“Do you mind?” I asked Roman. In a lower voice I explained, “Her husband died last year and she’s all alone. I try to stop by and help her out when I can.”
“Sure.” He gestured for me to go ahead.
We strolled up the short driveway together. Mrs. Shields smiled as soon as she saw Roman.
“And who’s your friend, Juliet?”
I hesitated. Would she tell my uncle if I introduced Roman as my boyfriend? When was the last time they even spoke to each other? I decided I didn’t care if he found out.
“Mrs. Shields, this is my boyfriend, Roman.”
“Boyfriend,” she repeated. Her raised eyebrow and slightly curved lips hinted at her approval. “Aren’t you a good-looking young man. So tall!” She gushed.
One glance at Roman showed he was blushing.
Did he really not realize how attractive he was or was it just because someone old enough to be his grandmother was pointing it out?
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Shields.” He extended his hand and she shook it briefly, beaming the whole time.
I gestured to the open trunk of her car. “Do you need help carrying your groceries inside?”
“Would you mind? They packed them too heavy at the store again.”
“Sure,” I answered, reaching for the closest brown paper bag.
Roman waved me off. “I got ‘em. Help her inside.”
Mrs. Shields did indeed need help navigating her way to the front door. She dropped her keys several times and seemed extremely frustrated.
“This is why I stay home most of the time,” she muttered, squinting at the lock.
“I can do it, Mrs. Shields.” I gently eased the keys from her hands and opened the door.
“Thank you.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go alone. Where’s your daughter?”
She rolled her eyes and shuffled into the kitchen. “Who knows? Following some band around the country last I knew.”
“Where do you want ‘em?” Roman asked, as he followed us into the kitchen.
“On the counter, please.”
He set everything down and the two of us unpacked the bags, following Mrs. Shields’ instructions for where to put all the supplies.
“Oh! This is really why I called you over, Juliet.” She took a brick-sized package neatly wrapped in foil out of the fridge. “I made banana bread.”
My mouth watered as soon as she placed the still-warm bread in my hands. She was a phenomenal baker.
I eyed Roman. “It’s a good thing I like you so much. Normally I wouldn’t share.”
Both of them laughed.
“That's for you to take home, dear. The two of you can help me finish mine.”
“No, I can’t do that,” Roman said.
“Are you allergic, dear?” She asked, setting the plates on the counter and slipping a knife out of the drawer.
“Uh, no. I just…”
When she looked away, I shook my head at him. Mrs. Shields shared her affection for people by feeding them. It would hurt her feelings if he turned down her offer.
While she brewed a pot of coffee, I set the table. Roman kept eying the front door like he planned to make a run for it any second.
“This is amazing,” he said a few minutes later after we were all seated with coffee and cake.
“Told ya,” I mumbled around a forkful of moist banana goodness.
She had lots of questions for me about school and I answered in detail, even though none of it seemed very exciting.
Finally she turned her bright-eyed expression on Roman. But not to pry into his school day.
“Do you know anything about cars, dear?”
“A little.”
“Would you mind checking my windshield wiper fluid?”
Roman seemed so relieved to have something to do, he practically jumped up from the table. “Sure.”
We followed him outside. Mrs. Shields stood back and watched as he popped the hood.
“I hate doing that,” she explained. “Ray always did all the car maintenance.” She let out a short, sad laugh. “I was always afraid I’d lose a finger if the hood snapped shut. Silly, but Ray didn’t want me to worry, so he took care of everything…”
I slipped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Shields.”
“We had so many good years together. Not everyone is so lucky. I just…miss him.”
I hugged her a little tighter unsure of what else I could say to ease her pain.
Roman pulled out a gallon jug of green wiper fluid from the trunk. “Good choice, Mrs. Shields. This stuff helps keep the bug guts off the windshield.”
She wrinkled her nose. “It’s just what Ray always used in the summer.”
He finished with the car and even got in and turned the key to check the wipers before declaring her good to go.
“Thank you so much.” She turned to me. “Let me grab your bread. I’m sure you two need to get home.”
Roman smiled at me when she went inside.
“Thank you for doing that.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced away. “I don’t mind. She's a nice woman. Seems to like you a lot.”
“I’ve known her since I moved in with my aunt and uncle. She and her husband were always nice to me.”
Mrs. Shields returned with my bread in one hand a couple of folded over dollar bills in her other.
“If I’d known you were coming, I’d be sending you home with bread too, Roman.”
The corners of his mouth twitched.
She held out the money to him and he put his hands in the air. “No, ma’am. I can’t take your money.”
“Nonsense. You saved me a lot of trouble.”
He shook his head again. She gave up and handed the money to me. “Seriously, make sure he takes this. It would’ve cost me twice that if I’d taken it into the shop.”
“Yes, Mrs. Shields. Thank you.”
She gave me a kiss on the cheek and waved to Roman before going inside.
At the bottom of her driveway, he shook his head again. “I can’t take her money, Juliet. It’s not right.”
“She’s a proud woman, Roman. I think it would hurt her feelings if she felt like she took advantage of you.”
He groaned and relented, allowing me to slip the money in his pocket. “I didn’t do much.”
His wary gaze darted down the street and I realized he was probably antsy to get back to the house.
“Do you need to be home earlier than usual?”
“No one said so. But after last night, I don’t want to do anything to call attention to myself.”
My throat tightened and maybe it looked like I was about to cry because he squeezed my shoulder. “It’s okay, Juliet. Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He sighed and took my hands. “The only thing I was upset about last night was that I might not be able to see you again. The rest doesn’t matter.”
“You matter to me.”
His jaw flexed and he swallowed hard before nodding once. “I haven’t mattered to anyone in a long time.”
“Well, you matter to me,” I repeated. I’d say it a hundred more times until he believed me.
Twenty-Three
Roman
I hated like hell taking money from anyone. But the money from Mrs. Shields provided me with a way to buy Juliet a birthday present.
Sometimes on the weekends, the home took us to the mall and turned us loose. Dangerous probably. Only level ones were allowed on these special trips. The counselors were supposed to stick with us, but more often, they’d hand us a couple dollars and tell us to meet them in the food court in an hour or two.
Pip always stuck with me. This trip was no different. He was full of questions when this time I ventured into the small world crafts store.
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“What do you want in here?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw it. A wide green leather bracelet with daisies embossed into the leather.
I had just enough money to cover the cost.
Until they added the tax.
“Dammit,” I muttered, desperately scraping the lint out of my pockets praying for a hidden, mangled dollar bill.
“Here.” Pip thrust his lunch money into my hands. “Last time I ate at the food court I had the shits for a week.”
The sales clerk groaned.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, take it. Is it for the girl?”
“Her birthday’s coming up.”
“Take it,” he insisted again.
I accepted the money and finished paying for the bracelet.
“Thanks, Pip.” We walked into the mall and I glanced left and right. “Anywhere you want to go?”
“Nope.”
We had just enough money left over to get two sodas. There wasn’t much time before we had to meet up with the rest of the group, so we sat and waited.
“Thanks for doing that,” I said.
“You really like this girl?”
I couldn’t hide my excitement when I thought of Juliet. Liked wasn’t nearly strong enough to describe what I felt for her. “Oh yeah.”
“Is she hot?”
“She’s beautiful.”
“When can I meet her?”
“I don’t know.”
He wiggled in his seat, as if he couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. “I’ll be in high school next year. If you’re still together, I can eat lunch with you guys.”
I snorted and leaned over to ruffle his hair. “You got it, Pip.”
Twenty-Four
Juliet
I never liked birthdays. My own birth had caused my father to disappear. When I started school, I was always that girl. The one who got excluded from the other kids’ birthday celebrations. My mother and aunt had died when they’d gone out to celebrate a birthday. My aunt and uncle barely acknowledged my existence, let alone my birthday.