Page 24 of The Saint and the First-Time Sinner

“Exactly,” I said, deciding right then and there I was not going to tell her about what he’d said to me the week before. I loved Sheila to death, but she could be like a dog with a bone when she got an idea in her head. If she had even the slightest proof Shane wanted more from me than just a few annoyed or flustered reactions, I wouldn’t hear the end of it every time I saw her.

And he definitely did not want to sleep with me.

“He does seem to like messing with people,” she said, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Likes to test his boundaries. My granddaughter is like that, always testing her limits, seeing what she can get away with. She’s learned curse words will get reactions out of people and says them just for that, laughing and laughing when you scold her for it.”

“She’s three,” I said, remembering the little girl with a wide grin and wild hair Sheila had shown me a picture of. “He’s…actually, I don’t know how old he is.”

“Old enough to get his hand slapped with a wooden spoon when he tried stealing a piece of potato out of the bowl,” Sheila said with a wry look.

I snorted. “Now there’s something I would have loved to see.”

“If you ask me, I think he rather likes being thwarted,” she told me with a chuckle. “Hard to tell. With a mother like he has, you’d think he’d enjoy being able to get away with things.”

“Truth be told, I think she’s always been easier on him than his siblings. Don’t ask me how I know. It’s just a feeling I’ve got after working here for a bit,” I told her, sliding away from the counter to rinse the bowl and put it in the dishwasher.

“And we both know it’s important to trust feelings, especially when dealing with the family. Well, this part of the family anyway. You seen any of her other kids?”

I paused, then shook my head as I placed the bowl in the proper rack. “No. As far as I know, they haven’t called, let alone shown up.”

“That’s what the others said too, so it looks like he’s the only one who comes around.”

For a moment, I felt a twinge of pity for Sophia. The idea of not wanting to see your parents had always felt foreign to me. Not that I was blind to how parents could be or blamed their adult children when they grew up not wanting to be around them anymore. All the same, deep down, I felt like I was always going to be the little boy who lost his parents and then his grandmother in a short amount of time.

“Well, she hasn’t exactly tried to hide the fact that she’s difficult to work for. I can’t imagine her children got off any easier,” I said, which sounded right. At the same time, it begged the question why Shane still stuck around.

He could have done all he was doing from his own place in the city. Instead, he chose to live a good drive away from the hustle and bustle of all the best party spots and restaurants to live with his mother. It wasn’t like he needed to be there as much as he was. He was simply the one who conveyed her wishes, which could be done over the phone, or once a day at the beginning of the morning shift.

Yet, here he was, living with a woman who had yet to show him even the barest shred of warmth or acceptance. Not that he was any better, all his interactions with her were him picking at her in a blatant attempt to get a reaction. I’d thought their relationship strange from the beginning, but now I was beginning to wonder if there was more to it.

“I should probably head upstairs,” I told Sheila, bending down to kiss her on the cheek. “I promised her I’d be up there in seventeen minutes, and it’s nearly sixteen.”

Sheila chuckled. “Oh, I talked to Rhonda this morning. She said your time off is granted, just like it’s been for the past three years.”

I snorted. “Why didn’t she just tell me that?”

“Because you’re notorious for not having your phone’s ringer on, and she wanted to make sure you got the message, so there it is.”

“Thanks, Sheila. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Of course, honey, you take care of yourself. Oh, and Kevin?”

I stopped at the kitchen door and glanced over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

She winked. “It’s nice to see you with a little more pep in your step. I told you all you needed was to get back on the horse again.”

“I refuse to admit you were right because I’d never hear the end of it,” I told her, stepping out into the hallway to the sound of her chuckle.

I mounted the stairs, taking them two a time as quietly as I could to Sophia’s office. The door was open, but I still stood just outside and knocked gently. Sophia looked up from her desk, waving me in impatiently before turning her attention back to her screen. I knew she would take a second to finish before paying attention to me and moved to grab the bag of supplies I kept in the office. There were two more, another just like it in her bedroom and an emergency bag in the kitchen where I stored my personal bag.

“It’s nice to see you can keep track of time,” she finally said as I waited patiently, then eyed the bag. “What’s this?”

“With the increase in your treatment, it’s imperative we keep track of your vitals,” I told her, holding her gaze.

“That isn’t starting for another week.”

“I know, but it’s a good idea to get into the habit now. That and if there are any changes before the increase starts, it would be good to know.”

She considered that for a moment before pushing back from her desk, laying her arms on the chair. “Very well. I don’t need to be moving for this conversation anyway.”

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