Page 54 of Delayed Penalty

Hayes takes the spot she’s abandoned, and I bet passersby are getting quite a laugh seeing the two of us together with how giant he looks on the small bench.

“That was really nice of you,” I say after a few quiet moments.

He shrugs like it’s no big deal when it clearly is. He could have ignored her or lied about who he is or any number of things, but instead, he not only gave her a signed hat but also her whole family tickets. I don’t understand how this man who walked over with his eyebrows basically kissing they were pulled so tight is the same man who just did all that. The same manwatching Flora play like he’s watching the most cinematic masterpiece he’s ever seen.

“Do you guys come here a lot?” he asks, his attention still on his niece.

“First time. It’s a celebration for surviving preseason.”

His lips twitch. “For you or her?”

“Yes.”

His chest rumbles with light laughter. “She seems happy. More like a kid.”

I nod. “She does. She’s still quiet and shy, but I think she’s getting there. The first five minutes we were here she wanted to read her book instead of play. I finally coaxed her to go try it with a promise of a movie later tonight, and now I’m not sure how I’ll ever peel her away.”

“And you?” he asks, turning to me for the first time since he sat down. “You’re doing okay? With…well, everything, I mean?”

I try to hide my surprise at him asking about me. “I’m good. It would be a straight lie if I said I was handling this with zero issues and wasn’t having approximately five and a half mini panic attacks a day, but I’m managing.”

He laughs. “Five and a half? Those are rookie numbers. I was having about five and a half every hour when she first got here. Shit, I still have about ten aday.” He runs his hand through his hair, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to this.”

“Can I ask?—”

He stiffens before I even get the question out, and I instantly start backtracking.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to pry. I?—”

“It’s okay. I guess you should probably know if you’re going to be sticking around.”

He sits back with a sigh, his eyes still tracking his niece as she runs around the playground. He doesn’t speak for several tense moments, and when he does, it’s not at all the story I was expecting to hear.

“My older brother decided dealing drugs was more fun than being a father. He got busted for running a ring in addition to a whole slew of other charges like assault and gun possession, and now he’s serving a life sentence for it. I got a call in the middle of the night about her. Aiden and I hadn’t spoken in years aside from his random drug-infused calls where he’d beg for money and I’d tell him to fuck off.” He scoffs. “I had no clue she even existed until that phone call.”

He…what?

I might not get along with my siblings all the time, but I can’t imagine a world where I just didn’t talk to them. Or one where I didn’t know my nieces andnephews even existed. And for so many years? I can’t fathom it.

“I guess her mom skipped out, and when child services tried finding her, they found out she died a few years ago,” he continues. “My parents… Well, honestly, I have no idea what happened to them. I left for college, and I never looked back. They haven’t been in the picture for a long, long time. I guess Aiden was all she had. I don’t know exactly what kind of life she was living before, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. I might not know shit when it comes to kids, but I know for certain she’s better off with me than she ever was with that dumbass.”

He’s clearly upset with his brother, and rightfully so. But there’s also a twinge of pain and regret in his voice, and I know there are older wounds there he’s not opening.

He rubs a hand over his beard. “Anyway, that’s the short version of a very long story. So if you’re wondering why Flora and I act like strangers sometimes, it’s because we are.”

“You’re not strangers, Hayes. You’re her family. That means something.”

“In my experience, family doesn’t mean shit.”

“Family isn’t always about theactualfamily we’re born into. It’s about the people we choose to let into our lives, the people we choose to love. And you’reclearly choosing to love Flora, so, yeah, it does still mean something.”

He swallows thickly, then nods once but doesn’t say anything more, though I know thereismore. There has to be. Nobody makes a statement likeFamily doesn’t mean shitwithout a story to tell. I want to know his story more than I’ve ever wanted to know anything before, but it’s not my business to ask.

“Uncle Adam!”

We both swing our heads to the tiny voice and find Flora running full speed toward us. Her long dark hair—which I assume she got from her mother or father—flows behind her, the ponytail I put it in before I sent her off to play long since destroyed. She races right up to him, skidding to a stop before running into his knees.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” she says between choppy breaths.

---