Chapter 19 Grayden #2
I didn’t like hearing that. “Your mom’s been sad?”
“She thinks I don’t notice, but I do.” He stared at the smears of ointment on his fingers, and I held out a tissue for him to wipe off the excess.
“My dad doesn’t come around that much anymore.
He makes promises and then breaks them. It sucks.
But the worst part is how my mom gets this look in her eyes. ”
I nodded slowly, unwrapping a bandage and helping Ollie position it. “I know a few things about dads who don’t keep promises.”
“You do?”
“Sadly. It hurts, doesn’t it? It always hurt me, even though I tried not to show it. And then I got mad, and that didn’t feel so good either. In the end.”
Ollie stared at his bandaged palms. “Did it get better?”
“Eventually,” I said with a sigh. “When I accepted that my dad’s problems weren’t about me at all. Or about my brothers or my sister. It was all on him.”
After a breath, Ollie mumbled, “Sorry for bein’ rude and stuff when we were having dinner at Hearthstone. I wasn’t trying to.” He flinched. “Maybe I was. But I just didn’t know if you were a bad guy or not. My mom says you’re not. I guess I believe her.”
I replaced the supplies in the first-aid kit, glad to have at least a slight vote of confidence from the kid.
“You asked what I did to wind up in prison, and that’s a valid question. I would’ve told you that night, but I wasn’t sure if your mom wanted me talking about it in front of you.”
Ollie perked up. “I can handle it. I read all kinds of bloody stuff in my comic books. I’m really mature.”
I smiled. “Seems like it.”
“Except for crying when I fall.” He slumped a little. “That’s kind of babyish.”
“Nah,” I said smoothly. “Everybody cries. Including me. Cried plenty of times when I was in prison. I missed my family a lot. Wished things hadn’t turned out the way they did.”
Ollie tilted his head, studying me with those serious eyes. “My mom told me you didn’t really hurt anyone, but that I shouldn’t talk about that with anybody else. Like Maisie. Because it’s not my story to tell.”
I sat on the edge of the desk. “I confessed to a crime because I thought I was protecting someone.”
“Was it the right thing to do?”
I wished I knew the true answer. Had it been right? Noble? Or just stupid? Until it went completely sideways, of course, and I couldn’t take it back.
I’d turned those questions over in my head a thousand times during my years inside, and I still wasn’t sure.
“I thought so. At first. By the time I realized what was really going to happen to me, it was too late to tell the truth.”
“My mom says it’s never too late to tell the truth.”
“No, she’s right. Telling the truth is important, and it’s never truly too late. But sometimes, things get complicated.”
His brow furrowed, and he picked at the edge of the bandage. “I don’t like when stuff is complicated.”
“Yeah, Ollie. Me neither.”
We headed out to the front of the coffee shop, where a hot cocoa and a double espresso were waiting on the counter. The place was busier now, with both Rina and Piper serving customers. Piper silently pointed at the stack of paperbacks on the floor by the bookshelves, eyeing her son sternly.
Ollie dragged his feet in that direction. “I’m supposed to clean my mess.” Then he looked at me hopefully. “Want to team up? It’ll be faster.”
I chuckled. “Sure. I’ll help.”
Ollie sat at a nearby table and instructed me on where to put the various books, acting like a foreman on a construction site. So the kid was smart and resourceful, too. He’d put me right to work.
I couldn’t help sending sly grins to Piper, who was clearly watching us.
“My mom likes you,” Ollie said under his breath.
I turned back to him, grabbing the chair beside him and taking a sip of my coffee. “As a friend.”
“But she talks about you a lot. Like all the time.”
Hope spread through my chest. I told myself not to read too much into it. “Was she saying good things?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I said she likes you, didn’t I? Are you going to be her boyfriend?”
The word hit me with longing. I wouldn’t mind that. Wouldn’t mind it at all.
But reality was a different story.
“I don’t think your mom’s looking for a boyfriend.”
“She seems not as sad when you’re around, though. I mean, she always smiles all the time, but around you, her smiles seem more, I don’t know. Real. Like she doesn’t have to think about them.”
“How do you feel about that?”
He shrugged. “I guess it’s not the worst thing. I think my mom’s right. You’re a good guy. Even if you don’t look like one.”
“What’s a good guy supposed to look like?”
“I don’t know. Not all tattooed and stuff. My dad would say you need a haircut.”
I raised an eyebrow, amused.
“But maybe I don’t care what my dad thinks. As long as you keep making my mom smile.”
He pulled a book from the shelf and started reading, apparently done with our conversation. But man, I was still reeling. And trying not to overthink it, but that wasn’t easy.
When the rush of customers died down, I carried my cup over to the counter where Piper was wiping down the espresso machine. Rina was doing something in the kitchen.
“Thanks for all your help today with Ollie,” Piper said quietly. “Being so patient with him.”
“He’s a great kid. Honest, brave, and adores his mom. And he talked me into unpaid labor. Seems like he’s headed for management.”
She laughed, a beautiful tinkling sound that played every one of my heart strings. “I just want him to be okay.”
“With a mom like you, he’s got everything he needs.”
Something complicated passed across her face. Then she kissed my cheek, her lips soft against my skin.
I stood there like an idiot after she pulled away, the spot on my cheek still tingling.