Page 43 of Pieces of Me

“Do you still draw?” he asks, and I shake my head. “That’s a shame.” He slows the pottery wheel until the vase is still. “I think it’s important for people to keep hold of their hobbies, their passions… theirloves.” He pauses a beat. “Some people wait fifteen years to rediscover them…”

The corner of my lips lift. “You and Mags?” I tease.

Big H smiles. “Trust an experienced man with this one, Jamie. Don’t wait fifteen years.” He shoves his hands in his pockets, his broad shoulders shifting with the movement. Slowly, he starts to back out of the barn, saying, “And you’re right, by the way. This whole place could go belly-up tomorrow, and I could lose it all, and in the end, it wouldn’t matter because I know I did one thing right in my life. I’ve raised a good man. The kind of man who realizes how lucky he is to find a girl like you…” He throws me a knowing wink as his smile grows. “The kind who still holds on to his passions, hisloves… even if he doesn’t show it…”

21

Jamie

“Don’t laugh…” I warn Maggie.

“Oh, God, I’m scared. Don’t tell me it’s like… some super creepy old dude like Anthony Hopkins inSilence of the Lambs?”

I almost choke on my dinner. “No! Gross! What the hell, Mags?!”

“Then how bad could it be?” she says through a giggle.

“Chris Pratt.”

“Oohh, I love me some Chris Pratt.”

“But not the ripped Star-Lord orJurassic Worldversion. I’m talking aboutParks and Rec, overweight—”

“Ew!”

“Hey! A sense of humor can go a long way!” I don’t know how we got to the conversation of celebrity crushes, but here we are.

Last night, after the conversation with Big H, I decided to stay for the weekend. On Monday, I’ll figure out what to do. But, for now, I’m going to enjoy what little time I have with the woman sitting opposite me.

Maggie looks around before leaning forward. “Want to know mine?” she whispers as if Big H is going to round the corner and catch her mid illicit thought. Maggie and I have had dinner together at the table and chairs they set up just outside my RV every night since I got here, and Big H has never once interrupted us. He does, however, replace the flower in the vase every day. He’s yet to give me a dahlia, and I wonder if he knows it was my mother’s name. Maggie says, “Channing Tatum inMagic Mike.”

My nose scrunches in disgust. “Gross…”

She stabs her fork in the air, aimed directly at me. “How is pre-ripped Chris Pratt okay, but Channing Tatum isgross?”

“Because…” My eyes widen the moment I realize. “Ew!” I squeal, dropping my own fork and rubbing my eyes, wishing I could pour bleach directly into the sockets. “Now I’m picturing Big H doing a striptease for you andew!”

“God, that would be so hot!” Maggie laughs out.

“Stop!”

“The man isjacked, Jamie. I’m talking—”

I squeal. “Why are you torturing me?”

“What’s the big deal? It’s not like you’re related!”

I lower my hands, glare at her. “But he’s kind of like a father figure to me.”

“Yeah, he can be your father figure…” She pauses to lay on a shit-eating grin. “But he’sdaddyto me.”

I gasp in horror, or maybe disgust. “Maggie!”

She folds over herself, laughing harder, and in my mind, Big H has stripped down to his boxers. “I can’t unsee the things playing out in my head right now!”

“What’s so funny?” We both jump at the figure thatdoesround the corner. Only it’s someone neither of us was expecting.

Maggie’s laughter dies down to a simmering giggle as she looks up at the boy I’ve met twice now. “Coltamus,” she says in greeting.

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