Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(108)

“Why don’t you go look for the type of flowers you think would work? I want to go talk to the manager to make sure they can deliver by tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She took a few steps then she turned around to watch him walk away. He took a few more steps then he glanced back at her. Their eyes met and they both smiled. Warmth and something wonderful filled Fredericka’s chest.

Then embarrassed, she went to look for the right flowers. She’d just turned down an aisle when she heard someone, a female someone call out, “Brandon, is that you?”

Shifting to where she could peer through the pansies, and not be seen spying, she saw a woman walk up to Brandon. She looked around thirty and wore her light blond hair in a ponytail.

“Katie,” Brandon said.

The first thing Fredericka noted was that he didn’t turn his scarred side of his face away from the woman. The second thing she noticed was how Brandon glanced back to see if she was still there.

“Yeah,” Brandon said, and again looked to where she’d been standing a few seconds earlier.

“I got your call.” She gave him a quick hug.

A crazy thought hit. Was this woman his girlfriend? She looked a little old for him, but maybe he liked older women.

“Sorry, I was out of town Thursday and Friday. Did you need anything?” She frowned. “Oh, my. Do we know anything else?”

Anything else about what?

“No. Still nothing. The sheriff came by, but had nothing new.”

Curiosity piqued and she tilted her head to make sure not to miss anything.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said.

Sorry about what?

“Yeah.” Brandon gave the aisle another glance. “The reason I called is that I … hired one of your students and I just … well, I kind of wanted a character witness.”

Student? Was he talking about her? Fredericka felt her shoulders tighten when she realized she hadn’t told Brandon what school she attended, but her address had listed the school. He must have assumed she went to Fallen High School.

“A Ricka Lakota,” Brandon said.

Air hitched in Fredericka’s throat. She shouldn’t blame him for wanting to check her out before hiring her, but oddly it felt like an insult. Hadn’t she been judged enough in life?

“I don’t have a student by that name,” the woman said.

“She’s a senior,” Brandon replied.

“Sorry.” Katie shook her head.

“Is there another school around here?” he asked.

“Parker High, but it’s about twenty-five miles away. Oh, wait.” The woman made a face. “There that’s school for troubled kids. Shadow something? You don’t think she’s from there, do you? I mean, I’ve seen a few of those kids around town, and let’s just say they make me nervous.”

Trepidation filled Fredericka’s stomach.

“I’m sure I just misunderstood,” Brandon said, but something in his voice told her he knew he hadn’t.

And what was he planning on doing about it? Dread started unraveling the newfound happiness she’d found these last few hours.

*

“Did you find the right flowers?” Brandon asked as he came and stood beside her.

“Yeah, I think these yellow ones and those red ones. They’ll die if we get a freeze, but how often does it freeze here?”

“Not that often,” he said. “You want to go check out the paint?”

“Yeah.” She looked at him, still giving her the unscarred side of his face, when he hadn’t felt compelled to hide from Katie. And she heard it in his tone, that slight difference as if he no longer trusted her.

That hurt.

But it shouldn’t, she told herself. She’d been judged all her life. Just not from the human world. Why would they be any different?

They selected the paint, bought some tools to get ready to paint, paid for everything, and set up the delivery for the next day. Brandon hardly spoke to her. And she noted that he never hid his scars from the salesclerk.

With the small bag containing the wire brush and scraper in his hands, and obviously with Katie’s warning in his head, Brandon led the way out of the store.

While unstrapping the helmets, he asked, “Do you take art in school?”

Fredericka tensed. “Why don’t you just ask the question, instead of dancing around it?”

He looked up, forgetting for one second about his scars, and then shifted. “Ask what question?”

She stiffened her shoulders and decided to just put it out there. “I heard what that woman, Katie, said to you.”

He blinked, looking a little confused, but not at all embarrassed. “How could you have heard, you weren’t around.”

“I don’t know, maybe your voices carried, the point is that I heard it.”

He stood there for several seconds just staring. “Okay.” After a few more long seconds he asked, “What school do you go to?”

She lifted her chin, refusing to appear ashamed. “Shadow Falls Camp. And for the record I never kept that from you. On the contract, it’s listed along with my address. It’s not my fault that you assumed incorrectly. And it’s not my fault that some people like to judge others before knowing the facts.”

His eyes tightened. “I’m assuming you are talking about the comment Katie made about the school.”