“There wasn’t much food in the house, and she had to take care of Shannon and her own father. She was waiting to get paid so she could buy groceries.” He shook his head. “It was a long time ago, but man, I still remember everything about that day. I knew that people went hungry, and I’d seen homeless people, but hearing Cindy talk about it was so real. Here was a grown-up, living in my town, and she was going hungry. She was thin and scared, and seeing that scared me, too.”
“You were a kid,” she said, wondering how much else Cindy had sacrificed to keep her child. “Makes sense you were scared.”
“My mom insisted we go to lunch right then, even though we’d already had ours. There was a burger place next door, and my mom marched us both in and ordered the biggest burger they had. After Cindy had eaten, my mom talked to her about the job she had and some other stuff I can’t remember. The next day Cindy showed up for an interview, and from then on, she and Shannon were in our lives.”
Victoria wondered how Ava would have reacted in those circumstances. For all her flaws, her mother was practical and did the work, so she would have gotten Cindy food as well. She probably wouldn’t have put her to work in the foundation, but she might have helped in other ways.
“Your mom sounds great,” she said.
“She was. She and Cindy became close friends. Shannon and I are tight. My brother is five years older, so I was just a pain in the ass to him. Having Shannon around was a lot of fun. We’re the same age, and we got along. She’s the sister I never had.”
“That’s right. You’re roommates now. Her boyfriend doesn’t mind?”
“There’s nothing between us but friendship. She’s family.”
“So you’ve never...”
He grimaced. “No. It’s not like that.”
Oddly, she believed him.
“Our families hung out all the time. We celebrated birthdays together, Christmas, that kind of stuff. When my parents went away on vacation, Cindy and Shannon moved in while they were gone. We’re family.”
What he was saying sounded nice, she thought wistfully. Growing up it had always just been her. While her parents had friends, they were more sit-together-at-a-charity-function kind of friends. Ava and Milton had never needed more than that. She’d been an only child, and the only friends she had were the ones she made herself. There were no family connections, no grandparents or cousins.
“About five years ago my mom started getting headaches,” he continued, his voice quieter now. “Bad ones.”
Her lunch suddenly sat heavily in her stomach.
“A few weeks later she was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Two months after that, she was gone.”
Victoria sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry. That was so fast.”
“Yeah.” He looked away for a second. “We were all in shock. We didn’t know what was happening, then suddenly Mom was in hospice and then...” He cleared his throat. “Cindy got us through. She and Shannon came to stay and helped out with my mom. When she passed, Cindy handled all of it. My dad was a mess. She kept us going and kept the business running. We couldn’t have gotten through it without her.”
“She sounds wonderful.”
“She’s amazing. About a year ago, my dad came to me and said he wanted to ask Cindy out. But he wanted to make sure it was okay with me and my brother first. Of course we said yes. There’d never been anything between them, so we’d never thought about them as a couple, but it made sense, you know? I think Mom would be happy to know they’re together.”
“I’m glad you’re okay with them getting married.” She smiled. “Now Shannon really will be your sister.”
“I know. I kind of like that.” He picked up a raspberry. “And now you know everything about me. Let’s talk about you.”
She laughed. “Not so fast. You’ve told me about your family but not anything about yourself.”
He flashed her a smile that had her thinking that she should make the effort to rally for sex. Everything about him appealed to her. There had to be a way to work around her cast.
“You can see I’m good-looking,” he said easily, causing her to laugh again.
“Oh, can I?”
“I’m also single, honest and charming. That should be enough to get us started. You can figure out the rest as we go.”
“You’re assuming a lot.”
“I’m hopeful. What about you? You’re a stuntwoman. That’s unusual, even in this town.”
“I know.” She shrugged. “Like I said, I’m kind of a person who needs to be doing. I was in gymnastics for a few years until I figured out I wasn’t good enough to make the Olympic team. Then I started cheerleading.” She picked up a piece of cheese. “The athletic kind. I didn’t prance.”
