always wanted? No, being married to my job wasn’t what I always wanted. What I wanted was Brooklyn as my wife and a house full of kids. A house full of happiness. “Yeah,” I lied.
“It’s amazing that the four of you guys are still friends. I wish I had a group of friends like that. I basically know no one in the entire city.”
Brooklyn had been one of Kennedy’s only friends in high school. She’d been kind of a loner before Brooklyn moved to town. But I hadn’t let her feel that way after Brooklyn’s death. I still sat with her at lunch every day. She’d been one of the Untouchables just as much as I had. But I guess we’d all lost touch with her.
“I’ll let you know next time we all hang out. You’re more than welcome to come.” It wasn’t a date. But it was the best I could do. And it would be a little while before that invite came. I needed to apologize to James first.
“That would be amazing.” She reached down and finished putting on her boots. “I should probably get going. My mom’s actually expecting me to be home for dinner.”
“Let me grab your camera.” I picked it up off the kitchen floor. “Or what’s left of it. I’m sorry, Kennedy. Let me replace it for you.”
“I don’t need handouts anymore, remember? Besides, it’s insured. Is it okay if I come back tomorrow morning to shoot the pictures?”
“Fine by me. Just let yourself in.”
She laughed. “I think I’ll knock next time just to be safe.”
“Actually, can you hold off from taking the pictures for a few days?”
“Why? Have you changed your mind about selling the place? It really is a beautiful home.”
I hadn’t changed my mind. But I was worried about her safety. If I wasn’t staying here because of Mr. Pruitt, she shouldn’t be here either. “Yeah, I’m still thinking about it.”
“No problem. I’ll let Bill know you want to hold off a few more days.” She stood up and winced.
I wrapped my arm around her waist. “Let me drive you home.”
“It’s all the way on the other side of town. I can take a taxi. I’ll be fine, really.” She wiggled her foot and pretended like she was fine. But I could tell she wasn’t. She was in pain and she was putting on a brave face.
“I insist.” I scooped her up in my arms before she had a chance to protest. She didn’t say a word as I got her safely into my car and pulled out onto the city street. The silence was comfortable between us, but for some reason I still wanted to fill it. Maybe because I wanted her to fill in the gaps of her life that I’d missed. “What do you do for fun?” I asked.
“Photography is my hobby and my job. There isn’t really much time for anything else. What about you?”
Penny had asked me this same question recently. But I didn’t want to tell Kennedy that I worked out for fun. That seemed like a pompous answer. “I coach the Empire High football team.”
“Really? Wow, I need to come to one of your games.”
I caught her smile out of the corner of my eye. “I’d like that,” I said.
She turned to look out the window. She was absorbing the city like it was her first time here. There was something sweet about it.
We drove on in silence until I pulled to a stop in front of her mom’s old apartment building. Kennedy tried to protest again, but I carried her up the few flights of stairs. I tried not to look at Brooklyn’s apartment door. It would be filled with another family now. One not aware of the people that had lived there before. Something in my chest tightened.
Mrs. Alcaraz opened up the door like she knew we were coming.
“Mi amor! What happened?”
“I’m fine, Mama,” Kennedy said. “Matt’s just being…Matt.”
I laughed at that as I laid her down on the couch.
She smiled up at me.
“Matt.” Mrs. Alcaraz looked up at me. She looked almost exactly the same, but she had a few lines around her eyes now. She put her hands on both sides of my face. “Mi amor,” she called me, just like she called Kennedy. “Why do you look so sad? You’re in good company now.” She let her hands fall from my face. “Let’s eat. Dinner is getting cold.”
***
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d smiled so hard. I used