Page 34 of Stay With Me
Jess creeps closer, and an arm lands on my shoulders. I look up to see Noah pulling me close.
“If anyone can win Jess over, it’s going to be Penny,” he whispers to me.
I nod because he’s right.
Jess gingerly puts her hand out like Am showed her, and Penny sniffs it and pushes her nose under Jess’s hand.
Jess beams. “She is very nice. What do I do now?”
“She is the nicest. Now, if you want to keep petting her, just move your hand like this.” She shows her how she pets Penny,and soon Jess is laughing when she brings her hand back by Penny’s head and Penny licks her hand.
“She put her tongue on me.” Jess giggles.
“She’s just giving kisses. It means she likes you,” Am tells her.
“I like her too. Can you hug dogs?” Jess asks.
“You can hug Penny, but you always have to ask if you can touch someone else’s dog. You wouldn’t want someone to hug you if they didn’t ask first, right?” Am asks her.
Jess thinks about it for a second before responding. “Right, I don’t think I would like that.”
“So thank you for asking if you can hug before just doing it. Let’s get her to sit up again.” She looks at Penny and says, “Penny, up.”
Penny sits up and waits for whatever is going to happen next. Jess bends over and gives her a gentle hug around her neck, and Penny licks Jess on the side of the head, making her laugh harder.
“Who’s having too much fun before I’ve arrived?” Sam says, walking in and standing behind Luke.
“Everyone will have more fun when you leave,” Abby says, walking in behind him.
“Hey, Abby, where’s your car?” Carter asks before walking through the door.
Abby looks to Sam quickly, then says, “Um, my car was giving me trouble, so Sam picked me up, and I’m just going to have it towed to Charlie’s for him to look at.”
“Well, let me know if you need a ride home since you’re on my way,” Carter says to her.
“Okay,” she tells him before walking toward the bathroom.
I look around the room, trying to see if anyone else thinks that was weird, when I feel Noah squeeze my shoulder. When I look at him, he raises his eyebrow, and I just shrug, not knowing what just happened.
SEVENTEEN
Luna
Aswecleanup,I push the trash down, exhaling the last of my nerves. I didn’t realize how nervous I was for everyone to meet Jess. It took me a long time to trust people. It took me more than six months to do more than exchange pleasantries with anyone in town, and before Griffin’s Den, I never talked to anyone outside of work since I normally moved every six months.
I don’t want Jess to have that fear of every person she meets.
But listening to her laugh in the living room with the guys as they all playMario Kart, it’s clear this was the right choice.
She’s having a blast.
I know there’s a lot she doesn’t fully understand.
Life outside of The Family is overwhelming, and I hope to give her a better transition than I had.
As if?she can read my mind, Abby walks up to me and says, “She’s doing remarkably well for a child coming out of basic isolation, being thrust into the outside world.”
“She’s doing better than I did, that’s for sure,” I tell her as I toss the last of the trash.
