Page 81 of Drawing Home
“Because you’ll try to take them away from me, just like you’re trying to take away this house.”
Out of the mouths of babes! “I promise I will not try to take them from you. I just want to see them. Mr. Wyatt was my friend for almost my entire life. More years than you can imagine being on this earth, probably. His work is all I have left of him. Do you understand that?”
“Of course,” the girl said, her dark eyes steady. “It’s all I have left of him too.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Emma closed the sliding glass door behind her and carried her glass of wine to a chair by the pool. At close to eight at night, the air was cooling. And she had survived day one of Penny’s broken leg.
She lit a citronella candle and settled in, looking out at the water and trying to calm her nerves by telling herself that at least Penny was sleeping comfortably. She seemed, all things considered, to be in good spirits. Emma wished she could say the same for herself.
“Hey. Sorry to disturb,” Kyle said, walking down the stone steps and hoisting a duffel bag over his shoulder.
“Going somewhere?”
He gestured toward the bay. She wasn’t sure what that meant. An evening swim?
“How’s Penny doing?” he asked.
“Um, pretty well,” she said, sitting up straight, zipping her sweatshirt up over her tank top. “She’s getting the hang of the crutches and she doesn’t seem to mind being housebound. At least, not in this house. It’s still a novelty to her.”
Kyle glanced back at Windsong. “And what about your uninvited guest?”
“So you admit this is rightfully Penny’s property?” Emma said.
“I never said it wasn’t.”
Emma nodded. “That’s true.”
“I have to say, as far as Bea goes, her bark is probably worse than her bite. She’s not a bad person. I think she’s actually very lonely,” Kyle said. “However, she did kick me out. So I guess she’s not that lonely.”
“Kicked you out? It’s not even her house!”
“Clearly, a technicality that has not slowed her down.”
Emma looked at him. “Kyle, don’t take this the wrong way, but…what are youdoingworking for her?”
Kyle put his bag down and ran one hand through his hair. “It’s complicated. I started out fixing things in her apartment, then doing art installations for her parties. And it just sort of…evolved.” He smiled and snapped his fingers. “It’s like your frog-in-boiling-water story.”
She smiled.
“Anyway, this whole thing with the house made me realize enough was enough. I quit. Although I guess she just fired me. Either way, it seems I’m moving on.”
“So where are you going to stay?”
“My boat.”
“Is that…safe?”
He laughed. “That’s right. You don’t have much faith in my restoration abilities.”
She felt her cheeks color. “Sorry about what I said the other day. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“Yes, you did. It’s okay.”
“I just see a lot of weekend warriors out here. Most don’t go the distance.”
Her phone rang. Mark. His second call of the day. His last voice mail said they needed to “discuss Penny.” She had a feeling she knew the direction that discussion would go in—namely, putting all the blame on Emma for what happened. It wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have and it wasn’t a conversation that would help anything.
