Page 8 of Heart of the Sun

She sighed, that worry line between her brows growing deeper. Then her head snapped up, eyes widening as she sucked in a sharp breath. “I can’t offer you a job here, but Icanoffer you a job. Or rather, Emily can.”

“Emily?”

She nodded, her sudden enthusiasm obvious as the speed of her words quickened, her voice rising animatedly. “Her career has really taken off, Tuck. She’s just announced a big tour which, oh, I don’t even know all the details because they’re still being worked out, but it’s all so exciting. Anyway, she was just telling me a few nights ago that her manager wants her to hire a security team.” She sat up straighter, her smile growing. “You’ve obviously been working out. You’re fit and strong, and well, let’s be honest, you’d spot trouble before someone who hasn’t had the experiences you’ve had in the last decade. That’s an asset and a well-earned skill. It’s fate that you showed up today. Emily needs you, Tuck.”

I smiled uneasily. Mrs. Swanson was being extremely kind. Emily didn’t need me at all.

I hadn’t seen nor heard from Emily in a long, long time. She’d once been like family to me, even if we’d drifted far apart since then. And I was glad that she was well on her way to forging the life she’d always wanted. But no, she didn’t need me. Not even close.

But… I needed her. Or rather, I needed the job she might have to offer.

“I’ll call her,” Mrs. Swanson went on. “She’ll be thrilled. So relieved. Who better to have her back than someone who knows her personally? Do I have your permission?”

I opened my mouth to ask a few questions…where, and when, and what the hours might be. But then I slowly closed it. Did it matter?Not really.“Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Swanson. I really appreciate it.”

She reached out and squeezed my hand again. “Your mom was my very best friend,” she said, blinking away the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. “We once promised each other that if anything happened to the other, she’d look out for Em and I’d look out for you. I’ve felt so helpless over the past six years, Tuck, and so I’m grateful you came to see me now, and that I’m able to help you get on the track toward happiness. It will happen. More people than you might think believe in second chances.” She stood, discreetly swiping the moisture from her eyes. “Now come help me with dinner. Phil will be home in an hour or so, and then I insist you stay here until you start working for Emily.”

Later that night, after dinner with the Swansons, I excused myself early and headed to the guest room where Mrs. Swanson had put my duffel bag with the few belongings I owned in the world. The guest room had once been Emily’s. It still held the white, wrought iron twin bed she’d slept in, but now featured a pale gray quilt instead of the pink frills I remembered. That had been so long ago though. Maybe her room decor had changed as she had. I wondered who she was now, and if she would seem like a stranger, or a friend.

The shade clattered as I lowered it, blocking the view that made my gut churn with that old longing. The bedding felt soft beneath my fingers, the sheets crisp and clean, but after a moment of staring down at it uneasily, I pulled the quilt from the bed and laid it on the floor.I grabbed a pillow and then made myself comfortable on the rug, knitting my fingers behind my head.

The whir of the ceiling fan above lulled me into a type of hypnosis, my eyes drooping. I’d been living on the outside for several months now, and yet my body was still programmed to go to sleep early and wake at first light. As I drifted, I swore I could hear the clank of metal and the various conversations happening around me, kept low so as not to catch the attention of the guards. Conversation, laughter, threats, both veiled and outright, personal bodily sounds that I’d never quite grown accustomed to.

I bolted upright, shaking away the slow dip into sleep at the unfamiliar noise that had roused me. My head turned toward the window as a horn blared in the distance once again. My shoulders dropped and I exhaled a slow breath. The ability to awaken quickly, even if it meant I was constantly on edge, had been a necessity for a long time. Now it just kept me from ever feeling truly rested. I wondered if I’d ever sleep deeply again.

There was a bookshelf on the far wall, and I pulled myself from the floor, walking over to it and perusing the titles in the dim light of the small table lamp I’d left on. A couple of them looked familiar for some reason, and frowning, I pulled one from the middle.Aqueducts and Water Supply.I turned it over, reading the description, the words coming back to me. This had been one ofmybooks, one I’d been reading in the weeks before my mother collapsed and ended up in the hospital. I’d read it up in that loft in the old stable.My secret hideout.God, I hadn’t thought of that place in a long time. I tilted my head, staring down at the cardboard cover. How had it ended up here? Something about this particular book in my hands opened up a small wellspring of peace inside me, as though the very pages contained the simplicity of that time. The innocence. The joy.

Then again, books had been bringing me a measure of comfort for my whole life. Companionship. Distraction. They’d helped me survive my time behind bars.

I returned to my bed on the floor, propping the pillow against the wall so I could read. After a few minutes and feeling much calmer, I turned my head toward the window where shifting shadows barely showed around the edges of the blinds. The outside world. One I was now a part of. Only not really. Or at least…not yet. But I felt a tiny trickle of hope as Mrs. Swanson’s words from earlier filtered through my mind.

More people than you think believe in second chances.God, I hoped that was true.

chaptersix

Emily

“Tuck Mattice? TuckMattice?”

“Yes, Em, I did say Tuck Mattice,” my mom repeated into the phone. “And he needs a job.”

“I haven’t seen him in a hundred years, Mom, and you want me to hire him?” Along with the shock of hearing my mom say Tuck’s name, a strange and sudden bubbly sensation had erupted in my stomach, like an internal hurricane.

Tuck Mattice.

Or maybe I was just hungry. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

Only, that bubbly sensation? It was familiar. My body had always reacted that way to Tuck. And despite the years, it obviously still did. But flesh was dumb. And my body didn’t remember how Tuck had treated me, and how it had hurt.

It didn’t know who he’d become.

“He’s practically family, Emily.”

“Close,” my makeup artist, Sasha, said, and I closed my eyes so he could apply my eyeshadow.

“Family?” I asked. “He’s as good as a stranger to me. And, Mom,Nova.I need you to call me Nova when I’m getting ready for an event.” If I didn’t get into character, so to speak, I’d forget to respond to the stage name and look clueless. It’d happened before.

“Keep still, girl,” Sasha instructed.

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