Page 52 of The Puck Decoy

By the time we make it to the diner, Maddie has complained at least a hundred times about how cold it is, but I barely even feel it. When we push inside, I’m glad to find it’s not too busy, and I’m not surprised to spy two familiar faces as we head towards the counter to ask for a table.

“Hallie,” Penelope shouts, spotting me instantly and turning her stool towards me in greeting, offering up her hand for a high five.

I have to hand it to her, we have only spent a few hours together over the last couple of weeks, and she caught on quickly to the fact that I don’t exactly like being touched. Which, when you are helping teach a class of kids, is usually something that would be hard to convey. A lot of the little boys like to hug my waist when they score a goal, which I force myself to accept, yet the little girl noticed my discomfort and figured out why.

“Hey Penelope, how are you?” I ask, smacking my palm to hers, and she smiles holding up a book, as she rolls her eyes.

“My mom is making me read this,” she claims, just as her mom comes from the kitchen.

“Reading makes you smart,” she tells her, offering me a smile. “Hey, Hallie, good to see you.”

“Hey Callia, good to see you too” I greet her, before focusing back on her daughter. “Your mom is right, reading is good for the soul, I love to read.”

Penelope’s eyes light up at my statement. “You do?”

“Of course, I read all the time, it’s so much fun, you get to live so many lives in the pages of books,” I tell her, and when I flick my eyes to her mom she mouths a thank you.

“Okay, well maybe this book isn’t totally boring,” she quickly switches up, before her gaze moves to Maddie. “Who’s this?” she asks, cocking her eyebrows in the exact same way as my best friend, and I swear it’s like looking at a miniature version of her.

“This is my best friend, Madeline, she’s Josh’s sister,” I explain, and Penelope’s eyes widen, yet Callia is staring at her in complete shock, though I’m not sure why. “Maddie, this is Penelope and her mom Callia, Josh teaches her at the center.”

Like the perfectly trained daughter she is, Maddie holds out her hand for Penelope to shake. “It’s nice to meet you Penelope, and you too Callia.” She flicks her stare between the two, and Callia quickly snaps out her daze and nods at her with a smile, as Maddie adds, “And what’s this about Josh teaching a class at the center?”

Crap.

It’s only now that I remember that Josh didn’t tell anyone about the class, yet before I can say anything, Penelope beats me to it. “Josh teaches me to play hockey, he’s so much fun, he shows us tricks and explains the rules, it’s awesome,” Penny gushes, before moving her stare to me. “And Hallie has been teaching us how to beat Josh, that’s even more awesome.”

Pride curls in my gut at the high praise coming from the girl, and I quickly snap my eyes to Maddie and add, “I’ll explain later.” All she does is nod as, thankfully, Callia comes to the rescue.

“Do you want your usual, Hallie?” she asks, knowing I’ve eaten the exact same thing every time I have come here, and I nod.

“What’s your usual?” Maddie asks, and when I tell her she smiles. “Make that two of her usual please,” she says to Callia with a smile.

“Great, why don’t you find a seat and I’ll bring it over,” she tells us, a wary look in her eyes that I have never seen before, and I almost want to ask if she's okay.

“Or you can sit with me?” Pen says with a smile that says she would love nothing more, and before I can even look at Maddie to ask her, she is already pulling out a chair beside the little girl, making her smile even wider.

“Tell me about this book then?” Maddie asks, and from the gleam in Penelope’s eyes, I know she is feeling the same thing I did when Madeline Peters first showed an interest in me, and all I can do is take the other stool and watch them in awe as a new friendship is born.

Callia doesn’t take long to bring out our food, ensuring her daughter has some lunch too, but I find that she lingers a lot, watching us interact with Penelope like she thinks we might run off with her. Yet I suppose I would be the same if I had a daughter. You can never be too careful who you let into your life, so I can’t really blame her.

We end up sitting there for over an hour, Maddie leaving Penelope starry-eyed as she talks about the fairy dollhouse she had growing up, as she switches her attention between the girl and her phone. “I still have it in my room at my parents’ house, you can have it if you like, it’s just there gathering dust.”

Penelope’s eyes widen, as her jaw drops. “Oh my god, are you serious? I’ve never had a fairy dollhouse before.”

In the time we have spent together I have realized that Callia and Penelope don’t have a lot of stuff, hell the book she has now discarded is clearly second hand, and though Penny is always dressed immaculately, Callia isn’t. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that anything her mom gets goes straight to her, and she is clearly killing it at being the best single mom she can be, but everyone still needs help sometimes.

“No, we can’t accept that,” Callia cuts in from the register, having overheard their conversation. “Thank you, but that’s far too much.”

Penelope’s face drops and I can tell that she must know how hard her mom works for her, yet she’s still a kid who just wants a dollhouse.

“Honestly, it’s no big deal, I’ve been meaning to get rid of it for a while, and what better way than to give it to someone who can breathe some magic back into it,” Maddie is quick to say. “I can even drop it off for you, it would be my pleasure,” she insists with a smile, and just like with everyone, her charm does the trick.

“Please, Mom, pretty please,” Penelope pleads, and I see the moment her mom caves.

“Okay,” Callia sighs, and the little girl practically throws herself into Maddie’s lap with tears in her eyes as she adds, “Thank you, Maddie.”

“No thanks necessary,” she tells her, arms round Penelope who is still half in her lap, squeezing the life out of her, which is how Nova finds us.

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