Page 80 of The Convict Gets His Girl

Destini's face fell slightly before she masked it. "Oh," she said softly. Her eyes locked with her mother's in the mirror, both challenging and curious.

She'd been testing, probing, gathering intelligence. It wasn't about sex, but about potential family dynamics, about a future she wasn't yet certain she wanted to embrace.

Jewel wiped some mascara from under her eyes as she licked her lips, also uncertain. Perhaps it was time to talk to Destini about their living arrangements. She turned and held the door to the bathroom open, wanting to have the conversation as a family.

A family.

She took a shaky breath as they walked side by side through the cafeteria. "Chase bought this incredible Victorian house. Twenty acres with a barn and woods and backing up to a greenbelt and Crimson Creek itself, right on the edge of town."

Chase had already cleaned their table off, so they wandered to the last remaining section of the building that was unseen.

"A house?" Destini paused with a frown.

Chase shifted from foot to foot, his expression brightening and reminding her so much of Destini, so full of hope and excitement. It was like when they'd been teens, and the world was a bright, happy place.

"Yeah, can you believe it? It's going to be so cool. I want us all to live there together. Want to see pictures?"

Jewel ignored the doubt in her gut about living together and let Destini and Chase have their moments together.

He pulled up the images on his phone, swiping through with a trembling excitement that betrayed his carefully constructed composure. The house stood proud—white with forest green trim, wrap-around porch, and tall windows catching the late afternoon light. Wildflowers dotted the surrounding meadow, an untamed landscape promising possibility.

Jewel hadn't agreed to live with him, only to consider it, but she watched Destini closely because her answer depended a lot on her daughter. She didn't want to rush into something, especially if it was going to go against Destini's wishes. Fighting a teenager was a Herculean task, and she didn't have much strength left to keep fighting.

Destini leaned closer, her initial resistance softening. Her fingers hovered near the screen, not quite touching, but close enough to absorb the details. "Wow, it's like an old-school house, but solid… permanent." Her voice echoed with the unsaid promises among the three of them.

Something shifted in Destini's expression—a vulnerability she'd never willingly show elsewhere. Her tough exterior cracked, just slightly, and Jewel saw a piece of the child she used to be.

She spoke slowly, measuring each word. "It'd be like we're an actual family? All in one house?"

The question hung between them—a blend of hope, skepticism, and wild, unexpected potential.

Chase nodded, his smile soft and tentative. "Yeah, there are plenty of rooms for all of us."

"We wouldn't be in an apartment or sharing a room at Papa Henry's and Aunt Gemma's," Jewel said quietly. "Just think about it?"

Destini nodded and walked absently through the exhibit. Jewel walked beside Chase, not touching or holding hands, but somehow she drew courage from his silent strength next to her. Chase stopped to read the exhibit information plaque, and slowly the intensity of the moment passed. Jewel didn't rush or push the decision. Destini needed processing time, and somehow Chase seemed to know that too because he didn't ask either of them for an answer.

It was several minutes later before Destini pointed to something and waved them forward through the last exhibit.

As they were leaving the gift shop, Chase turned to Destini and said, "So you want this internship with NASA, but why? What's your biggest dream or goal?"

Destini straightened, a flicker of excitement crossing her face. "I want to design sustainable agricultural systems for developing countries. Like, create irrigation technologies that can transform desert landscapes into productive farmland." Her words tumbled out with unexpected passion, revealing a depth to her that caught both Chase and Jewel off guard.

Jewel laughed, genuine and surprised. "I didn't know you still thought about that. Mine's always been to open a rehab center for animals. Yours is much cooler. Why do you want to do that? How does that tie in with NASA?"

Chase listened, and Jewel felt him withdrawing as Destini grew more and more excited. Destini's eyes flickered with an intensity that suggested her agricultural vision wasn't just academic theory. At NASA, she wanted to design closed-loop life support systems for potential moon colonization, transforming harsh, impossible terrain into sustainable habitats. Her research would leverage her agricultural engineering background to create modular greenhouse technologies that could recycle every molecule of water, carbon, and organic matter.

Her hands waved with excitement as they got into the truck.

"Imagine creating ecosystems that can survive in total environmental isolation. On the moon, on Mars, every plant, every drop of water, every breath of oxygen must be meticulously engineered. My work could mean the difference between human survival and extinction. Lord knows we're not taking care of Earth."

Her voice dropped, revealing a vulnerability that contrasted with her technical precision. Jewel laughed, joy filling her to see that passion that her daughter used to have as a little girl shine through once more.

Jewel's laughter faded as they got in the truck, and she turned the ignition. Chase sighed, and it was so full of world-weariness, it made her heart ache.

"What's wrong?" she asked, laying a hand on his forearm. He turned from staring out the window to her.

He shook his head self-deprecatingly and said, "Nothing, really. Just realizing that I don't have any big dreams like y'all do. Prison wasn't a place for dreaming. For years, my only dream was surviving the next day."

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