“No, no, no—Penelope, you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a while.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” I say, feeling a gush of honesty. “I get excited like a kid on Christmas morning before we hang out.” What a stupid thing to say. But I notice a smile spread across her face like the most glorious sunrise in the history of sunrises.
“That is the sweetest and cutest thing I have ever heard,” she says. “And since you’re being so honest with me, I feel like I should tell you something as well.”
“What is it? You can tell me anything.”
Penelope’s expression is serious now. I realize I’m holding my breath, so I exhale slowly. The frigid air nips at my nose and cheeks but I don’t mind.
“I know about the drinking,” she says. “I mean, I’ve known all along.”
I feel a knot starting to form in my stomach. “You have?”
“Yes. I . . . I knew back at the hospital. I could smell it on your breath when you first came in. And I also know you’ve kicked it to the curb.”
What an idiot I am, thinking I was slick enough to hide it form her.
“And I can’t lie, it bothered me. My dad was a big drinker. He never got violent with me and my brother, but with my mom it was a different story.”
I can tell painful memories flare up behind her beautiful brown eyes as she looks out into the distance. I want to hold her. Comfort her. “I’ve stopped drinking for good. I promise you. Ever since I heard that Laci wanted full custody of Kailee, I haven’t had so much as a drop.”
“I believe you, Harp. And I hope you can stay strong, because . . . I like you.”
Thank you, Lord, for sending me this angel. “I like you too. A lot. And I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing my butt off out here. Do you wanna come with me and pick up Kailee from her gramma’s? Knowing my mom, she’ll have something going in the kitchen to warm us up.”
“I’d love to. Just text me the address and I’ll meet you there?”
“I actually gotta stop by my house and let the dog out. How about you drop your car off at your apartment, and I come pick you up in . . . say, an hour?”
“Works for me.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you soon.”
Penelope steps closer, and on her tip-toes plants the softest kiss on my freshly shaven cheek. I catch a whiff of her perfume and I feel all gooey inside. Luckily, my face is already red from the cold, else she’d see me blushing like a fool.
* * *
My mom is standingin the doorway of her suburban home. “So you must be the lovely Penelope,” she says.
It’s a modest one-story house with an attached garage, brick and beige vinyl siding and brown trim. She moved out here from Minnesota after Laci flew the coop so that she could help me raise Kailee. I’ll never forget what the guys did to help her out with the down payment; they put on a pancake breakfast to raise the money, and what the fundraiser couldn’t cover, at their insistence, came directly out of their pockets.
“Yes,” Ines says. “It’s so nice to finally meet you—although I don’t know about the lovely part.” She laughs nervously but freely, her face lighting up with that inner joy of hers that bubbles up spontaneously and makes her so pleasant to be around.
“Well, I do,” says my mom. “Harper showed me a picture of you and you are even lovelier in person. And he wouldn’t shut up about you. Come in, come in—I baked cookies. Here hun, let me take your coat. Ooh, isn’t this pretty. ”
A rapid pitter-patter of small footsteps grows louder and a second later Kailee runs up behind her grandma. She jumps into my open arms and I give her a big bear hug.
“I missed you, daddy!” she says.
“And I missed you, sugarplum. Do you remember Penelope?”
“Of course I do.”
Penelope smiles. “Hi Kailee. It’s nice to see you again. I heard your grandma baked cookies.”
“I helped!” Kailee exclaims. She’s full of energy today—then again, she always is, but I can tell she’s extra exuberant because of Penelope’s presence. “We made chocolate chip cookies, a-a-and gramma let me use the electric mixer.”
