I’m smiling as I turn back. “I’m more of a romance girl. I like the idea that there’ll always be a happy ever after at the end. No surprises.”
That only happens in real life. My smile slips slightly, and I distract myself, seizing a glass statue I’ve been eyeing up for the last few minutes and waving it at a bemused Jared. “I mean, look at this.”
He grimaces, reaching for the tiny clown. The eyes are glued on separately, giving it a bug-eyed look. “Have you ever spoken to anyone about this?”
I snatch it back, cradling it against my chest. Jared stares as I stroke it, trying not to laugh at his expression. “He doesn’t mean it. Don’t listen to him.”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking.” Shaking his head, he looks at the owner. “How much for the clown?”
I blink at him as he hands over cash and steers me away. “Quick, before you see the seven-legged dog.”
I almost twist my head to see, but the lift in his lips gives him away. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. But you looked like you desperately needed a clown statue in your life. And I wouldn’t want Geraldine to be lonely.”
We stroll down the path. Carefully, I slip the clown into my coat jacket. “You can laugh. But I bet that if you were a knick-knack that nobody wanted, you’d want me to rescue you too.”
Grinning, I turn to face him. “Jared?”
He clears his throat, offering me a quick smile. “Yeah. I would.”
I think back.
Shit.
But the teasing air of a moment ago is gone. We pause to buy coffees from a street cart before I draw him over to a free bench. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about what I was saying.”
They grew up in the system when their mom died. It’s not hard to draw a parallel directly to how my words might make him feel.
Jared sighs. “You didn’t say anything wrong. I love that you collect the most random shit because nobody else will want it. Even though Geraldine will feature in my nightmares from now on.”
I wait, nudging him. “But? There’s definitely a ‘but’ in there.”
Jared swallows. “I… I lied to Ben about something. You just reminded me of it.”
He stares at the people across from us. A little boy argues with a little girl while their dad tries to separate them. “About what happened to our mom.”
“Okay,” I say carefully. “You don’t have to tell me—,”
“She walked out.”
It takes me a second to understand his words. “On you? And Ben?”
He looks away from the family, down to his lap. “I was ten. Ben was five. She had a lot of problems. I think she needed help, but she didn’t know where to go or how to get it. Not that we could’ve afforded it.”
I inhale sharply. “God, Jared.”
He coughs. “She left us a lot, but she packed her bags that time and left while we were sleeping. She was gone for a long time. Weeks. I managed to get Ben to school, make do with what we had in the cupboards, but someone must have realized after a while and called CPS. They put us in a few different homes after that. We moved around a lot.”
Horror swamps me. “Did they find her?”
Jared nods. “She just… she couldn’t do it. Couldn’t cope. That’s what she said. She was arrested for child abandonment, but nothing really came of it. She voluntarily relinquished her parental rights.”
“Your dad?” I ask gently. My heart is aching.
“No idea.” Brown eyes linger on the father opposite us. “I don’t think they ever tracked him down, whoever he was.”
“So she’s still out there somewhere.”
