Page 16 of Rome for the Holidays
Harper looked down “G-good.”
Jackie reached out, and squeezed Harper’s hand, making her look up.
“You don’t have to worry here you know. Nothing you say will anger me. I know that this is a new situation and that a lot happened last night, so I understand if you are having a challenging time and probably didn’t sleep the best, so it’s okay. Okay?”
Harper nodded, and Jackie walked in, seeing the pile of ripped up paper on the desk.
“What is this?”
Harper started running her fingers over the edge of the T-shirt she was wearing.
“I-i have a p-penpal who l-lives in I-italy. He i-is my b-best friend. M-my mom r-ripped all h-his letters u-up. A-and his p-pictures.”
She hurriedly swiped a tear away, but Jackie saw it and pulled her in for a hug.
“We can fix this. Don’t worry.”
Harper looked up at her in shock, “Y-you will h-help me?”
Jackie grinned, “Of course. Joey is taking the kids to school today. You haven’t met them yet, but we can worry about that later. Let’s see what we can do.”
Harper followed Jackie over to the desk and sat down on the chair, as Jackie directed.
Jackie knelt down, lifting up some of the ripped-up letters, “Do you mind if I read these while I put them together? I don’t want to intrude on anything personal.”
Harper shook her head, and Jackie sat down on the floor with her handful of letters, and she got to work.
Harper started with the pictures and had the first one put back together after a few minutes.
Jackie looked up at her, “There are a lot of letters here. Can I ask about who this guy is?”
Harper bit her lip, “V-vincenzo. He i-is my o-only friend. I-i love h-him, but h-he has n-no idea. I-it doesnt m-matter either, b-because we will n-never meet.”
Jackie smiled, “I like that he is your friend. That’s sweet. I’m sorry you don’t have more. Is it because of your mom? Or something else?”
Harper looked at the picture of Vincenzo, touching the picture of his beloved face softly, “I-i stutter when I-im overwhelmed. And p-people make fun o-of me for it. I-i’m that weird girl in s-school that no one t-talks to b-because of it.”
Jackie’s eyebrows flew up her forehead and she shook her head, “I’m so sorry love. That’s awful. Kids are so mean sometimes.”
Harper shrugged, “I-i’m used to i-it.”
Jackie let out a soft breath, “You don’t have to worry about that here. We want you here no matter what? Okay?”
Harper nodded, and Jackie smiled, and a knock sounded on the slightly open door.
Joey poked his head in, “Hey, just taking these kids to school.”
Harper stood, smoothing down her pants and shirt. She was wearing the same clothes and probably needed to change.
A boy and girl peeked around Joey’s broad frame, looking identical to their mother in every way.
“Harper, this is Jenna and Ryker.”
Harper waved at the kids, and Jenna’s face lit up, “We get a big sister? Really?”
Harper’s eyes widened, and Joey smiled down at Jenna, “Yep.”
Jenna let out a squeal, pushing past Joey and rushing to hug Harper.
