Page 57 of An Overdue Match
Tai hid his chuckle under his breath and reached for the printout of the design he’d drawn for Penelope’s tattoo. He handed it to her. “Are you still good with the design? Any tweaks you want me to make before we put it on your skin?”
Penelope studied the picture he’d drawn using the design software on his tablet. Liquid pooled in her eyes, and she blinked the emotion away. “It’s perfect.”
“Can I see?” Evangeline held out her hand, curiosity tilting her lips.
Penelope sniffed and handed the paper over.
Evangeline blinked, her features softening. She reached out and squeezed her sister’s hand. “It’s beautiful. Mama would’ve loved it.”
Penelope dabbed at the corner of her eye. “Our mother loved butterflies. All butterflies, really, but she had a particular fondness for the blue morpho. They’re rare—endangered, actually—and can only be seen in Central and South America. One day, she was feeling desperately alone—I don’t remember why exactly, but that was never the important part of the story. Anyway, she was feeling alone and invisible and unloved. Then she looked up and there it was. A blue morpho butterfly sitting pretty as you please on the cone of a black-eyed Susan. She said it was like God had spoken to her through that butterfly. He was telling her that He saw her, that she was never alone, and that she was deeply loved.”
“That’s beautiful,” Tai whispered. He walked quietly awayto prepare the stencil as the sisters gripped each other’s hands. He came back a few minutes later, stencil ready. “Still want it above your right hip bone?”
Penelope lay down on her back. She raised the hem of her shirt, exposing a couple of inches of her midriff. The band of her pants was elastic, and she tugged it down until the ridge of her hip bone was uncovered. “Right here.” She pointed to where her skin sloped from her hip toward her bikini line.
Tai prepped the area, then applied the stencil. The ink he’d need was already arranged on his workstation. He pulled on a pair of black medical-grade disposable gloves and picked up his tattoo gun. When he switched the machine on, a buzz filled the air. “Ready?”
Penelope let out a deep breath. “Ready.”
Tai dipped the tops of the needles into the container of black ink. He’d work on the outline and shading before adding color. Pulling Penelope’s skin taut, he began the work of inserting ink into her body.
People reacted differently the first time they felt a line being pulled across their skin. Some screamed a stream of curse words. Some cried. Some shook uncontrollably. Penelope did none of those things. She set her jaw and lay as still as a statue.
“You’re doing great,” Tai encouraged.
“Like the queen you are.” Evangeline beamed at her sister.
Penelope grinned back at Evangeline. “Takes one to know one.” She rolled her head to look at Tai. “Sorry. You probably have no idea what we’re talking about.”
Evangeline blanched. “Penelope, I don’t think—”
“Our father said his daughters would grow up to be queens, so he gave us middle names after great British female monarchs. Mine is Elizabeth, and Evangeline’s is Victoria.”
Tai lifted the tattoo gun, then pinned a look on his Angel. “Evangeline Victoria Kelly.” His grin grew. This was betterthan any of the names he’d guessed. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to tell him. “Wasn’t Victoria the one madly in love with Prince Albert?”
“You know she was.” Evangeline crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.
Penelope looked between them. “Now I feel like I’m the one out of the loop.”
Tai dipped the machine to gather more ink. “After your sister learned my middle name, she refused to tell me hers.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell him?” Penelope asked. She sucked in a hiss as Tai put the needle back to her skin.
“Does it hurt?” Evangeline stared intently, looking both worried and spellbound.
Penelope threw her a disgruntled look. “It feels like I’m getting stabbed over and over again. Not exactly a day at the spa.” She exhaled through her nose. “But back to the topic at hand. Why wouldn’t you tell him your middle name?”
Evangeline sealed her lips. She turned her head so she was looking at the opposite wall. Finally, her mouth moved, but just barely, and she couldn’t be heard over the vibrations of the tattoo machine.
“What was that?”
She flung her arms out wide in frustration. “I said, he’d read too much into it.”
“My middle name is Albert,” Tai supplied helpfully—and maybe a bit smugly.
Penelope’s mouth formed an O. “You’re Albert.” She pointed at Tai. “And you’re Victoria.” She pointed at her sister.
“No,” Evangeline ground out. “I’m Evangeline, and he’s Tai. They’re just names. They don’t meananything.”
