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Darryl followed Maisie and A outside the car, her arms crossed, her lips in a thin line “Give ht?” he asked her cousins

Clara frowned at Penelope then nodded at Darryl “Yeah, all right” She moved behind him to join her sisters

Darryl slowly lowered a laughing Penelope down, then helped her into the back seat of the car He squatted next to the open door and waited for her to acknowledge hi “Are you planning on tucking me into bed too, Santa?” she asked playfully “Want irl this Christmas?”

Did he ever

Also, not the right tihts

He tucked her hair behind her ear, staring into the sweetness of her soul For all the ti sure everything was perfect, he realized that none of it really ht?” he asked

“I danced” She smiled “And…maybe…had a shot or two”

She’d run froood at dodging things that left her exposed For some reason, he couldn’t let her do that anyaze “What happened that made you take that first shot?”

She jerked her chin away

“Penelope” He waited for aher run Not anymore “What happened?”

Her eyes welled and her chin quivered “I called home”

Those three words told hi he needed to know The pain ritten all over her face The rejection The loneliness So terrible had happened on the phone call, and he didn’t doubt that so had to do with her shitty parents “Penelope,” he said softly “Talk to me Please”

“I can’t” She shut her eyes, but not before a tear escaped down her cheek “I don’t want to think about this I just want to go back to my cousins’ house”

That he understood He’d dealt with rejection for years as a kid when his father came back And the loneliness when his mother passed away and his father still never made contact Until Darryl realized he was better without him Sometimes the pain was too hard to deal with, especially when you couldn’t control how others acted Sometimes you just had to deal with the shit that life threw at you the best you kne And that’s what she had been doing for the last ten years—surviving But Darryl knew a better way