“Katherine organizes all that. She’s never shared the details, but I get the sense she didn’t have the greatest childhood. It was her and Pothole at the beginning. They started as foster parents, saw a need, and filled it.”
“Pothole?”
He chuckled. “Katherine’s husband, David.”
“Why is he called Pothole?”
“It was before my time, but the story goes he was rolling down the street and saw Katherine. Turned his head to check her out and hit a pothole. Laid his bike down hard and that’s how they met.”
“Was he in the military, too?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Did you serve together?”
“No, he was Army. I did a short stint in the Marines,” he said.
“What was that like?” She didn’t know anyone personally who had served in the military. All she knew was what she saw in films and on TV, which was probably only fifty percent accurate, if she had to guess.
“It was what I needed to do at the time. I was seventeen and needed a way to support Dani. Military was the best option for a kid fresh out of high school with a chip on his shoulder, no marketable skills, and pissed off at the world. The Marine recruiter was the first one to greet me when I walked into the recruiting office.”
“That must have been hard. Dani’s very lucky to have a brother like you.” She couldn’t imagine being responsible for another human being at seventeen. Hell, half the time she was surprised they’d let her go home from the hospital with Will.
Tinker cleared his throat. “Yeah. How’s Olivia settling in? Did she start school?”
She sensed he didn’t want to talk about the situation anymore, whether from being uncomfortable with the subject or embarrassed by her praise, but she let him change the topic.
“She’s good. She starts tomorrow. We were able to get her into most of the classes she was interested in,” she said.
“What classes wasn’t she able to get in?”
“Design, for obvious reasons. She has to take theater instead. She hasn’t said anything, but I don’t think she’s too keen about performing in front of people.”
“Don’t blame her. I hated getting up in front of people in school.”
“I find that surprising. You strike me as the class clown type,” she said.
“You’re not wrong, but there’s a difference between being a cut up and having to perform on command for people.”
“True. We’re far enough into the school year where she won’t have to do anything big. They’re changing units in a week or so and they’ll be doing video production for the rest of the year.”
“That’s more my speed,” he said.
“Made a few movies have you?”
Tinker chuckled low. “I may have made a few private home movies.”
A flush ran through her body and her comforter felt heavy and warm against her bare legs.
“What about you?” he asked. “Any fantasy roles you’ve starred in?”
“I—. It’s not—. Not?—.”
Tinker laughed. “I’m kidding. I’ve never made any home movies. Too much shit on the internet as it is. Don’t need someone getting pissed off and posting my ass for the world to see.”
Her body still felt unusually warm. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“I might be willing to make an exception for you though.” His voice was deep and low. Intimate.
