Chapter 35 Benjamin and I were coming home from a walk when I spotted the familiar sight of Lacey, Talon, and Scarlet on the sidewalk in front of my house. Only they had Tony with them. Even if Benjamin had let me turn around and head the other way, I wouldn't have. On the contrary, I found myself speeding up-just a little-to get to them. "Bea!" Lacey waved her casted arm, a white piece of paper clutched in her fingers. "I have to give this to you." Benjamin sat like a good boy, plopping down in front of Talon without me saying a word, his tail wagging happily. Talon immediately dropped to the ground and rubbed his face into Benjamin's silky coat. I crouched in front of Lacey. "Hello, darling. What do you have for me?" She shoved the paper into my hand. "I made this for you yesterday, but then I fell, so I kind of forgot to give it to you. It took me two whole days to draw. I hope you love it. I didn't have a picture of Benjamin, so I had to draw him from my memory." On the paper, in bold crayon lines, was my boy. She'd captured his flopped ears and goofy grin perfectly. Benjamin's tongue lolled out like he was laughing, and perched on his head was a bright-yellow-and-black bumblebee with sparkly wings. "Oh, wow," I said, my chest going gooey and warm. "This is amazing." "Do you like it?" She pointed to the bee. "That's you, because your name is like a bee, even if it's spelled differently." Lizards, how was one girl so adorable? "I love it so much. You want to come in and show me where I should hang it on my fridge?" Where had that come from? I'm supposed to be taking space, not inviting Tore's family into my house. She blinked her big brown eyes at me. "Yes, Bea. I really want to." The kids and Benjamin ran inside first, and Tony and I followed. "You doing all right?" he asked. "I'm good." I wondered if he knew I was dating his son, but I wouldn't ask. "Did Lacey sleep okay in her cast?" "From what I heard from my son, she had a pretty restless night. Poor guy looked like a zombie when he left for work this morning, but Lace's step is full of pep." I forced out a smile, shoving my mind way past his comment about Tore, even though it hurt my heart to think about him up all night with Lacey and not getting any sleep. "I have a feeling Lacey's step is always peppy." Tony chuckled. "You know her well." I did. Somehow, I'd let myself get to know all three of these children. It hadn't been intentional, but it'd happened anyway. And even though kids weren't my thing, I liked these specific ones. A lot. Blurgh. Lacey picked a spot on the center of my fridge, and we both stepped back, eyeing the picture critically. "You know..." I scratched my chin, pretending to consider. "I think I might buy a frame for it. Sometimes I'm messy when I cook. I'd hate to splash anything on this masterpiece." She gasped. "You want to frame it?" "You spent two days on it. That's commitment. It would be insulting the artist if I didn't." She folded her arms across her puffed-up chest. "Yeah. You're right. I am an artist. Did you know Uncle Sally collects art? The stuff he likes doesn't fit in frames, though. But maybe he should think about it. I think he pays a lot of money for that stuff." "Does he have any of your art hanging up?" I asked. She nodded. "Yep. Our fridge is covered in art Tally and I made. Uncle Sally doesn't like messes, but he says he doesn't mind some chaos when it's contained in one spot. Sometimes, I catch him standing there, staring at everything, kind of smiling. I think he likes it a lot." A lump rudely lodged itself in my throat. "I bet he loves it. I think I'm going to need some Tally art to go with my Lacey art." Talon lifted his head from where he was sprawled across Benjamin, who was happily chewing a toy. "I have plenty, but it's not girly like Lacey's," he declared. "That's okay. I'll take whatever you want to give me. My walls could use a little color." Scarlet sidled up to us, her phone clutched in her hand. "Um, Bea?" I turned to face her. "What's up?" "Remember when I asked about the hair tutorial? I know last night got kind of crazy, but I was hoping-" "Yep." I nodded. "I'm free tonight. Come over after dinner, all right?" Her eyes lit up, and she looked more like her little sister than ever. Then she schooled her expression, opting for cool and above it all. "Oh yeah. That sounds good," she said, casual as could be. In for a penny, in for a pound. My relationship with these three-plus Tony-was completely independent of Tore. He'd thrown a wrench in things, but I wasn't going to allow my mixed-up feelings for him to change me or how I moved through life. I wanted to hang up Lacey and Talon's art. I wanted to teach Scarlet how to do victory rolls. Not because of him. Because of them. Because I liked them. It had nothing to do with their uncle. Scarlet was at my house, mid-tutorial, when the package arrived. I didn't open it until she'd gone home, and once I saw what was inside, I was glad I'd waited. She would've thought I'd grown three heads if she'd seen me get teary over a frame just the right size for Lacey's drawing. There was no message with the delivery, but I wasn't stupid. At least, not in this case. I knew exactly who'd sent it. Me: Hey, Ant. Can you tell me if it's illegal to use children as spies? Anthony: Hello, Bea. I need more context before I can answer you. Me: Let's say a man sends children over to the house of the woman he likes in order to extract information. Would that be illegal? Anthony: That sounds like a gray area. Are you certain the man sent them, or do you think they could like the woman just as much as he does, and it's impossible to keep them away from her? Me: I've considered that. Anthony: If that's the case, is it possible the children like to talk about the woman all the time and the man just listens? Me: They do enjoy talking. Anthony: Then no laws have been broken, in my opinion. Me: Oh, I'm certain some laws have been broken, but not by the children. Anthony: Are you concerned about the possible gray area some of the man's actions have fallen into? I laughed out loud. Possible gray area? Oh, Tore was funny. He knew damn well he'd crossed out of the gray a long time ago, just as I knew I wasn't concerned about those particular actions. If I were, I would have immediately deleted the app from my phone, but here I was, using it with full knowledge of who was on the other side. That wasn't our problem. Me: Gray is one of my favorite colors. Anthony: That's good to know. I wouldn't worry about the children being used. I'm certain they are spending time with you of their own volition. Me: You're right. And the man wouldn't use his kids like that. I don't know how I know that, but I do. Anthony: I'm relieved. I bit my lip, hesitating, wanting to say more-wanting him to say more. But I wasn't ready to let this silly pretense go, and he didn't seem to be either. Me: Can you tell me how I get over a broken heart? Anthony: Who broke your heart, Bea? Me: Life, I guess. Does it matter? I just want it to be fixed. Anthony: As with most broken things, time and attention works wonders. If you're careful with it, it might even heal stronger than it was before. I stared at the screen for a long moment, my heart tugging in that newly familiar, achy way. Wouldn't that be nice if I could finally move on? I didn't know what that would look like, but I was ready to try. Because this half-life, ignoring festering pain, wasn't the way anymore. Me: Thanks, Ant. I hope that's true. Good night. Anthony: Good night, Bea. I set my phone down and sagged back into the couch, exhausted. My gaze drifted to the package again, and I pulled out the frame. Simple and hammered gold. I slid Lacey's picture inside, a little monument to this weird, wonderful, unexpected place I'd found myself in. To bumblebees on my Benji-bear's head and kids who hadn't let their loss stop them from falling into someone new. To friendship and trying. To change. I carried it into the kitchen and found the perfect spot to hang it. I opened the cabinet where I kept my small collection of tools, easily finding what I needed, when the small storage box tucked in the back caught my eye. I hadn't allowed myself to think about its existence in a long, long time, but I'd never been able to bring myself to throw it out. I slid it out and sank to the floor with it in my lap, the edges of old memories curling around me as I lifted the lid. Inside were crayon rainbows, hand turkeys, and scribbled stick figures with giant hearts and oversized smiles-art projects Maddie and Davis had made for me back when I was more parent than sister. I'd kept them hidden, as if that would have protected me from the profound pain of losing my siblings. It hadn't made it hurt any less. In fact, not being able to keep even a small piece of them had damaged me more than anything. I pulled two out: Maddie's rainbow and Davis's turkey. Something shifted inside me. Seeing them actually made me smile. Climbing to my feet, I hung them on the refrigerator. I didn't know if I'd keep them there, but I needed to look at them. To remember. I carefully hammered a nail into my wall and placed Lacey's portrait right across from them. They looked so out of place in my sleek, modern kitchen, and I loved that. Chaotic. Mismatched. Perfect. I nodded to myself, turned off the kitchen light, and went to bed. Not healed. Not even close. But I had a feeling I'd rest a little easier tonight. Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!