Page 116 of Free Heart
“I didn’t like you before,” Jeremiah announces, sitting up to look toward Buck. “He took Sejin.”
He snarls at me briefly as if the memory of the betrayal is still enraging, but then he lets it slide away. He smiles. “But now Dan is teaching me to climb, so I like him. I’m still mad about Sejin, though.” He huffs. “But it’s okay. One day I’ll marry Sejin too, and we can share him. Sharing is good.”
Buck coughs out a laugh, and I pat Jeremiah’s head. “Sorry, kid, but I’m not polyamorous, so that’s not going to work for me.”
Jeremiah gives me a grumpy look. “It will. You’ll see.”
“No, you’ll see,” I argue.
“Hey now, let’s justallwait and see if you even stillwantto marry Sejin when you grow up,” Leenie says, coming in from the kitchen where she’s been putting together the fruit and cheese plate she deposits in front of me.
“Sejin’s beautiful,” Jeremiah says with a long sigh.
“He is,” I agree.
“I love him.”
“Me too.”
“See? It’ll be all right then,” Jeremiah instructs, before sliding down to the floor and shouting, “They have marshmallows!”
He runs and jerks the door open to go outside to join his father, Sarah Kate, Sejin, and Rye by the fire.
The room is quiet for a moment as we all watch him dash up to his dad, who’s passed Sarah Kate off to Sejin for now, and be granted a stick to pierce through the heart of a white marshmallow.
“I’m going to see if Peggy Jo needs me,” Buck says, heaving up and heading for the kitchen. A few moments later, I can hearthem back behind me, flirting and laughing. They really are into each other. It’s weird, but cute.
“So…” Leenie says from where she’s taken Buck’s place. The Christmas tree lights glisten in her light hair. She leans forward, puts her elbows on her jeans-clad knees, and lets her hands dangle toward the floor. She meets my gaze.
I take a sip of my beer.
“Uh…so…it’s the holidays…” she starts.
“It is, yup.”
“Have you…?” She clears her throat. “Is this your first Christmas with a real family?”
I frown. “I’ve had many Christmases with many families. They were all ‘real,’ but they didn’t all like me or even each other.”
“I hadn’t realized until you made those videos that you’d grown up in the system.”
I shrug. “A lot of kids do.”
“I thought what you had to say about the women who’d loved you and tried to mother you was really beautiful.”
I take another sip of beer. I don’t really want to think about Edith and Mrs. Crawford right now. I’m having a good night. I don’t want to feel sad.
Leenie goes on, “I think I owe you an apology.”
I take another sip, waiting, trying to figure out if I’m surprised or not. I think I am, though I also feel like I’ve seen this coming for a few days now, just in the way she’s treated me of late.
“You’re really not going to make this easy on me, are you?” she says, wringing her hands together.
“Why would I? You want to apologize, so do it.”
“You’re so—” She sighs. “Fine. You’re right. I love Sejin. You love Sejin—”
“Don’t tell meyouwant to marry him too,” I joke.
