Meet Me Halfway(26)

Nausea coiled in my stomach. I’d slowly been sewing up all the holes Aaron had carved into Jamie’s heart, soothing his stress and avoiding things that set him off, but my irresponsibility with my reaction to Garrett had ripped it all open again.

I didn’t blame Garrett; it wasn’t his fault his size and general vibe were intimidating. The only person who deserved the blame was Aaron.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right, but he wasn’t being malicious. He and Sarah were just talking and being neighborly. It’s always good to get to know your neighbors in case of an emergency.”

He finally turned, making eye contact with me for a moment through the mirror. “We have each other for that, and Layla.”

I sighed, wishing I wasn’t driving and could sit next to him and force him to give me a hug. “We can’t be scared of every man who talks to us, bud. That’s not how I want to live, and that’s not how I want you to live. We deserve more than that, don’t you think?”

He huffed a heavy breath, and his voice came out sharp and angry, “I wasn’t scared of him. I just didn’t like him looking at you like that.”

Deciding not to feed the flames, I raised my invisible flag. “The coolest thing about choices, bud, is they’re yours. You don’t have to like anyone if you don’t want to. You should never be rude without cause, but there is nothing that says you have to like Mr. Garrett.”

“I just don’t think you should like him.”

I pushed down a laugh. I honestly had no idea how I felt about our burly, hot-to-cold neighbor.





After Jamie had sprinted into my parents’ house with a shouted “Goodbye!” I’d stood outside for a few minutes, chatting with my mom. She’d scheduled several things for them to do over the weekend, and I was thrilled. A solid distraction was exactly what he needed.

I’d be swinging by to see him before working tonight, and I planned on waking up early so I could see him tomorrow morning before I did my payroll shift, but other than that, he’d be with my parents the entire weekend.

I had no idea how we ever would’ve made it without them, how any single mother, teenage or not, could ever make it without some sort of help. Single parents were expected to work full time yet stay home with our kids, be educated yet not abuse federal assistance, and somehow afford rent, bills, food, clothes, and gas by ourselves.

And heaven forbid we ever need to hold up a register line to pull out a WIC check.

I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, I never would’ve brought Jamie and me to the comfortable point we were at if my parents hadn’t been available to watch him while I worked, and if I hadn’t been willing to accept that help. Not everyone in my situation was that lucky.

I nodded, excited for the things Jamie would get to do with them. He’d have a blast, and my mom was always good about taking lots of pictures when they did stuff without me.

“All right, I’m going to head out, but I’m only required to shadow a guard for six hours, so I’ll have time to swing by this evening. And tomorrow morning I’ll be here bright and early to make breakfast for everyone.”

“I can’t promise we’ll be up.”

I rolled my eyes. She and my dad were the definition of morning people. They’d absolutely be up. Jamie, on the other hand, I’d have to hit with a pillow.





Walking onto the community college campus was a crazy feeling. I hadn’t stepped foot on it since I graduated, and now here I was being trusted to guard it. I wasn’t necessarily scared of something actually happening, it was more of a fear of disappointing people.

When people put their faith in me, I wanted to show them they were right to. I was motivated and determined, and when I set a goal, I accomplished it. But I didn’t feel any of that confidence with this job, and that’s what stressed me the most.

Reaching for the handle to the building, I yanked. No go. I pushed. No go. Confused, I stood there frowning hard enough to create new wrinkles before I stomped around the building looking for another entrance. Nothing.

I didn’t have the guard office’s number, just Jim’s cell. Rob had given me his, too, but I’d flipped off the email and refused to save it like the petty bitch I was.

Stepping back up to the door, I gave three hard raps on the glass pane and looked around, fidgeting. After what seemed like ten minutes and several more knocks, the door finally flew open.

The man standing on the other side was dressed identical to me, but he definitely pulled it off better. He gave off a Hollywood bootcamp sergeant vibe, except for the ten-watt smile he was currently giving me.

“You must be Madison. I hope you haven’t been standing here long. I’ve been sitting in the office waiting for you to give me a call that you’d arrived.” He stepped to the side to let me pass.

“No, sir, just a few minutes. I don’t actually have the office number, so I knocked a bunch.” I offered a small laugh, “I’ll happily take that number now though.”

It didn’t take long for me to begin to feel more comfortable with the job. My trainer seemed to understand my apprehension and knew what to say or do to show me how I could accomplish a task.

My primary job would be to drive the perimeter of the campus in the company suburban and then park and begin the on-foot patrol. He walked me through each building, showing me where lights were and explaining what all I’d need to check. Once that was all done, I was free to sit in the office until the next round of surveillance was due.