Chapter 8 #2
“We can’t leave Waffles behind,” Laryn said with a frown, as she stood with her new dog in her arms.
“I’ve already asked, and we can bring him too. Just this once, since it’s a special occasion.”
“Yay!” Laryn said, with a huge smile on her face.
“Mommy,” Bowie said, leaning way out of Pyro’s arms, toward Penny. Thankfully he had a firm grip on her, so she didn’t end up sprawled on the asphalt.
Bowie was getting a little big to be carried, at least by Penny.
Pyro didn’t seem to have any trouble holding her.
But Penny was well aware the time would come when her daughter didn’t want anything to do with her mom.
She’d be a teenager full of angst and drama, and Penny would only have sweet memories of carrying her around.
For that reason, she relieved Pyro of his little burden and took her daughter into her arms.
“That was sweet!” Bowie said.
“It was.”
“I want to pet Waffles.”
“I’m sure you can later. Let’s let Laryn and Waffles get to know each other first. I’m sure things have been pretty hectic for him.”
“Okay. Mommy?”
“Yeah, sweetie?”
Laryn and Casper were walking with the three older men, and everyone else was following along behind. Pyro and Penny were taking up the rear as they headed for the area where the team had left their vehicles.
“Where are we sleeping tonight? Are we staying with Kylo-Pyro?”
Penny couldn’t help but look up at the man by her side.
He was carrying two duffels in one hand—one his own, and the one that held everything Penny and Bowie had to their names.
Bowie had never once asked about their living situation in the past. She’d simply trusted that her mom would keep a roof over their head and food on their table.
She wasn’t sure why she was questioning things now, except that she was getting older. More aware of things around her.
“We’re going to stay with Zita. You just met her, remember?”
“Uh-huh. Is Kylo-Pyro going to be there too?”
“No, honey. He has his own apartment. It’ll just be you, me, and Zita.”
“I wanna stay with Kylo-Pyro!” she whined.
“You’ll have your own room, honey, and there won’t be red dirt on the ground,” Penny cajoled, trying to appease her daughter.
“I bet Kylo-Pyro’s home doesn’t have red dirt either. I wanna stay with him!” Her voice was louder now, on the verge of a tantrum. Something she hadn’t had in quite a while.
Attempting to reason with a six-year-old was difficult at the best of times.
But Bowie hadn’t slept much the night before, too excited about the ship getting to shore, and the disembarkation process had been long and tedious.
And then with the excitement over Laryn’s proposal…
it was no wonder she was being cantankerous.
“We’ll visit Pyro’s apartment, and he’ll visit ours. But we can’t live with him.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not our new home.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re living with Zita. We’ll each have our own room. You’ve never had that before.”
“I don’t want my own room, Mommy,” Bowie pouted. “I wanna sleep with Kylo-Pyro.”
Penny winced and looked around, making sure no strangers overheard her daughter.
She also ignored the little voice in her own head that was echoing that sentiment. That she wanted to sleep with the man at their side.
Instead of getting upset with her daughter, Penny tried to find out what was worrying her. “Why do you want to stay with Pyro, sweetheart?”
Bowie stared off into space as she bit her lip. That unseeing stare used to make John uncomfortable, but Penny was used to it.
“He’ll keep us safe.”
“From what?”
“The bad man.”
“What bad man?” Penny asked, more concerned now.
They’d stopped walking, because Penny wanted to give Bowie her complete attention.
She was well aware that Pyro had stopped walking too, and he was listening to their conversation intently.
But she didn’t mind. She liked having him there. Liked his quiet support.
“If the bad man comes for money, Pyro can make him go away, and you can keep your money and then you’ll have food too, instead of giving it all to me,” Bowie said quietly.
Penny’s knees almost buckled. She was devastated enough to realize Bowie understood what the visits from Colvin’s goons were about. But even more so that she’d figured out Penny was going hungry so Bowie could eat.
She’d thought she’d done a much better job of keeping all of that from her daughter.
She felt warmth along her side a split second before Pyro spoke. “Your mom will never go hungry again, Bowie-Bear. You’ll both have all the food you can eat. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure the bad man doesn’t bother you and your mom.”
Penny appreciated that he hadn’t outright said Colvin would never show up, because that wasn’t something he could control.
But man did she hate that Bowie was old enough to understand Penny was afraid of the men who came to their door, or that they sometimes hadn’t had enough money to feed them both. That sucked.
“And just because you’ll be in your own apartment, with your own room, doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to see me again. We’re friends now, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And friends do things together. Like go to the park. Go out to eat. Play games. Read together. I’m still going to do all that with you.”
“Promise?”
“Pinky promise.”
“What’s that?” Bowie asked, with an adorable tilt of her head.
“It’s a very important vow. A super-promise. One that can’t be broken.”
“Ooooh, I like that.”
“Me too. Hold up your hand,” Pyro said.
She did. Then he linked his pinky finger with hers and moved their hands up and down in a little handshake. “There. Now it’s a pinky promise.”
Bowie beamed. Then she frowned a little. “I still want to live with you, Kylo-Pyro.”
“Your mom would be lonely if you lived with me and she didn’t.”
“She can come too,” Bowie said magnanimously, which made Penny smile a little.
“How about if I come over and help get your room set up exactly how you want it?” Pyro asked.
“How about if you make me a room in your apartment exactly how I want it?” Bowie returned.
Penny couldn’t hold back the smile now. Her daughter was too smart for her own good. She was blind, not dumb, as some of the kids in Gabon had taunted.
Pyro gave Penny a helpless look. She appreciated him trying to appease Bowie more than she could say.
“We aren’t moving into Pyro’s apartment, Bowie. And that’s that. But he’s already pinky promised to be your friend and do lots of stuff with you. He has a life, one that doesn’t include us. Besides, we just met him. You can’t be inviting yourself to live with people you just met.”
“But I like him! And you do too. I can hear it in your voice. And he likes you back.”
For a moment, time seemed to stop as Penny and Pyro stared at each other.
She could feel her heart thudding in her chest. She should’ve been embarrassed that her six-year-old daughter could tell that she liked Pyro…
more than someone who’d just met him a week ago should.
But it felt good to hear that Bowie thought he liked her the same way.
“Enough, Bowie,” she said sternly, using her “mom voice.”
Bowie pressed her lips together and squirmed to be let down. Penny lowered her to the ground and let her have some space.
“You’re going to love Anchor Point, Bowie,” Pyro said, while still looking at Penny. “It’s where we all like to hang out together whenever we have a chance. The food is awesome too.”
“Do they have chicken nuggets?” Bowie asked sullenly, looking in Pyro’s direction.
“They sure do. Wanna hold my hand so I don’t trip over my feet on the way to my car?” he asked.
Bowie nodded, and Pyro took her hand. They started walking again, side-by-side, as Penny followed behind.
She could easily dismiss good-looking, successful men if they thought talking to a kid was beneath them.
Or if they treated Bowie with disrespect, or as if she was somehow less-than because of her lack of sight.
Pyro, however, had quickly won both her respect and affection with the way he treated her daughter.
Affection. What a joke.
Penny had a crush on the man. And not a crush like she’d had when she was in her early twenties and didn’t know any better.
When John had brought her flowers or candy, she’d thought that meant he was madly in love with her and would make a perfect partner.
She was older and wiser now, and material things meant nothing.
Pyro had literally offered her a solution to their housing situation and safety from a threat that had been hanging over her head for two years.
Not only that, but he’d befriended Bowie, as if it was perfectly normal for a grown man to spend hours reading Little House on the Prairie, or share a candy bar every night after dinner like it was the finest dessert in the land.
It was probably good she would be able to put some space between her and Pyro. Bowie was obviously too attached already, and Penny was quickly getting that way too. Some time away would be good for both of them, and for Pyro. He was probably sick of babysitting.
But he didn’t seem as if he was tired of Bowie. Even now, he looked like he was listening intently as she babbled on about the sounds she’d experienced while disembarking the giant ship.
Penny had no idea what the future held for her and Bowie, but one thing was clear—she was damn lucky to have been rescued from that hotel roof by Pyro and Casper.
She and Bowie had been taken under Pyro’s wing, been welcomed by his friends, and treated as members of their Night Stalker family.
It was a strange feeling, but a comforting one.
Because of Pyro, they were safe. Wouldn’t be sleeping on the streets or in a shelter.
But gratefulness wasn’t really what Penny felt toward the man.
At least, not completely. She was drawn to him for other reasons.
They had a lot in common, and every time their fingers brushed or he put his hand on her arm, she felt it deep in her core.
Falling in love wasn’t on her agenda. But as she’d learned over the years, even the most carefully crafted agenda could be smashed to smithereens at any moment.
Realizing that trying to predict the future was futile, Penny knew she’d have to continue living the way she had for years—one day at a time. Whatever happened would happen. She’d deal with life as it came…and be the best mother, friend, and employee she could be in the meantime.