reeling. “I see it, Joe. I see it and I feel it and I love you, too.”
His hands were in my hair before I knew what was happening. His lips crushed mine. The box clattered to the step, forgotten. All the meaning of his past had been downloaded into me. He wouldn’t have to carry it alone anymore.
Behind us, Nan and Delores broke into cheers and applause. Joe and I both jumped, then relaxed into laughter. “It’s bad enough that you do it,” he said to Delores, “but I’m not ready for you to start sneaking up on us, too,” he finished with a shake of his head to Nan.
He turned his attention to me. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
I wobbled my head like I was weighing my options. “Probably.”
“Probably? I go to all this trouble and walk around in a get up like this and all you give me is a probably?”
“Would you have believed me if I gave in without a fight?”
He cupped my cheeks. “Not for a minute.”
I laughed.
Then I kissed him again because it had been too long without his lips on mine.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Joe
Flames crackled and snapped in the fire pit, sending a shower of sparks up to the star-speckled sky. Kennedy perched on a lawn chair, a bottle of beer in her hand, her eyes trained on mine. “You sure you want to do this?”
I took a long swig from my beer, staring at the box at my feet. “I’ve let my past drag me down for too long. It’s time to focus on the future.”
“And what do you see in your future, Mr. Channing?” Kennedy asked in a gameshow announcer voice, holding her beer to my lips like a microphone.
“That’s a good question, Doctor Monroe.” Sitting back, I stretched out my legs and crossed them at the ankles. “First, I see a successful contracting business.”
The paperwork had been filed and I was just waiting on a letter from the state saying Channing Construction, LLC was an honest to goodness legal entity.
“I like it.” Kennedy bobbed her head. “Though that one’s a given. After what you did for Nan’s house, you’ll have a waiting list of clients in no time. What else do you see? Really dig deep.”
A breeze rustled through the palms, sending the fronds swaying and another spray of sparks dancing. “I see a new truck, since everyone hates the old one.”
She pulled her mouth into a frown. “Interesting. I mean, I’m digging the symbolism, but I’ll admit I didn’t see that coming.”
“I’m full of surprises, Penny.”
“I’ll stop you when you’re wrong.” She smiled brightly, the fire reflecting in her eyes. “Anything else?”
I saw a house, built by my own two hands. I saw a ring on her finger. I saw my baby in her belly and a gaggle of kids around a dinner table. I saw her never having to work for money-hungry medical offices again, focusing solely on volunteering at the clinic. I saw us, old, gray, and as crazy as Delores, sitting on our porch and gossiping about the neighbors. I saw me, with my lucky Penny, for the rest of our lives.
It was too soon to say any of that, though.
Especially because I got the feeling she expected it.
Instead, I pinched my chin and studied the sky like I was looking for answers. “No. I think that’s about it.”
“Well, it’s a start, anyway.” Kennedy sounded vaguely disappointed, but threw back the rest of her beer and smiled.
Sighing, I shifted, lifting the box off the ground and chucking the lid into the fire. “No. That’s a start.”
“And a good one, at that.” Her voice was quiet. Almost reverent.
One by one, the pictures of my childhood went into the flames. Each rotten memory curled at the edges, blackening and boiling until it was nothing but ash, floating like confused snowflakes up to the sky. As they burned, I talked. I told stories I’d never told anyone. My childish hopes and fears. I explained the bruises and my insane need to protect Collin.
“I think,” I said, my gaze locked on the fire, “I thought if I could make him safe, when he had so much less going for him than I did, then I’d be safe, too. That if I could give him the love and acceptance I needed, then some of it would splash back on me.” I shrugged. “Kids are weird.”
“But it did splash back on you, Wiki. You and Collin have something not a lot of people have. As