* * *

It wasn’t until closing time, after Sean and I had cleaned up, while he was busy counting out the register at the end of the night because he claimed he was faster than me at it, that I went to my tip jar. But it wasn’t the bills in the blue Mason jar that caught my eye. It was what looked like a few folded pieces of paper inside that had me reaching for it.

If someone had left me an IOU or a business card, I was going to scream.

Turning the jar upside down, everything came out. There were dozens of papers inside, each about three inches long and one inch wide, I opened one genuinely wondering what the hell someone had put in there.

But I knew the instant I unfolded the first one who had done it.

Everything about you makes me smile. -Uncle Fester.

I laughed out loud and picked up another one the instant I read the last letter of the first. Uncle Fester. Fucking Dallas. Fucking Dallas. He had no idea what he did to me. I only made it through another three before I started tearing up.

Really. I love you. Love, Professor Xavier Before He Lost His Hair

In all the ways that matter, you can be my #1 – (infinity). Deal? Love always, your poor bastard

I love you. —Your born-again virgin Catholic convert, Dallas

Chapter Twenty-Five

I was sitting on the edge of the couch, slipping my heels on when I zeroed in on Louie, who was sitting beside me on the couch dressed up in an outfit I’d found on sale around Labor Day. But it wasn’t the navy blue pants or vest he had on that caught my eye, or the fact he was matching for once in his life when he wasn’t wearing his school uniform. It was the red spot on the collar of his white shirt that had me reaching to pinch the tip of my nose.

“Louie.”

“Huh?” he asked, his body hunched over with a tablet on his lap as he played whatever it was he was playing.

“Did you eat something after you changed?” I’d specifically told him not to eat anything because I knew him.

“No,” he answered quickly, his attention still below him.

Sliding my heel down into my nude shoe, I gave my toes a wiggle to make sure my foot was in there as deep as it would go, telling myself not to freak out over his shirt. It had been inevitable, hadn’t it? Hadn’t I known this was going to happen and tried to prevent it? With a deep breath, I glanced back at his shirt and stood up, tugging on the skirt part of my dress. “Gooey, did you get something from the fridge?”

“Apple juice.”

I pinched the tip of my nose again. “Did you grab the ketchup bottle by any chance?”

He stopped playing his game to glance up and give me a curious expression. “How’d you know?”

“Because there’s a big red stain on your shirt, Goo.”

Louie’s hands immediately went to his chest and started patting around as he tried to find the spot. “I didn’t eat anything!”

“I believe you,” I moaned, trying to think if he had any other dress shirts that he hadn’t out grown.

He didn’t, and we didn’t have time to wash this one. Ginny’s wedding was in half an hour.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized.

It was just a shirt and he was just a kid. It wasn’t the end of the world. “It’s fine.”

“I promise! I didn’t eat anything!”

“I believe you. You probably just held the ketchup bottle too close to you, you sloppy mess.” I stared at him for a moment longer before telling him, “Come here. Maybe I can wipe off the worst of it with a napkin.”

He tipped his chin down to try and see his collar. Without a warning, he poked at the button closest to his neck, tugged the material away from him and stuck his tongue out. He licked at the ketchup spot. Over and over again.

“Louie! Oh my God, give me a towel. Don’t lick it off, Jesus.” I laughed, knowing I shouldn’t but not being able to stop myself.

One blue eye peeked at me as he licked it again. “Why? I’m saving water. I’m saving the Earth.”

Saving the Earth. If I hadn’t just spent twenty minutes putting on makeup, I would have smacked myself in the forehead. “Stop. Stop. Leave it alone. It’s fine. You can save the Earth another way.”

“Are you sure? I can lick more.”

That really made me laugh. “Yes, stop. Put your tongue back in your mouth, nasty.” I laughed even harder as the tip of it peeked out between his lips.

Louie cracked up as he inched his face closer to the spot, as if daring me.

“Stop. Just pretend there’s nothing there now,” I ordered him, right before he gave the ketchup stain one more lick. “Oh my God, look at that! There’s no stain anymore!”

“What are you doing, ding-dong?” came Josh’s voice from behind where I was standing. “Why are you licking your shirt?”

“Ketchup,” was the boy’s reply.

I looked at Josh as he muttered, “What a weirdo.”

Dressed in black pants my mom made him wear when they went to church, a blue long-sleeved shirt, and a black vest, my little Josh looked so much like my earliest memory of Drigo it nearly took my breath away. I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything. “Looking good, J-Money.”

He rolled his eyes. “I look stupid.”

“And if by stupid you mean really handsome, you’re right.”

He rolled his eyes so far back I was surprised they managed to make their way forward again.

“Ready to go?”