Lessons Learned, Healing Hearts

Family Is Family (Chapter 14)

"Welcome back. Let me show you around a bit more since I didn't earlier," Marlow offered, stepping through the front door and kicking off her runners.

"You don't need to," Piero confessed with a sheepish smile, following behind her. "I kind of looked around while you were busy upstairs getting dressed."

"You were snooping?"

"Uh, yah... Was that okay?"

Marlow tossed him a playful glance, a smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth, then motioned for Piero to take a seat on the couch. She crossed to the window and pulled open the living room curtains, letting sunlight spill across the floor.

"Do you live with your parents?" he asked.

"No."

Her answer came too quickly. She didn't turn, instead, she kept adjusting the curtain longer than needed.

Piero hesitated. "Do they at least live close by?"

This time, a longer pause followed. Her shoulders stiffened, barely, but enough that Piero noticed. When she finally turned around, her expression had shifted. She appeared guarded.

"No," the word was quieter now.

Her flat "no" hung between them—fragile, final.

Joining him on the couch, she left a cushion of space between them. Not far, not cold, but distant enough that something shifted in the ease of their morning. Resting his arm along the back of the couch, Piero gave her shoulder a light squeeze.

"I'm sorry if talking about your family makes you uncomfortable," he said, gently.

"There's no need to be sorry. It's fine," she replied, her voice belonging to an old part of herself—one buried under years of practiced detachment. "It was just my mom and me when I was growing up."

"Did you get to see your dad at all?"

"No." This time, the word was firm. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "He made bad choices and ended up in jail."

Piero blinked, surprised by how so matter-of-fact it sounded.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Marlow waved away his apology, but Piero still noticed that her eyes didn't quite meet his. Something invisible weighed a little heavier in the air, not overwhelming, but there.

He started to say something, but then Marlow shifted. She tucked one leg under her butt, brushed a hand through her hair and scooted closer. Not too close, but enough to cross the unintentional invisible space that had briefly opened between them.

"Before I forget," she said, offering a small smile. "I wanted to thank you for coming running with me. It was fun."

Piero's brow dipped slightly at the abrupt shift, but he understood; Marlow carried a quiet ache she wasn't ready to divulge.

"My pleasure," he said.

"Do you know what was so nice about it?" she asked, her eyes brighter now, as if the last few minutes hadn't happened.

"Yes... me!"

"No." She giggled, tapping his knee.

"What, do you mean, no?" Piero protested, giving her an exaggerated pout.

Marlow chuckled. "I mean, yes, but no. I really appreciated how you kept pace with me instead of me having to run like the roadrunner to keep up with you."

"You're welcome," he said, relaxing into the change of subject. However, a hint of curiosity lingered in his mind.

Marlow leaned her head briefly against the couch cushion and let out a small sigh, closing her eyes.