“Hello?” the hitwoman called again and made her way farther intothe kitchen. Farther. Farther. Until her feet paused right next to my hidingspot. Before I could convince myself not to, I reached out, grabbed her ankle, andpulled as hard as I could.
She yelped as her feet got pulled out from beneath her and hergun clattered to the ground. I climbed on top of her, pinning her to theground.
She screamed and started thrashing beneath me.
“Penny, get the gun!” But when I reached out to knock the gunfarther away from the woman, all I saw was a high-end camera. A very broken high-endcamera. I looked down at the woman beneath me. And for just a second I lost mybreath.
Her dark hair was splayed out on the hardwood floors and shewas staring at me like she wanted to kill me. Honestly, it wasn’t the firsttime she’d looked at me like that. And definitely not the only time I deservedthat look of disdain. It had been years since I’d seen her. I’d asked Brooklynfor a sign at the graveyard the other day. And when I’d first seen the hitwomanthere, I’d thought she was Brooklyn’s best friend, Kennedy. My sign was a fewdays late. But here she was. “Kennedy?”
Just as her name left my mouth she kneed me hard in theballs.
Fuck. I rolled off of her and tried not to startcrying. Why did women keep trying to maim my member? Couldn’t they just slap meor something?
“Don’t move,” Penny said. She’d grabbed a knife too and washolding the teakettle in her other hand like she was going to throw it atKennedy’s face. It wasn’t a bad plan. The metal and boiling water would beenough to hurt her. But I didn’t want Penny or Kennedy to get hurt.
“Stop,” I groaned, but it was barely a whisper.
“Put your hands in the air,” Penny said.
“Who the hell are you people?” Kennedy said. But she didn’ttry to get off the ground. She just sat there, the look of anger replaced byfear. She slowly lifted up her hands.
“Who the hell are you?!” Penny countered.
“Stop,” I groaned again. I winced as I tried to sit back up.
Penny took another step forward, waving the knife around. “Ifyou don’t tell me in two seconds who you are, I’ll… I’ll stab you in the face,”Penny said with very little conviction.
But Kennedy didn’t know that Penny wouldn’t hurt a fly. She lookedas scared as Penny had a minute ago. There were even tears in her large browneyes.
“Penny, put the knife down,” I croaked. “I know her. Kennedy…Kennedyit’s me.” I gestured to my face, waiting for recognition to hit her.
Kennedy blinked, the tears still pooling in her eyes. Shedidn’t seem to know who I was. Maybe because my face was distorted in pain.
“It’s me. Matt,” I said.
She searched my face. “Oh my God. Matthew freaking Caldwell? Ohmy God.” She put her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.” She reached outlike she was going to touch my nuts and then pulled back. “Do you need some iceor something?”
“You two know each other?” Penny asked, her arm stilloutstretched with the knife.
“Penny, would you put down the knife?” I asked again.
I watched as Penny put the knife down on the counter. But shewas still holding the teakettle, like she was worried I was reading thesituation wrong.
“I’m so sorry,” I said to Kennedy. “I didn’t know you werecoming…wait, why are you in my house?”
“I had no idea this was your place. I’m here to take picturesfor a listing.” She looked over at her broken camera.
Oh. Oh! Bill had said he’d send someone over. Inever asked him for details because I assumed it would be during the day when Iwasn’t home. Not that I was supposed to be home now either.
Kennedy tried to stand up and winced. “Ow. I think I may havetwisted my ankle.”
More like I had twisted it when I pulled her to the ground. She’doffered to get me ice a second ago when she was the one that was actually hurt.“Don’t move. We need to get your ankle elevated before it starts to swell. Penny,get me some ice from the freezer.” I bent down and lifted Kennedy into my arms.
She inhaled sharply. And I wasn’t sure if it was because herankle hurt or because for just a second she felt like she’d been transportedback 16 years too.
She smelled like her mother’s cooking. Mrs. Alcaraz’s famousempanadas. She smelled just like Brooklyn had when she’d lived with her uncleand then with the Alcaraz’s. And in the weirdest way, it smelled like home.
I held her like that in the kitchen for a beat too long.
She looked up at me, her eyes no longer filled with unshedtears. “Um…you can put me down now,” she said with a smile.
“Right.” I carried her into the family room and laid her downon my couch. I grabbed a few pillows to prop her ankle up. And then I unzippedher boots…boots that were perfect for Kennedy. The distressed leather was artsyand stylish on her. I let her boots fall to the ground and ran my thumb downthe inside of her ankle. “Does that hurt?”
She nodded.
For a few seconds we just stared at each other. The scent ofher skin made me feel at ease for the first time in years. Did she feel it too?
“Here’s some ice,” Penny said, rushing into the room. “I’m sosorry I threatened to stab you in the face. I thought you were someone else.” Shefinished wrapping a towel around the ice pack and gently placed it on Kennedy’sankle, somehow knowing exactly what to do. I guess it was the mother in her.
Kennedy reached down to hold the ice in place. “Who did youthink I was?”
“A murderer,” Penny said at the same time I said, “no one.”
Kennedy glanced back and forth between us. “I’m so sorry. Ihaven’t even introduced myself to your wife. I’m Kennedy.” She held her free handout to Penny.
Penny looked at me and laughed. “Matt’s not
