Page 71 of Ink & Stardust

All yours...

“This is insane,” I tell Kai, reaching for another candy bar as what feels like the five-hundredth child climbs the front porch steps to where we’re sitting at the top, holding out their bag.

I was so nervous on the way over here that I felt like my stomach was about to fall out of my butt, but after arriving and meeting what is possibly the nicest woman on the planet, I realized I worried myself sick for nothing.

I no more than walked into Norma’s—as she insisted I call her—house and I felt immediately at home. She’s a petite woman, almost as short as me, with short dark hair pepperedwith gray at her temples and eyes almost the same shade as Kai’s. Clearly something he got from her side of the family. She’s younger than I expected too. Whenever he mentioned her, I always envisioned a white-haired lady in her eighties, but there’s no way she’s a day over sixty-five. Which, of course, immediately made me think about just how young Kai’s mom actually was when she died.

“Told you.” He grins, reaching for a new box of candy when I take the last bar from our current box. “Every kid in the neighborhood.”

I have to admit, knowing what I know about Kai and his past, I never expected to pull up to his grandma’s house only to find that she lives in a big, beautiful house on a gorgeous street where every house is just as nice as the last. He’s never struck me as the type that came from money, but given that his grandmother’s house is even nicer on the inside, it’s clear that I know even less about him than I realized.

“What does your grandma do for a living anyway?” I finally ask the question that’s been on my mind since we arrived here nearly an hour ago. “Because this is a really nice neighborhood.”

“She’s a retired nurse.”

“And your grandpa?”

“Died before I was born.” He drops a candy bar into the bag of a child dressed up like the grim reaper.

“I’m sorry.” I shake my head, realizing maybe this isn’t the best time for this conversation.

“Don’t be. My grandma hated him.” He chuckles when my eyes grow wide. “They divorced when my mom was just a kid.”

“I see.” I grab another bar and hand it to a cute little toddler dressed as a dinosaur. “Happy Halloween,” I tell him, giving him a little wave as his mom leads him away. “So cute,” I say aloud.

“Why do you ask?”

“Oh, well, I think that’s pretty obvious.” I gesture behind me at the house. “This house isreallynice. I just figured she’d have to have had a pretty amazing job to afford this kind of place.”

“I bought it for her.” He surprises me by saying.

“You?” I give him a questioning look.

“The company that owned the apartment building where...” He clears his throat. “They were found negligent for not fixing electrical issues that had been reported for several months. Since my mom was the only fatality, I got a very large portion of the settlement. I was also the only beneficiary on her life insurance. Once I was old enough to access the money, I used it to buy my grandmother this house. I didn’t grow up here. In fact, the house I grew up in was much smaller.”

“The house I grew up in is like a shoe box compared to this one.” I smile in an attempt to lighten the heaviness that has suddenly settled over us. “When you’re trying to raise three kids on teachers’ salaries, you can only afford so much. I never felt like I didn’t have everything I needed, though.” I shrug. “It’s really incredible that in all the ways you could’ve spent your money, you chose to take care of your grandma.”

“She stepped up when I had no one else. I could buy her a hundred houses and it wouldn’t be enough.”

“It’s what family does. They take care of each other.” I reach over and touch his leg. “You pay for her medical expenses too.” It’s not a question. I’ve paid enough attention to pick up on this fact.

“I just need to know she’s being taken care of. That she’s not alone.”

“She’s lucky to have you.”

“I would argue it’s the other way around.”

“Maybe you’re both lucky to have each other,” I offer.

“Maybe,” he softly agrees.

“You really are full of surprises, you know.”

“How so?” He tilts his head.

“I just... I had this perception of you that I’m quickly learning was pretty far off the mark.”

“And what perception did you have of me, exactly?”

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