Bare feet slapped the linoleum behind them. Then Tyler’s squeaky voice demanded, “Where’s the popcorn, you guys? The movie’s about to start!”
“It’s coming,” Naomi said, greeting the boy with a happy smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Why don’t you give me a hand now that you’re here? You can open the packages for me and set out the bowls.”
She turned her back to Asher and hastily got to work with Tyler at her side.
Asher faded back into the other room without her notice.
When the corn was popped and brought out from the kitchen, Michael started the movie for the eager group of kids. They were all piled into the living room, each of them gravitating to a certain seat. Max took the recliner, with Naomi on one end of the sectional where Michael had parked his chair. Penny was nestled up close to Naomi’s other side.
“Is Asher sleeping here tonight?” Billy asked from his spot at the other side of the sofa.
Michael chuckled. “Not tonight, buddy. Asher’s got his own place.”
Now Penny turned a curious look on Naomi. “Is that were you’ve been?”
She nodded. “I’m staying with Asher for a little while, but I’ll be back soon.”
“Oh.” The girl shrugged. “You gonna watch with us or what?”
It took a second for Asher to realize she was talking to him. “Yeah, sure.”
She patted the space beside her and offered him a tentative smile which he was certain had everything to do with her trust in Naomi and her taste in friends and nothing to do with him personally. He made his way over and sat, careful not to encroach on the girl’s personal space.
Still, she stiffened involuntarily in a way that made him feel queasy as he tried not to think of all the reasons why she might have to fear him, least of all the fact that he was Breed.
The first few minutes as the credits rolled were spent in awkward silence, all of his awareness centered on Naomi’s unblinking, stoic face as she stared at the large screen. Soon enough, they all got lost in the movie. Asher never watched TV or movies, but there was something comforting in the shared silence within the room, nothing but rapt faces and the rhythmic crunch of popcorn being stuffed by the handfuls into tiny mouths.
At some point, Penny relaxed, sagging against his shoulder. Her soft snores vibrated through his arm as she nestled against him as innocently as a kitten. He watched her for a moment, and when he glanced up his gaze collided with Naomi’s tender regard.
“You should take her,” he murmured. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached down to move the child close to Naomi. As soon as his fingers touched Penny’s bare arm, he was buffeted with the immense force of her memory—transported from his seat on the big sectional to a dusty floor beneath a small bed as he peered through a torn pink bed skirt. Terror clutched him, sucking all of the breath from his lungs.
No, not his lungs. Penny’s.
Her terror seeped through him like acid.
In an instant, her memory imprinted itself on him before he could pull away.
He was here. She could hear him, mouth-breathing. Could smell the stench of whiskey and sour sweat pouring off him. The only question was whether he was too drunk to think of looking under the bed or if he would—
Fear closed around his heart like an icy fist as dark shoes entered her room. The bed skirt fluttered and a pair of watery gray eyes peered through the darkness.
“There you are, Penny-girl. Whassamatter? Come out and give your step-daddy a kiss goodnight.”
Asher rolled to his feet, powered by pure, unadulterated rage. Penny stirred, blinking up at him sleepily from her peaceful drowse. Somehow, as he looked into that little girl’s eyes, he managed to keep his voice even.
“Sorry. I’m not really into the movie after all. I need to get some air.”
He stalked from the house onto the porch and sucked in great gulps of warm Nevada air.
When the door creaked open a few minutes later, he expected to see Naomi. He had his apology lined up, but he paused when he realized it was Michael.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” Asher replied brusquely. “All good.”
Michael nodded, his concerned gaze steady. “It’s hard to process sometimes, even for me, and this has been my normal since before my accident. Some nights when a new kid comes through, I lie in bed so full of anger and pain for what they’ve endured. They don’t even need to say the words a lot of the time. When you’ve known pain, you know how to see it in them.” Michael stared out into the night, his hands resting lightly on the wheels of his chair. “Nay’s so much better at all of this than me. She never lets them see her anger for what they’ve gone through—the rage that comes along with this work. I, on the other hand—” He glanced back at Asher with a wry look. “Let’s just say there are a lot of times when it gets so heavy I need to walk away for some air too. Or roll, as the case may be.”
Asher chuckled. “You do just fine, from what I’ve seen tonight.”
