about.”
“Sister Opal,” he says, shaking his head with amusement. “I still can’t believe you went to Catholic school.”
“Yeah, I don’t recommend it if you’re not into guilt trips. Your girls don’t go to Catholic school, do they?”
“God, no. It’s bad enough that I have to keep my attitude positive about church on Sundays out of respect for my grandmother.”
I bite my lip, holding back a snicker at the idea of Scott sitting in a pew. “You go to church?”
He groans. “I do. Even though it’s torture. But I don’t want to ruin it for the girls. They look forward to Sunday school and stuff. Plus, they’ve got choir practice on Friday nights, which lets me be here with you while you dispense your wisdom and stuff.”
“Flatterer,” I accuse. “Come on, it’s time to show me some pictures of these kids of yours.”
For a long moment, I watch the indecision on his face war with the desire to show them off.
“Fine,” I pout. “No pictures. I totally get wanting to protect them from weirdos that you meet under questionable circumstances. You’re a ridiculously good father.”
“Now who’s the flatterer?” he says as he unfolds his long body so he can get his phone out of his pocket.
I clap giddily as he moves closer to me and shows me the first picture. It’s of three little girls with their thin arms around each other, their huge, happy smiles gapped at random intervals with missing teeth. “Oh,” pops from my mouth in surprise. I don’t know what I was expecting, but their joy is so overwhelming. I tear my gaze away to see how he’s caught up in what’s on the screen, his features alive with pride.
“That’s my daughter, Rosa,” he says pointing to the girl on the left.
“She’s beautiful, Scott,” I say breathlessly because she really is. Her skin is a shade darker than his, as are her eyes, but she’s unmistakably a part of him. Her cheekbones, her nose. “She looks just like you.”
“You think so?” He’s definitely pleased.
“I do.” I turn back to the screen. “Who’s in the middle?”
“That’s Daniela,” he says just as fondly. “She’s always in the middle. She’s got her cousins wrapped around her little finger, always getting them into trouble.”
“I can see the mischief written all over her.” Daniela has more delicate features than the other two with slightly upturned almond shaped eyes. “Is she your niece?”
“Yeah.”
“Your sister’s daughter?”
He looks surprised, then incensed. “My oldest sister is seventeen, El.”
“Well, that’s biologically impossible,” I joke, and then, not even knowing that I should respect his privacy can smother my burning curiosity. “Can I ask whose daughter she is?”
Though he seems reluctant, he answers me. “She’s my uncle’s daughter. He and his girlfriend were killed a few months after she was born. She’s always lived with us.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry,” I say lamely, now feeling guilty. “That’s terrible.”
“Yep.”
“Well, going by this picture, I’d say she’s a very happy and well-adjusted kid.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, well-adjusted is one way of putting it. She’s definitely not shy.”
“I bet you’ll have your hands full when she gets to high school.”
He rubs a palm over his face with a sigh. “Believe me, the thought has crossed my mind. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Perhaps you could invest in a shotgun?” I suggest blithely, making him laugh. When he can’t stop, I tell him, “I’m serious, Scott.”
He pulls me close to rest his cheek against the top of my head briefly as his laughter dies down. “I know you are, Opal.”
Leaving my head against the warmth of his shoulder, I say, “So this must be your little sister. Carmen, right?”
“Yeah.” Her more obviously Latin features give her an exotic look that reminds me a lot of Scott’s mom. “I worry about her sometimes,” he says. “She’s so quiet.”
“Maybe she’s just growing into her personality. Does her dad live with you guys?”
He snorts derisively. “No, that fucker’s in prison where he belongs.”
My surprise quickly morphs into even more respect for the man beside me. The responsibility he’s taken on is staggering. It’s a wonder he’s not crushed by it all. “Maybe that’s why she’s so quiet, because she’s not sure how she fits in. She still has parents, they’re just absent, whereas Daniela’s are gone forever.”
His deep exhale shifts us more comfortably together. “Yeah, probably.”
I swipe to the next picture, hoping he won’t shut down my snooping. It’s a picture of the four of them together, the three girls climbing over him as he