Saint Sloan (Saint Sloan #1)(33)

Then again, if she listened to one theory, no one was sending them to her. She’d made it all up in her crazy little mind. That was one theory she couldn’t get behind. She’d seen the flowers, hadn’t she? Smelled them. Read the notes. Talked to the man who’d delivered them — though he had acted funny. Could her mind have thought of something so elaborate? Had she been that traumatized by what Boyd had done to her? Or had her brains been scrambled so badly after she whacked her head?

Her head ached just thinking about it. Her first instinct was to grab some medicine from her backpack. Then she remembered how tired she’d been after taking it and how fuzzy it had made her eyes. She pulled into the parking lot and drove past all the other cars to her spot in the far back corner. It was stupid. They were over-the-counter pills, nothing to hurt her. Her eyes had been fuzzy because she’d been tired. Nothing else. Certainly not the pills.

Then again, maybe her liver would appreciate it if she gave it a rest and didn’t take headache medicine at the first sign of pain. At least see if it would go away on its own.

Sloan grabbed her bag and water bottle before getting out of the car. Most everyone else had made their way up the hill to the school. A few stragglers and latecomers mingled in the parking lot at ten till the bell. She had become one of the latecomers this week. It wasn’t like her. When she’d ridden with Mackenzie, they’d always been early. A fact she appreciated when she walked past her best friend’s car. Always there, always dependable. Maybe Mackenzie would know what to do about Ray and Aaron. Maybe she’d have a second or two to talk to her about it before Ray joined them for lunch, if Ray even ate with them today. He seemed pretty irritated last night.

With everything rolling in her mind, she walked in a daze to her locker. On autopilot, she pulled out her books and paper she’d need for the next few classes like normal. She didn’t see Darcy nor did she care where she was. She felt defeated and just wanted to get through the day without anything happening.

Was that too much to ask?

Sloan made it to Biology without looking one person in the eye. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed like she’d been the first day she’d come back with the huge, hideous scar on her cheek. This was more of a not-paying-attention-to-anyone thing.

If Bigfoot had walked by, Sloan probably wouldn’t have noticed.

All she wanted was her seat in Biology, her water, and her headache medicine, and everything would be right in the world — for the next hour anyway.

Darcy Perry greeted her at the door by nearly running into her. “Watch it, Sloan!” she yelled, wiping some water she spilled on herself off.

It woke Sloan from her autopilot. She blinked a few times and saw the damage she’d done. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you.”

“Obviously.” Darcy shook water from her hands. “Thinking much?”

“Yeah. Just… I’m sorry.” She sidestepped and got around Darcy and into the room where everyone sat, staring at her.

To go from not paying attention to anyone to seeing everyone was jarring. She could feel her cheeks getting very red, and she walked with her head down as fast as she could to her seat. When she got there, she threw her bag down and hid behind her hair.

Good glory. What a day.

“Are you okay?” Ray asked behind her, making her jump.

“Yeah. Just been a long morning.” Sloan swiveled in her seat to see him. Ray’s baby blues popped, thanks to a short-sleeved shirt the same color. His blond hair looked messier than usual, and he had on a wooden cross necklace she’d never seen on him before. “I like it.” She pointed to the cross.

He took it and examined it. “I bought it Sunday. You know… after.”

After he got saved. She remembered. It had been a big week for him too. “Know when you’re getting baptized?”

He shook his head. “Haven’t talked to the preacher. Soon, you think?”

“Probably. You might want to wait until it warms up. The creek gets cold during the winter.”

“Said the girl who got baptized in August.” He grinned, making her feel better. He didn’t look as hurt as she figured he would be. That was good. She didn’t think she could handle it if he hated her. She did care for him, very much. He was one of her best friends.

“Just worked out that way. But I have to say, the water was pretty warm. Felt good when I got dunked.”

He laughed. “Divine intervention.”

“Maybe.” She smiled back. He didn’t seem too upset with her. A big contrast from last night. Maybe he’d gotten over it.

He chuckled and leaned his head closer to hers, his elbows rested on the desk. Suddenly, he got very serious. She didn’t like it. “Aaron’s going to go to the flower shop this morning to see who ordered the roses sent to you. That’ll help us a lot.”

It made her sick to think about it. Part of her wanted to know, and part of her was scared to death to find out. It made it that much more real.

“Did you get any roses today?”

“Not yet.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“I guess.” Was it? Or did it mean he just had something different planned for her today?

Ray did something she never expected. He took her hand and rubbed his fingers over her knuckles. Her body froze and goose bumps formed where his fingers traveled. It felt nice. Loving. Scary as all get out. “It’s going to be okay, you know. I promise. We’ll figure this out.”