Page 65 of Harbor

That was the important bit. That’s what he had meant to tell him from the start, but then got caught up in the realization that he’d forgotten his birthday somehow.

Micheal smiled. “Always gonna be a kid to me. That’s how I remember you best, Ren.”

Yeah, if only he knew the truth …

“Anyway,” his uncle said, slapping his hands to his knees before pushing up from the chair, “you three are going to have to find a place soon.”

“I know. I didn’t forget our deal.”

“Actually, I might be able to help with that, and getting you a job, too.”

Renzo glanced up. “That so?”

Micheal scrubbed a hand down his unshaven jaw. “Yeah, I asked around. They won’t ask too many questions. I stopped in before coming home—if you head over there this morning, they’ll take you in and let you look around. Give you an idea about what they would want you to do for work, and show you the place they have for cheap rent.”

Well, damn.

“Thanks.” Renzo stood up, too, all of the exhaustion he’d been feeling earlier was gone at the idea of getting money coming in and a place to stay. “You got the address?”

“Yeah.” Micheal pulled out a small business card, and handed it over. By the looks of it, the restaurant wasn’t very far away. Only a couple blocks, or so. “Just give the guy behind the counter my name, and he’ll know what to do with you.”

“Sure.”

“Whatever you need, kid.”

Renzo didn’t correct him that time.

• • •

“Oh, wow, look at the colors on that,” Lucia said.

She dropped Renzo’s hand to dart closer to the window of the shop. Bright and colorful, an intricately designed dream catcher sat on display in the shop’s window. The reds, blues, purples, and crystal beads glittered in the sunlight shining down on the display. The dream catcher spun from a hook in a slow circle, letting them see all the beautiful angles and the extensive work that had gone into the beading.

“How many hours do you think that took the artist?” Lucia asked over her shoulder.

Renzo shrugged. “More than I would care to do.”

Lucia gave him a look.

“I’m just saying.”

He did not have the patience for that kind of thing. It was beautiful, and he could see that. He recognized the hard work that must have gone in to making the beautiful piece, but that in no way meant he was interested in doing it, too. Simple as that.

Lucia shook her head, and went back to staring at the dream catcher. He knew they would be standing there for another few minutes before she decided she had enough of looking at the item. If he had to guess, he thought the art district of San Francisco was Lucia’s favorite place to be so far. There was always something beautiful waiting to be seen. Something amazing right around the corner. Another talent to be discovered tucked away.

She loved all of that.

She had an eye for it, too, he noticed. Art. Not like his sister in the way that Rose wanted to create art, but Lucia was different. She found art. She could talk about it without missing a beat or needing a breath. The more colorful, the better. Paintings. Beadwork. Carvings. It didn’t matter, she liked it all.

At his side, Diego tugged hard on Renzo’s hand to gain his big brother’s attention. He knelt down to be eye-level with Diego while the boy spoke. “You should buy that for Lucia. She likes it, Ren.”

Renzo chuckled, and ran his hand through the boy’s already-tousled hair. “Thanks, Diego.”

“Well, you should.”

Yeah, he definitely should.

He’d come back for the dream catcher on another day. That really wasn’t what this day out was supposed to be about today, anyway. He didn’t explain that to Diego simply because the boy wouldn’t care or understand.