Page 97 of A Matter of Time

“Jesus, Jen,” Mitch said, chuckling, shaking my hand afterward. “Don’t crush the kid.”

“He’s not a kid,” she said as she stared into my eyes. “He’s got a very old soul.”

“Oh does he?” Mitch teased her, pulling her sideways to kiss her temple. “You’re adorable.”

And I saw her flinch, like every kindness was painful. The guilt was smothering her.

“You wanna help me?” I asked, trying to give her some relief.

“Yes,” she breathed out, taking off her coat and gloves, shoving them both at her husband. “I’d love to.”

I was introduced to her daughters, Ally and Carla, two and four respectively, and they both wanted to hug me. Carla touched my hair and told me how pretty it was and that she wanted gold hair, like Cinderella, instead of brown. I explained how much better brown was than gold. She gave me a look as she twirled her fingers in my hair. Funny to be getting the side-eye from a preschooler.

“How come it’s so long?”

“’Cause I need a haircut?” I answered, realizing that my hair now hit my shoulders.

“It’s too pretty to cut, Jory,” Jen told me. “I would kill for your highlights.”

“Yes,” Regina echoed her daughter. “You have beautiful thick hair, leave it alone.”

I shrugged and put Carla down on the counter so I could go back to cooking. I told her she could help me. It was cute how she scooted around, getting comfortable and then looking up at me expectantly. Her sister, being only two, had more interest in walking around the kitchen opening drawers and peering inside.

Sam came into the kitchen a half hour later with two other guys and his father. Amazing how much he looked like Thomas Kage. They were both big, tall men, but while Sam was covered in thick, hard, rippling muscle, his father had grown a bit softer in the face and around his middle.

“I just think we should sell it, Dad, and get our money out of it. Who the fuck cares what these assholes want? They don’t give a shit about you.”

“Samuel Thomas Kage,” Regina snapped at him. “It’s the Lord’s day.”

“Mother—”

“What’s going on?” I asked quickly. He looked over at me, and I waited.

“My dad and I have a piece of property in Naperville that we need to sell.”

“And?”

He tipped his head at the other two men. “These two have been saying they’re gonna buy it for, like, three months, but nothing’s happening. I’m sick of holding on to it, so I wanna sell it.”

“I see.” I nodded, looking over at Mr. Kage. “What do you think, sir?”

“I’m sorry, who are you?” he asked me jovially.

“This is Sam’s friend Jory,” Regina explained.

He nodded as he looked me over. “I see. Well, Jory, I think that I want to wait for my nephews Levi and Jesse to buy it.”

Both of Sam’s cousins nodded at his father’s words.

I looked back at Sam. “If your dad wants to wait, why’re you arguing with him?”

“Because it’s crap. Half of it’s mine, and I wanna get rid of it. We could wait for years before these two jerks get enough money to⁠—”

“Okay.” I yawned. “Here’s whatcha do. Let your dad win the argument this time and you got dibs on the next one. Better to not be an ass where your family’s concerned, right?”

“I’m being an ass?”

I gestured at his cousins. “Well, yeah. I mean, who cares how long it takes them? They’re your cousins. Wait forever if you can help them out. What do you need the money for anyway?”