Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird #12)(54)

The car slowed and stopped several feet short of Nathan in the middle of the road.

The driver sat behind the wheel, but with the lights bright on his face, he couldn’t see. He guessed the person was debating getting out.

Just a call, he thought. One call. I don’t even have to get in.

The driver got out, and Nathan internally groaned the moment he recognized her.

She braced against the rain with her hand hovering over her eyes. “What are you doing out here?” Erica Lee asked him.





Caught




Sang

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I stumbled over what to talk with Wil about. Then I noticed the boxes he’d finished putting on the shelf. “How...did you get the job here?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “This one? Why? Are you interested in working here?”

“Maybe,” I said but then nodded. I needed something to talk about to take up time. I forced myself to make conversation. “What’s it like? Is your boss nice?”

He shrugged. “I guess so. Nicer than my old one.” He paused. “Didn’t you work at that diner?”

“How’d you know?”

“Someone mentioned it,” he said. “I thought about applying there. But to be honest, I don’t know how good I’d be at any of it. I can’t hold a tray loaded with plates to save my life.”

“Me, either,” I said, pretty sure that was true at least. I hadn’t dared tried to wait tables. “I’m usually at the register. Sometimes I seat people if it’s crowded.”

“That’s something I could do,” he said. He smirked a little. “Maybe we could switch for a bit. See how we like the jobs we’re doing.”

His kind words eased my nerves a little and allowed me to smile. I clutched the basket. “Yeah. Loading boxes onto shelves seems easy enough.”

“Yeah, they hire everyone,” he said.

I realized it might have sounded rude and then waved my free hand at him. “Oh no, I didn’t mean...” I wasn’t sure how to word it.

“No, it’s true. This isn’t something I’m doing forever. It’s just closer to everything I need to be near right now.”

“For finishing up school?”

“I guess,” he said. “Something like that.”

There was a pause in the conversation, a little too long, where I knew I should have let him get back to work. The aisle was empty for now, but on occasion, someone with a cart or an employee walked by the ends. I tried to ignore it and drum up something else to talk to him about.

I fiddled with the handle on my basket.

“Are you really okay?” he asked. “You look...stressed.”

Maybe I should tell him. With time passing and the guys not showing up, I worried about what was going on. Did the message not get through? Maybe I should see if he could drive me somewhere else. Just in case...Getting to the diner, I’d be able to reach out to someone.

And where was North? How long had he planned to be in the back of that truck? What if the woman couldn’t reach him? If he thought he could get back to the Jeep because I was waiting there, then he could run into Volto. The whole situation was problematic.

I was about to turn away from Wil, second guessing asking him anything, when he looked closely at my clothes and then at my face. “Sang. If you're in some kind of trouble...”

I shook my head. “No, no, I...”

“It’s okay,” Wil said. His face was calm and he was smiling gently. “Look, I’ve got a few personal things, too.” He paused and then look up and down the aisle, but it was empty for the moment. “Remember when I told you about not being in class? A special school program giving me a half day?”

I nodded. A short time ago, Mr. Blackbourne and others were working with a Mr. Toma to look in on Wil. When I found him, he gave me his number to check up on him. Only I waited for Mr. Blackbourne and the others to suggest I call. They hadn’t done so yet. Mr. Blackbourne seemed wary of him for some reason.

“Well, I found out it isn’t exactly a program. Mr. Hendricks just dropped the classes. He said he’d just pass me for doing certain things for him.”

I gasped, not totally surprised to hear this but I’d suspected such things.

“Yeah,” he said. He reached around, rubbing at the back of his neck. “It’s complicated. Not to mention I haven’t been home in weeks. A bit of a long story...”

I didn’t mean to pry, but getting wrapped up in talking to him had distracted me from waiting for Volto. “Why not go home?”

“My sister spent all her time taking care of me. I wanted her to know I’d be okay without her. I don’t need a replacement mother.” He made a half grin and shook his head. “Look, I’m just saying this because...you can trust me. If things aren’t okay, you can tell me.”

I considered what he was saying. If he knew what I was going through, not only at home, but with the boys, I didn’t know if he’d believe me. It was farfetched. But I didn’t want to discourage him from sharing with me.

I was going to respond when a hand clamped down on my shoulder. It wasn't Wil's.

It was someone behind me.