Page 110 of Free Heart
I frown. “Does Sejin know about this?”
“Buck’s going to tell him about inviting me today.”
“I meant does he know about his dad selling the house.”
“I assume so.”
I shake my head. “No, he doesn’t know. He’d have said something. He has a lot of big feelings around his mom’s death and the old house. He’d have said something if he knew.”
Peggy Jo frowns. “Should I decline the invitation?”
I shake my head, rubbing at the chalk in the lines of my palms. “What good would that do? He’s going to be upset no matter what. Why mess up things for you and Buck in the meantime?”
Peggy Jo’s quiet, and so I stand and begin working on the bouldering route again. I make it to the crux, and just as I’m sure I’ll get over it, I fall. The mat slaps against my back, and I grunt.
Peggy Jo sighs. “I don’t want to hurt Sejin, but his mom’s been gone a few years now.”
“Yeah.”
“Between you and me, I feel like Buck is something special.”
“Sejin’s made his peace with the fling you guys are having. It’s the house that’s going to be hard for him to deal with. It’s his mom’s house,” I say. “Plus, even though I never had a mom, not like that, I figure he’s not going to like the idea of you and Buck screwing in her bed.”
Peggy Jo flops back on the mats, staring up at the garage ceiling. “That’s why I’ll be staying in a hotel or a rental. I assume he’ll want to keep that part of our relationship away from the memories in the house.”
“Hopefully Buck will make that clear to Sejin.” Otherwise, I’m going to have a very upset and emotional man on my hands tonight. Not that I can’t handle that. Not that I don’t have very fun ways of distracting him.
“Now, let’s you and me do a little chatting about other things,” Peggy Jo says. “You’ve been avoiding talking to me about your plans for the climb.”
“What’s to talk about? I have a lot of training to do before I’ll be anywhere close to ready. You’re the one who’s avoided talking.”
Peggy Jo scoffs.
“What’s the deal with Bella and the baby-daddy?”
She frowns. “That’s not your business.”
I shrug. “My climbing plans aren’t yours either.”
She glares at me, but when I get back up and start working the bouldering route again, I relent a little. “I’ve chosen Amazon Face—Housekeeping—to start.”
“Nice.”
“It’s a good boulder, more like a small wall. I think it’s a fair place to begin.”
“And then?”
“I’m going to work on roof training on Shadow Warrior. Low to the ground, low stakes, but has a horizontal climb.”
“Good idea.”
I tug myself up and throw my leg up higher than I’ve been daring to, and I make it over the crux. There’s a small ache in my leg that unnerves me a little, but after a moment, I press on. Then I downclimb again.
“Will things be okay with Bella?” I ask, lying on my back, breathing a little harder than I’d like for such an easy climb.
“I reckon so,” she says, dusting some chalk off the mat nearest to her. “I’m her mama, and I’ll be here when he takes off again.”
“So, he’s the problem?”
