River's End (River's End Series, #1)(47)

Ian’s body stiffened. “You’re going to just let her stay here?”

“I told you I checked the trailer. Chance is gone. There’s nothing in there. There were only her toiletries and a few boxes of food. She hasn’t been eating well. There wasn’t anything hidden in there. She’s as stranded as a newborn now. There’s no choice, Ian. Short of dropping her in the middle of the street somewhere.”

Ian sighed and Shane groaned. “This is a real shit storm situation. Now Joey’s gone from infatuated to hating her. Ben’s obviously got a raging crush, and here she sits.”

“Do you really think she can’t read?”

“I doubt she’d fake that,” Jack said dryly.

“I don’t like it. Not one bit. Chance was bad enough. But now his sister? What do you suppose she’s good for? Beyond doing, Joe, what good is she to us?”

Jack looked at his brothers. “Joey was there too. He did it as much as she did. Don’t for a second think I blame her without blaming Joey.”

Ian shifted under Jack’s gaze. “Why are you so calm about this? You hated her more than anyone else.”

“No. I just didn’t trust her before. Now, I know for a fact she isn’t lying.”

“She’s trouble, Jack, pure trouble.”

“I knew that the first time I laid eyes on her; now you finally believe me?” Jack said as he got up and headed out to work. There were still chores to be done. Erin Poletti could wait until this evening for him to deal with. It wasn’t like she could go anywhere.

****

The knock at the door woke Erin from her sleep. She finally cried herself out and fell asleep just to stop the aching burn of her swollen eyes. She was about to roll over and ignore whatever angry man was waiting for her reply when Ian yelled, “Someone’s on the phone for you.”

Sitting up quickly, Erin wiped her eyes as she pushed the blanket off. She stumbled to the door and opened it. Thanking Ian as she followed him to the house, he walked several paces in front of her, most likely to avoid having to talk to her.

She entered the house and found Charlie at the table, writing, while Ben was lying on the couch, watching TV. She spotted the cordless phone lying next to the kitchen sink. Puzzled, she picked it up.

She was delighted when she heard who was calling. She’d gotten a job! She nearly started doing somersaults before she hung up the phone. Of course, she knew why she’d been hired, and it wasn’t for her lame application. She was only glad she was hired. A coffee barista. She’d done it before and could get through it. She could count change and make the coffee. She could also wear the bikini that was required in this particular coffee establishment. So what? It wasn’t that big of a deal to her, and the tips would hopefully be good, or at least, decent. Then her heart dropped. She had no vehicle to drive the eleven-mile distance from the ranch to where the stand was located, just off the main highway.

She was hanging the phone up on the cradle when Jack came walking in from the utility room. She stopped short and didn’t realize he was inside. He stopped short too.

They stared at each other. What now? She didn’t know. She had no idea what to do now, or say, or how to act. His eyes followed her hands hanging up the phone.

“You don’t have a phone, do you? I assumed all this time you used a cell phone.”

She shook her head no.

He scoffed as he passed around her. “If I needed proof of your situation, this would be it. What person in this day and age goes over a month without speaking on the phone?”

She didn’t answer since she wasn’t sure what to say. She rarely made friends in her attempts to conceal her illiteracy. She spent all her time pushing everyone away. That was why, when her mother died and she was stuck with Brian, there was nowhere else for her to go. She’d spent so long hiding her shameful secret that she’d never cultivated the normal friendships and acquaintances that most people did.

He nodded towards the phone. “Is the news good enough to ask if your brother was found?”

“No. I-I got one of the jobs I applied for.”

He turned to her and the surprise on his face was so obvious, she felt offended. “Where?”

“Coffee stand.”

“Oh. Those seem like a waste of money to me. But I guess they do well, even on this side of the mountain.”

“Uh, they… I mean, I can start tomorrow.”

“Good.”

“That is, if… well, if I can get a ride there.”

“Right. Yeah. What time?”

Ben’s headed popped up. “I can drive her, Dad.”

“You don’t have your license yet, Ben.”

“I have my permit. And she’s an adult.”

“She doesn’t have her license so it doesn’t count. No. One of us will take you. What time?”

“Early. Four.”

He nodded. “Fine.”

“That’s fine? Leaving here at like three-thirty?”

He shrugged. “I get up early too, Erin. Not much else we can do, is there?”

She shut her mouth. Of course, there was nothing else to do. She was stranded there. “Jack, I’m sorry. For all this. For earlier. For what this is doing to everyone. For being stuck here. For tomorrow. For Joey.”