“Do you? I hear you want to buy art supplies for her.”
“They’re bought.”
“Lord above, did Delia approve that?”
I said nothing.
“That would be no.” Alonzo sighed. “I knew it. You’re falling for the poor girl.”
My arms dropped to my sides. “I’m not f-falling for her. She can’t—”
“That’s right. She can’t nothing.” He chucked his smoke down and ground it under his boot.
“She can paint,” I said. “She’s an artist. She should be painting.”
I braced myself for Alonzo to blow up at me, but he sank back on the bench. “I know. It’s a shame, watching her make do with pen and paper, day after day.”
“So? Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow at rec time, give it a shot. But if Miss Hughes shows any kind of upset at all, that’s it.” He made a slashing motion with his hand. “No more paint.”
“Got it.”
“We’ll see. You recall Delia nearly had you canned last week. Or you got amnesia too?”
“I remember.”
“She doesn’t like strange men taking an interest in her sister. You can see why, can’t you?”
Inhale. Exhale. “I would never hurt Thea in any way. I swear it.”
It came out perfectly. No stutter.
Alonzo eyed me a good, hard minute. Then, with a small groan, he bent and picked up the butt of his smoke off the ground with two fingers. “All right, Jim. I’ll have your back on this,” he said. “Don’t make me regret it.”
The gravel crunched under his feet as he walked away, leaving his words hanging in the sticky air.
You’re falling for that poor girl.
I was. I’d quit my job before I hurt her, but it didn’t stop my stupid heart from wanting an impossible life. I was a dying man in Thea’s Egyptian desert, and she was a mirage. An oasis that didn’t exist.
And I had to stop turning my empty soul in her direction.
Chapter 11
Jim
After the previous day’s attempt to let Thea paint had been ruined by Brett, I decided to make up for it. I went back to the art store and purchased an easel, a smock, and one of those paint trays with a hole for the thumb. I’d found a tarp in one of the supply closets and set it underneath the easel in the rec room to protect the old linoleum. I had a feeling that Thea, when she painted, didn’t hold back.
Job done, I shot a glance at Alonzo who stood at the nurse’s station. It wasn’t Delia’s day to visit, but he was there to run interference, just in case. The trust he’d placed in me felt impossibly good. If this went south, it wouldn’t just hurt Thea but ruin that too.
Alonzo glanced down the hall and then back to me. “Here she comes.”
Rita brought Thea in, and I joined them at the door.
“Hi, Miss Hughes.”
Thea glanced at my nametag. “Hi… Jim?”
“It’s Jimmy,” I said. “I have something for you.”
Her smile widened. “Oh yeah? Is it my birthday?”
I stared and my brain went into a tailspin.
Was it? Did she think it was? Did she know one way or the other?
“Oh my God, calm down, Jimmy. I’m teasing.” Thea laughed, but the smile fell off her face as she caught sight of my setup. She walked slowly toward the mini art studio. “Is this… for me?”
“Y-Yeah,” I said. “Do you like it?”
“Like it?”
Thea whirled on me and threw her arms around my neck. For a split second, time stood still, and I had this girl in my arms. I had her warm embrace wrapped around me after years of going without. She let go quickly, leaving me reeling, and went to the easel, where she traced her fingers down the edge of the canvas.
“Holy shit, Jimmy, this is amazing. I haven’t painted in… how long has it been?”
“Two years, Miss Hughes,” I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets. “You’re long overdue.”
She gave me another beautiful smile. “Thank you. I think so too.”
As she set up her paints, I shot a glance over my shoulder. Rita beamed and mimed clapping her hands. Alonzo nodded at me with quiet approval. Like the proud parents I never had.
Fuck, don’t get stupid now.
I concentrated on Thea, making sure she was okay and not overwhelmed. Just the opposite, Thea smeared paint on her palette in blotches of color and got to work. No word chains. Not even a pyramid. At least not that I could tell.
For twenty minutes, with Rita and Alonzo at my side, Thea painted. Bright blue swaths across the top of the canvas, dark