“You didn’t need to get me anything,” Minnie says.
“Sure, I do. You’re my assistant. And myassistantisn’t going to sleep in her car.”
Again, Minnie glances up at me. “What?”
“I have a guest room,” I tell her. The words come out too fast. Too sure. I don’t walk back from them. “You’re moving in. If it makes you feel better, we can put a bolt on the door so that you can lock me out.”
Minnie stares at me. Her full lips part slightly, like she wants to argue with me but has no comeback. I realize how bossy I just sounded. Shit, I sound like Dante, don’t I? I didn’t know I had a little Dante in me, but here we are. I kind of like it. Maybe next I should work on my looming abilities.
“But, Kepler…” Minnie nibbles her bottom lip.
“Kepler?” I repeat.
“My baby,” she mumbles. “I can’t leave without him.”
Jesus Christ, her parents threw her out of the house with herbaby?She’s been living in a car with her kid? Dante just saddled me with a single mom who has no experience as an assistant? I’d be pissed, but it’s not like I’m going to turn my back on her now, although I might need to track her family down and give them a piece of my mind. I’m not brave enough to go toe-to-toe with Dante.
“Bring him,” I say, with an airy wave of my hand, as if I welcome babies I’ve never met into my house all the time. “What’s one more?”
Minnie straightens her shoulders. She sits back in her chair, unfolding from her hunched posture for the first time. “Why?”
Because seeing you scared messes with my head.
“Why, what? You and… Kepler, was it?” Weird name for a kid, but okay.
Minnie nods.
“I’m not going to let you live on the street. InVegas.I have a spare room; you need a spare room. Seems pretty silly to let it go to waste while you boil in the parking garage.”
She still isn’t convinced, but at least she doesn’t say no.
“Julie vouched for you. And Dante vouched forme.I’m also pretty sure he would drag me into an alley if I did anything to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
An easy smile flits across Minnie’s face. “Not an alley. He’d make a statement.”
“Should I be worried about cement shoes, then?” I chuckle. “Supposedly, he once put up a massive billboard of Camden’s dad’s naked backside to get revenge on him for something. Who knows what? Anyway, I won’t fuck with Dante, so…” I almost sayI won’t fuck with you, but that sounds weirdly sexual even in my own head, and I don’t want to scare her off again. “You can trust me to mind my own business,” I say instead.
Minnie takes a swig of her coffee. “Okay, we’ll give it a try. Just until I have enough for an apartment. Deal?”
“Deal.”
We shake on it. Minnie has a remarkably firm grip for someone with such tiny hands.
“I can walk you to your car,” I offer. “You should come check the place out. See if you need anything.”
“I’m sure it will be great. You don’t need to walk me anywhere, though. I have to go to the main office to pick up Kepler.”
I guess it’s a good thing she didn’t leave her baby in the car, though I certainly wouldn’t leave any kid of mine around Dante. His bullshit could be contagious. “It’s fine, I’ll come with you. I’m in no rush. Anyway, you should probably follow me home, right? We’ll go together.”
Minnie throws back the rest of her coffee, then folds up her muffin in a napkin and tucks it in her bag for later, along with the rest of the sandwich. “Okay, let’s go.”
We head up to the front office. The whole time, I run through a list of things in my head. If Minnie’s hoarding sandwich ends, I’m guessing money is tight. I’ll have to buy whatever she needs, and I need to do so in a way that won’t make her feel patronized.
I have plenty of spare linens and towels and crap like that for when my family visits. When I was growing up, we never had a lot to spare, but we had enough. I’m not going to let a single mother do without just because she’s too shy to ask for help. Money isn’t a problem for me, but I don’t want Minnie to feel like I’m buying her, either.
This could be a tricky line to walk.
As soon as we step through the office door, Minnie freezes. I bump into her back and have to catch her shoulder to steady her.
