Page 11 of Almost Always

A grunt was followed by his father’s gruff voice. “I can’t believe Catarina was holding her hostage.”

“It felt more like torture. She’s so small, Dunc. I don’t know when they washed her hair last or if she’s ever eaten a full meal.”

“If I ever see that woman again, I will…” Nonna said and he could picture her shaking her hand in frustration. “You tell us how we can help and we’ll do it.”

“I’m not traveling for a while, just to help her settle into this new life.”

“Daniel, you’re family,” Poppy added, voice similar to his father’s. “Whatever you and that little girl need, we’re going to help.”

He finally knew who the stranger was—Daniel Matthew. He lived next door and was his father’s dearest friend. According to all the stories, the two of them had grown up together and proximity to his best friend was one of the reasons Duncan Ames had chosen to move back into the city.

“Where is she, by the way?”

“Tucked her into bed and brought this with me,” Daniel said and a soft squawk echoed in the room. “I’ve done enough crying for the two of us and I didn’t want to scare her when she woke up.”

There was some shuffling and Nonna’s nightgown came into view. “Go to your daughter, Daniel. Be there for her and we’ll deal with everything else in the morning.”

Suddenly everyone was on their feet and in a hurry to get out of sight, he stepped on a particularly creaky section of the floor. Wincing, he looked over to find eight sets of eyes peering up at him.

“What are you doing awake?” His father’s scowl was legendary and a sure sign of concern.

“Heard voices. Hi Mr. Matthew,” he said, offering his father’s best friend a small smile.

“Get back to bed.”

“Is everything okay?”

Nonna smiled and started up the stairs. Rafferty held a hand out to help her the rest of the way. “Everything is fine, piccolino. We might have a guest tomorrow, that’s all.”

Looking over his shoulder as the men walked out the front door, he nodded and followed his grandmother to his room. She sat on the side of the bed and patted the space beside her. He sat down and leaned against her, head resting on her shoulder.

“Mr. Matthew sounded sad,” he said.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, all right?”

He knew it was pointless to argue with her, instead asked, “Who is the guest?”

“Mr. Matthew’s daughter. She’s a few years younger than you and new to the city, so we’re going to help her settle in.”

Nodding, he smiled when Nonna kissed the top of his head. The sounds of his father and grandfather coming up the stairs made him sit up. The two broad shouldered men appeared in the doorway and frowned at him.

“You know better than to eavesdrop, son,” his father said softly.

“I’m sorry. Everyone sounded worried and I couldn’t help myself.”

The bed dipped as Poppy sat down beside him. “I’m going to change all the creaky boards,” he joked and kissed the side of Rafferty’s head. “And don’t you worry about things, this is for adults.”

Everything is always for adults and nothing is for me to know or worry about.

“Back into bed, young man,” Nonna said and he climbed under the covers reluctantly. His father and grandparents kissed the top of his head before they walked out.

When he woke up the next morning, sunlight streamed through the thin curtains of his bedroom and the city was loud and bustling. Rafferty stretched and kicked off his covers. The Ames house was also wide awake, which told him that he’d overslept. Given how long it took him to fall asleep the night before, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Besides, it was summer break and he didn’t have anywhere to go or anything to do. In the bathroom he brushed his teeth and washed his face clean of all eye gunk and drool stains. When his hair refused to settle, he gave up and ran down the stairs.

He rushed into the kitchen and skidded to a stop at the sight of a kid on the counter while his grandmother was cooking. Wild hair sticking up in every direction was all he could see. Her visible skin was a dark brown, like warm chocolate, and in her little hand she clutched a Pop-Tart. Nonna turned to him and so did the little girl. Big brown eyes stared back at him and he noticed her chubby cheeks and mouth covered in crumbs, and her tiny nose was pink like she’d been crying. She blinked at him and even standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Rafferty could see the light brown swirls in her eyes.

“Good morning, caro,” his grandmother greeted him and smoothed down the little girl’s hair. “This is Daisy. Can you say hi, sweetheart?”

The little girl stared at him, munching on the Pop-Tart. He felt like she could see into his soul and he swallowed hard before raising a hand in an awkward wave.

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