While We're Far Apart Read Free Page A

luncheon in the backyard, but Penny had been too heartsick to eat any cake. Instead, she had tucked her piece of cake beneath her pillow that night because it was supposed to make you dream of the man you would marry. And she had dreamed of Eddie, just as she had on so many other nights. But she had thrown the smashed cake into the garbage the next morning, convinced that her dream could never come true.
    And now it might.
    Eddie needed her help. Penny would be the new Mrs. Edward Shaffer. Of course, she would have to wait until the war ended and he came home again. But she would write long letters to him every single day while he was away, telling him news from home, and by the time the war was over, his apartment would be her home and she already would be like a mother to his two children.
    Excitement made her cheeks feel warm as she sat beside him on the back porch, watching him consider her plan. If he agreed, she just might run around the yard for joy the way Woofer did when she chased her ball.
    “It’s very nice of you to offer,” Eddie said. “I’ll go inside and talk to Ma about it.”
    Penny’s hand slid off his as he rose to his feet. “Tell your mother that it’s really okay if she can’t take the kids. Tell her I’ll be happy to watch them.”
    He nodded and disappeared inside where his mother had gone after storming off. To be honest, Penny didn’t know how those two kids would ever fit into Mrs. Shaffer’s house unless she got rid of the stuff piled everywhere. Penny had never looked inside the two bedrooms, but if they were anything like the front rooms, there wouldn’t even be a place for those two kids to sit down, much less go to sleep. Every square inch of space in the living room and kitchen and eating area was jam-packed with towering stacks of newspapers and old magazines and cardboard boxes full of worn-out clothing, leaving only a narrow pathway to walk between. Penny worried sometimes that Mrs. –Shaffer’s half of the duplex would catch on fire and she and her parents would burn to death, too, living on the other side the way they did. Good thing her parents didn’t know what Mrs. Shaffer’s half looked like. They worried enough as it was.
    The screen door slapped shut as Eddie went inside, leaving Penny alone with the two kids. They were a lot quieter than most kids were, and she wasn’t very good at conversation.
    “Hey, do you guys like ice cream?” she finally said. “Sometimes the truck comes around on Sunday afternoon. If your father says it’s okay, I’ll buy you some. Or maybe we could walk to the corner store and get some. I’ll treat. Would you like that?”
    The girl shook her head and said, “No, thank you.” She had hair just like Eddie’s, all thick and blond and curly. The boy didn’t seem to hear Penny as he continued to stare at the back door, where his grandmother and now his father had disappeared. The kid stood so still that he could have been sleeping with his eyes open.
    “What’s your very favorite kind of treat?” Penny asked. “I’ll bet it’s chocolate ice cream, right? Most people say that’s their favorite, but I just love a grape Popsicle, don’t you? But I’ll let you get whatever kind you want – ”
    “No, thank you,” Esther said again.
    Penny could have kicked herself for getting off on the wrong foot with Eddie’s kids. Sometimes she tried too hard and ended up ruining things for herself. Her mother always said she didn’t have the good sense that God gave a green bean. Thankfully, the back door opened again and Eddie came out, his face creased in a frown.
    “Can we go home now, Daddy?” Esther asked. She was twelve. The boy was named Aaron Peter but they called him Peter. He was nine. Penny knew everything about them because Mrs. Shaffer had told her every single detail of their lives since the day they’d been born.
    “We’ll go home in a minute, doll,” Eddie replied. “Listen, Penny . . . I think Ma is going to