Silence. An impossible dream, it seems today.
“Ooh, it’s getting late. I need to get to work. Thanks, Fiona.”
“Anytime. Keep me updated if there are any changes.”
“Will do.” She bounces away.
To have that much enthusiasm for life.
The thought of my upcoming cup gets me almost as excited.
“Fiona!”
Hope’s greeting makes me jump. There goes my dream.
Please be alone.
Please don’t have your super scary grandfather standing next to you.
Pretty please.
Slowly, I spin around to face her and, for the first time in decades, teeter precariously on my heels.
It’s him.
Max.
The boy I humiliated myself in front of all those years ago, but now he’s in a man’s body.
And what a body!
What a magnificent body!
My eyes meet his intense gaze, and I lose all sense of time and space. Teetering turns into tumbling.
Soul Lost
Max
“Dad, do you think I’m going to get to stay at work for a whole day today?”
I should be seeing an almost-grown adult when Hope asks that, but with every step we take, all I can see is my baby girl. “I don’t see why not.”
“Are you ever going to tell me about what happened that I needed to rush over to Aunt Bonnie’s instead of staying at work? It’s not like I’m five anymore. I know about the family business.”
My little girl thinks she knows what it takes for us to protect our family. If she only knew the half of it, she wouldn’t sleep as peacefully as she does at night. “It had nothing to do with the family business.” Why am I trying to keep this a secret from her? There are no secrets in the Vincenti Family. Gossip comes as naturally as breathing among ourselves. “The kid I was mentoring showed up yesterday after you left.”
“Oh yeah. Everett is so cool. He reminds me of you.”
“What? How do you know Everett?” Could that one brief meeting on Willow Street have had that much of an impact on my daughter?
“He’s friends with Sasha. They game together. I’ve met him a few times over there, but mostly they hang out online. Everett is odd.”
You can say that again. “What do you mean by odd?”
She quirks her head to the side and grabs one of her curls, twirling it. “Like he’s a gentleman, not just manners-wise, it’s like he has the heart of a gentleman. One of the guys playing with us said something rude to one of the girls, and Everett hacked into the MMORPG and permanently banned the guy. I think he did something else too, but he didn’t tell me about it. He opens doors and stands until all the girls sit. He doesn’t curse. I’m pretty sure he’s never thought of saying a foul word in his life. Anyway, I’ve never met someone quite like Everett.”
“All your cousins are gentlemen. Sasha—”
