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He shook his head. “You didn’t hear me. I said I might be able to talk some sense into her. If…”
“If what?”
He closed the gap between them. The streets, she noticed, were quiet. No one else around, no cars in the intersection.
“I was thinking we could be… friends.”
She felt her cheeks flush again, and the word came out before she could stop it. “What?”
“You heard me. And I can clear all this up.”
She realized he was close enough to touch her, and she took a sudden step backward. “Just stay away from me!”
She turned and ran, knowing he would follow, conscious that he knew the area better than she did, terrified that he would catch her. She could feel her heart pounding, she could hear her own frantic breaths.
Her house wasn’t far, but she wasn’t in shape. Despite the fear and rush of adrenaline, she could feel her legs getting heavier. She knew she couldn’t keep it up, and as she made a turn, she chanced a look back over her shoulder.
And realized that she was alone on the street, no one behind her at all.
Back at her house, Ro
Above her, the stars were out in full, the moon floating near the horizon. The scent of salt and brine rode on the mist from the ocean, a vaguely primordial smell. In another context, she might have found something soothing about it; right now, it felt as foreign as everything else.
First Blaze. Then Marcus. She wondered if everyone was crazy down here.
Marcus certainly was. Well, maybe not technically-he was intelligent, cu
Blaze, though… she was just…
Ro
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She really didn’t want to go inside. In her mind, she could already hear the conversation.
Hey, sweetie, how did it go?
Not too well. Blaze is completely under the spell of a manipulative sociopath and lied to the cops this morning, so I’m going to jail. And by the way? The sociopath not only decided he wants to sleep with me, but he followed me and practically scared me to death. How did your day go?
Not exactly the pleasant after-di
Which meant she would have to fake it. Sighing, she heaved herself up from the porch steps and headed for the door.
Inside, her dad sat on the couch, a dog-eared Bible open in front of him. He closed it as she walked in.
“Hey, sweetie, how did it go?”
Figured.
She forced a quick smile, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. “I didn’t have a chance to talk to her,” she said.
It was hard to act normal, but somehow she pulled it off. As soon as she got inside, her dad had encouraged her to follow him to the kitchen, where he had made another pasta dish-tomatoes, eggplant, squash, and zucchini over pe
Afterward, they settled in the living room, and sensing she wasn’t in the mood to talk, her dad read his Bible while she read A
Jonah finished building his Lego contraption and a
“Good night, sweetheart,” her dad said. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you, but I’m glad you’re here.”
She paused before crossing the room toward him. Leaning over, and for the first time in three years, she kissed him on the cheek.
“Good night, Dad.”
In the darkened bedroom, Ro
“Go ahead and cry,” she heard Jonah whisper.
Great, she thought. Just what she needed.
“I’m not crying,” she said.
“You sound like you’re crying.”
“I’m not.”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me.”
Ro
After sniffing the air, the raccoon started toward the nest, protected only by yellow caution tape.
“Oh, crap!”
She threw down her pajamas and raced out of the bedroom. As she bolted through the living room and kitchen, she vaguely heard her dad shouting, “What’s wrong?” But she was already out the door before she could answer. Cresting the dune, she began screaming as she waved her arms.
“No! Stop! Go away!!”
The raccoon raised its head, then quickly scurried away. It vanished over the dune into the saw grass.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
Turning, she saw her dad and Jonah standing on the porch.
“They didn’t put up the cage!”
13 Will
The doors of Blakelee Brakes had been open only for ten minutes when Will saw her push through the lobby doors and head directly into the service center.
Wiping his hands on a towel, he started toward her.
“Hey,” he said, smiling. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Thanks for nothing!” she snapped.
“What are you talking about?”
“I asked you to do one simple thing! Just make a call to have the cage put up! But you couldn’t even do that!”
“Wait… what’s going on?” He blinked.
“I told you I saw a raccoon! I told you a raccoon was coming around the nest!”
“Did something happen to the nest?”
“Like you even care. What? Did your volleyball game make you forget?”
“I just want to know if the nest is okay.”
She continued to glare at him. “Yeah. It’s fine. No thanks to you.” She turned on her heels and stormed toward the exit.
“Wait!” he shouted. “Hold on!”
She ignored him, leaving Will shocked and rooted in place as she pounded through the small lobby and out the front door.