Page 25 of Ink Me Three Times
He goes back to his sandwich. I pretend to look relaxed and unaffected, like I’m not hyper aware of the way he flips a page in his book, or the flex of his forearms as he does it.
Penny is now narrating the sparkly rock’s entire life story with the seriousness of a documentary filmmaker.
I should move. Take her to the swings. Let him eat in peace.
But instead I open my mouth.
"So… this park always this quiet?"
He raises an eyebrow like he wasn’t expecting me to make conversation. "Usually. Gets busier on the weekends. There’s a little farmers market sometimes, if you’re into that."
"Oh." I nod like I’m definitely not cataloguing that for later. "I’ve mostly just seen the walk from Jesse’s to Freddie’s house and the grocery store."
I really haven’t been out much.
Well… aside from my wild first night out of course…
"Yeah," he says, voice more even now. "But there’s more than you’d think. Trails up in the hills, live music at The Hollow on Fridays, good food if you know where to look."
I let out a short laugh. "Yeah… I guess I just need to get used to it."
He shrugs. "It’s quiet. People talk too much. But it’s not a bad place to land."
That last part makes my stomach do something weird.Land. Like he knows I’m between lives.
I don’t know why, but I feel the need to change the direction of this conversation.
So I sayanything…
"So, is it always this… friendly?" I ask, motioning loosely at the park, the mountains, the endless sunshine. "Or am I just in the honeymoon phase before the townsfolk turn on the outsider?"
Mitchell finally looks at me, and there’s something behind his sunglasses I can’t quite name. Not warmth exactly. But not cold either.
"Everyone is great. And you’ll get used to the friendliness," he says. "Especially if Penny keeps dragging you around like a new favorite toy."
I glance down at her. She’s crouched by the bench now, narrating her sparkly rock’s heroic journey through the jungle, grass clippings, to reach the mystical volcano, trash can. Her entire face is scrunched in concentration.
"She’s kind of hard to resist," I murmur.
"Yeah," he says softly, almost too quiet to hear. "She is."
I look back at him, surprised by the flicker of something in his voice. But then it’s gone, replaced by the same stoic calm he wore when I walked up. He stands, brushing crumbs from his jeans.
"Lunch break’s over."
He salutes Penny with two fingers. "Take care of that rock, kid."
Then he’s gone, just like that. Down the path. Not even a glance over his shoulder.
I exhale slowly, like I’ve been holding my breath.
I really don’t know how to get used to Mitchell if I’m going to keep crossing him.
I lean back against the bench, Penny climbing into my lap, her rock now apparently "glowing with magical glitter energy."
My gaze drifts after Mitchell even though he’s already long gone, like I’m hoping he might double back, say something else. Something… different.
But he doesn’t.
