Page 196 of Tangled with the Tight End

I hang up with Kate and stare down at Winona.

“Everything okay?” she asks.

“There’s more junk online. Some people took photos of us.”

“What kind of photos?”

“Us kissing in your car. Something else. I can’t even think straight.”

“Come sit down. I’ll get dinner. You should elevate your foot anyway.”

“They’re saying ugly things about you,” I say.

I run through everything Kate said. Winona listens. Her face contorts.

She’s hurting. This time, it hurts.

“I thought they’d get bored of this,” she says. “I’m not that interesting.”

“You’re wrong about that,” I say. “You’re the most interesting person I know. But yeah. The media is unpredictable. Social media’s even worse. They go wherever there’s blood in the water.”

She looks up at me, her brow wrinkled. Eyes filled with emotion. “Declan, you don’t think I’m dating you for your money, do you?”

“What? No! Not at all.”

“Good. Because you could be poor and I’d still love you.”

She leans in and hugs me. I pull her close.

The fact that she’s being hurt because of me and my fame sends a physical ache through my body.

I joke, “I’d still love you if you were filthy rich too.”

Winona laughs into my chest. But there’s a hollowness to the sound that haunts me.

I’m dragging her into this life.

The call from Kate puts a damper on our evening, but we still have slices of cake after our roast beef and veggies.

When Winona’s about to leave, she says, “I’m going to Sycamore Assisted Living tomorrow. Want to come?”

“Hanging out with a bunch of seniors?” I ask. “Yeah. Count me in.”

Chapter 32

Declan

When I was young, I admired clever people.

Now that I am old, I admire kind people.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Sycamore Assisted Living is decorated from top to bottom in holiday decor. Winona leads the way into the center and I follow behind her. It’s not the first time I’ve been here. The guys and I come out for special events.

Winona is the real celebrity here today, though. Everyone calls her name. People get off their chairs or wheel their wheelchairs over to greet her. She has a smile and a hug for each person.

Ginny Holmes and Wilma Chesterton linger, one wearing a Santa hat, the other a necklace of blinking holiday bulbs.