Chapter 43

• Idiot. You would think at his age, making fumbling mistakes wouldn’t happen. That was not the case. Bastian was right back to his teen years of thinking his cheeky grin was going to get him anything he wanted.
• Nova came back out with a broom and dustpan in her hand. Her face was flushed. He wasn’t naïve enough to think it was in a good way. He’d startled her and likely broken some sacred covenant by invading this space. He jolted and held out his hand, “let me, please.” She reluctantly released her grip on the broom. “I’m told my social etiquette is lacking,” he started to clean up the shards from the cups. “I do things impulsively without considering the consequences,” he was actually quoting his mother. She hadn’t moved and was now hugging her own waist, “like my intruding on your space down here,” he paused to look around. Just the small area he could see told him this was a treasured space, decorated over a long period of time by the keepers that lived safely within its walls. “It was a puzzle of sorts, for me to figure out. Why would you pretend that up there was your home?” He stopped and held her look, “but now I know it is your home, just not the part you revealed to me.” Spotting the dustpan, he stepped closer to get it. He couldn’t even remember when he’d last wielded a broom. Squatting down, he started to pick up the larger pieces, “there’s a very good reason, Nova,” he looked up to see she was finally seeing him again, “for my need to know that you are safe.” She blinked and then took the broom out of his hand and started to sweep the debris into the dustpan he held. “I’ll finish explaining after we clean this up.”
• Standing up, he looked at the broken shards in the faded plastic bin, the date stamp on the bottom had him glance at her again, “you drink tea from antique china cups? So much for popping to a store to buy replacements.”