so fortunate to have that, to have any of this. I hoped she and Xavier realized just how lucky they were.
“Hanna, if you stick around, you’re more than welcome to join in the festivities with my friends and me,” she offered.
I blinked my eyes in surprise.If I stuck around?
I didn’t know what made her think that I’d be sticking around, but for some reason, I couldn’t get myself to respond. I smiled awkwardly again, and if it weren’t for the fact that her cell phone rang just as she popped the last bite of cake in her mouth, it might have gotten even more awkward.
“Can I be excused, Daddy? That’s Tiff.”
“Sure, sweetheart,” he returned.
“I’m going to my room,” Xavier announced. He immediately got up and left, without waiting for permission to leave the table.
Then, it was just Saul and me.
