Legend steps closer, but not too close. He learned something last night. Or Sophie taught him. Maybe both.
“If you need something, you call Sophie. Or me.”
I almost say I don’t have your number.
Then I remember I barely have a working phone.
He must see the thought on my face because he adds, “We’ll get you a clean phone.”
“I can’t afford…”
He gives me a look.
I stop.
Then I try again, because stopping feels too much like surrender. “I don’t want charity.”
His expression changes.
Not annoyance.
Recognition.
“I don’t give charity,” he says. “I handle family business.”
My breath catches.
Family.
The word stands between us, too new and too old.
“We don’t know if I’m family,” I whisper.
Legend’s jaw flexes. “We know enough for today.”
That is all he gives me.
It’s also more than I had yesterday.
August tugs my hand. “Is he my uncle?”
The room freezes.
Every single person.
Legend looks like someone shot him and forgot to tell his body to fall.
Sophie’s eyes go soft.
Derby suddenly finds the floor very interesting.
I kneel in front of August, my hands on his shoulders. “We don’t know yet, baby.”
“But maybe?”
“Yes. Maybe.”
August looks at Legend with open curiosity. “Do you have dinosaurs?”