where better-paying jobs and housing choices were more plentiful. Even then, she’d probably have to advertise for a roommate to share expenses.
“Kaylee, how does that sound?”
She bit her bottom lip while she resigned herself to confiding in him about her financial problems. If she didn’t, he’d keep on showing her places she had no prayer of renting.
“That won’t help.” Kaylee squared her shoulders but couldn’t meet his eyes. “I can’t afford to live here.”
He was silent for a moment. “Doesn’t Joe’s father pay you child support?”
“He’s not in the picture,” she said evasively, hoping he’d take the hint and leave the subject of Joey’s father alone.
“Then let’s ask Mr. Stanton if he’ll lower the rent.”
Kaylee shook her head. “He wouldn’t be able to lower the rent enough.”
Tony started to say something else but then Mr. Stanton reentered the room and handed her a piece of scrap paper.
“Here’s my number,” he said. “I don’t have one of those cell phones but the grandkids bought me an answering machine last Christmas so you can leave a message if I’m not in.”
Kaylee thanked him and gathered up Joey. Tony was a strong, silent presence at her side. He’d probably never had money problems in his life.
Because Tony knew McIntosh better than she did, he’d insisted on driving that morning. She settled uncomfortably into the passenger’s seat, loathe to start a conversation.
What could she say that wouldn’t sound like she was asking for a handout? And, oh, Lord, she’d shrivel up and die if he offered her money.
“That house was nice, Mom,” Joey piped up from the backseat. “Did you see how high I went on the swing? And I found a beetle in the yard.”
“Lots of backyards have beetles, Joe-Joe,” Kaylee said.
She wondered why he didn’t answer until she heard the beeps that signaled he’d turned on his GameBoy.
She tried to admire the colorful spring blossoms on the passing trees, but her eyes burned with embarrassment. The silence, though, was worse. She started to wish that Tony would say something. Finally, he did.
“How did you manage things in Fort Lauderdale?”
“I shared a duplex with another single mother. She worked days. I waitressed nights. Between us, there was always somebody home to watch the kids. It worked out great until she moved in with her boyfriend.”
“Is that when you decided to come to McIntosh?”
He was fishing, no doubt trying to discover how she’d come to be in McIntosh without a job and so little money. Recognizing the perfect opening for her confession, her breathing grew short and her palms dampened.
“Yeah!” Joey suddenly yelled from the backseat.
Kaylee whirled to find Joey staring down at his GameBoy, a rapt expression on his face. He glanced up at her.
“I just beat level six, Mom. I’ve never done that before.”
She nodded and tried to look appropriately impressed before gathering her courage and turning back around.
She couldn’t put it off any longer. She had to tell Tony why she was in McIntosh.
She’d been so preoccupied that it came as a surprise to see they were already back at Sofia Donatelli’s house. A woman was emerging from a Volvo parked in the driveway.
“There’s Sofia.” Tony’s voice held a smile as he pulled his car behind the Volvo. “I’ll introduce you.”
Kaylee couldn’t speak. She couldn’t move. She could hardly breathe as she stared transfixed at the woman from the television broadcast.
Sofia Donatelli moved toward the car with an easy grace, and everything about her seemed more vivid than it had on television. Her hair was a darker brown, her smile warmer, her eyes softer.
Tony hopped out of the car, then opened the door to the backseat, rousing Joey from his GameBoy-induced stupor. Feeling as though she were moving in quicksand, Kaylee opened the passenger door and got out of the car.
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