Chapter 9: What He Saw

Winona's POV

On Saturday morning I woke to the smell of pancakes and the sound of Maxine laughing outside.

It was a sound I had not heard in months.

I lay on Stefan's couch under the quilt and listened to it.

Then I put on my coat and crossed the yard to the main house.

His kitchen was at the back, and he had told us to use it whenever we wanted.

Maxine sat at the table with a plate of pancakes in front of her and syrup on her chin.

Stefan stood at the stove in a gray sweatshirt, flipping one with a fork.

"Mom, he does the batter from scratch," Maxine said. "It has actual vanilla in it."

"Coach, you don't have to feed us."

"It's Saturday." He didn't turn around. "I make pancakes on Saturdays. There's been nobody to eat them for four years."

I sat down.

He put a plate in front of me, and I ate the whole thing.

When Maxine left for the shower, I carried the plates to the sink.

He came to stand beside me with a dish towel.

We washed and dried without talking.

His arm brushed mine once, then again.

It was a small warm kitchen in the gray morning, and my shoulders came down for the first time in a week.

"Winona," he said.

It was the first time he had used my name without a title.

"I need to tell you something before you hear it from someone else."

I set the plate down.

"Blaine found me in the parking lot last night," he said.

"He offered me money to stay out of it. I tore it up."

"I'm sorry."

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