Since She Went Away(94)

Natalie placed her hand on his shoulder as she passed by, and then she trailed down his arm and squeezed his hand. Her skin felt warm, and he didn’t even mind sharing the moment of affection in front of his mother.

His mom pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and handed Natalie a plate of food. Chicken, potatoes, a cup of hot tea. Natalie thanked her, and then they all ate together. There wasn’t much conversation. Natalie ate quickly, and between almost every mouthful she stopped to thank his mom for her hospitality. His mom brushed it off, saying it was no big deal and she was just happy to see Natalie okay.

Jared had to admit, as he watched the two of them interact, that his mom really could handle herself in a crisis. She knew just the right things to say and the right things to do when someone needed help. She might push too hard sometimes and overstep her bounds, but he was thrilled to have her here taking care of Natalie.

Natalie ate two plates of food. When they were finished, Jared cleared the table and his mom sat at her place, her eyes fixed on Natalie. Jared knew what was coming. They all did. He knew they were all so quiet during the meal because they still needed to have the larger conversation, and everyone—especially Natalie—was saving up their energy for it.

His mom didn’t hesitate. “Natalie, honey, we need to get in touch with the police. Everybody’s been looking for you.”

Jared finished what he was doing at the sink and came back to the table. Natalie sat between them, her eyes staring at the tabletop, her hands tucked into her lap. Jared wanted to reach out and take one of them, and so he did, lifting her hand in his. She looked over at him and smiled, their fingers intertwining.

“I’m afraid,” Natalie said. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“What do you mean?” Jared asked. “You can stay here as long as you want. Right, Mom?”

“It probably doesn’t work that way,” his mom said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Natalie said, looking at his mom, her voice gathering force. “I know. My mom . . . I think she’s dead. My dad . . . My grandparents are all dead too. I have an aunt, my mom’s sister, but they were never close. I don’t think she wants anything to do with me.” She looked over at Jared, looking sad and resigned. “I’m a minor. I’m only fifteen. That means foster care. I’ll get placed somewhere, maybe even back in Nebraska. I know kids that’s happened to, and it’s really shitty.”

“But we can—we must be able to do something.” He looked at Natalie and then back at his mom. She was giving him that look she always gave him when he acted naive or idealistic, a look he hated because it made him feel like a child. And by certain measures he still was. Certainly compared to Natalie, who had been through several lifetimes of experience in her fifteen years, maybe in the last couple of weeks alone. “There’s nothing?”

Natalie was shaking her head. “That’s why I came here instead of going to the police or any place else. I wanted to see you again. One more time before all this hit the fan.” She squeezed his hand again, and her eyes filled with tears. “You’ve been so good to me. I know that.”

Her words gave Jared a surge of pride. He reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“I love you,” he said. “I do.”

“I love you too,” Natalie said.

He knew it was crazy to say it and think it so quickly, but he didn’t know what the future held. Not even close. He wanted to say it. He wanted Natalie to hear it.

And so they sat like that for a long moment, holding hands and locking eyes, as though no one and nothing else in the world existed. Jared wished that moment could stretch out for eternity.





CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE


But his mom pierced the bubble.

“How did you manage to get here?” she asked. “Somebody spotted your dad in Louisville, and everybody’s been looking for him. And you. But to be honest, a lot of people thought you might be dead. It’s kind of amazing you’re not.”

“Do you think I can have more tea?” she asked.

“Sure.” His mom took her mug and filled it at the stove. She dropped a new tea bag in and brought it back. “There you go.”

“I haven’t been very warm lately.” She sipped the hot drink, her cheeks flushed. When she spoke her voice was as flat as the tabletop. “My dad killed that man in our house. Mr. Allen. I don’t know what they were fighting about. It was something to do with the work my dad was doing for him.”

His mom perked up. “Yeah, what was he doing for Mr. Allen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Was your dad following people?”

Natalie looked confused. “Following people? Like who?”

“Anyone,” his mom said. She tried to sound casual, but Jared could tell she knew more than what they’d heard in the park from Ursula. “Anyone like maybe my friend Celia.”

“Where did that come from, Mom?”

“Let her answer.”

“It’s okay, Jared.” Natalie shook her head. “I swear I never heard anything about your friend, Mrs. Barton. I got the feeling they were doing something that might have been illegal. I’m pretty sure my dad knew Mr. Allen from some time before. My dad lived here once and came back because he knew Mr. Allen. My dad wasn’t always with us when I was growing up. There were long stretches when I didn’t see him, so he could have lived anywhere.”