Sweet Liar (Candy #2)(57)

I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t friendly. It felt kind of threatening, actually.”

He shrugged. “You need to lighten up. I’ll see you later.”

As Drew walked away, I slammed my locker closed, hoping I hadn’t just ruined my chances for talking to my father again.





It was dark when I got to the old part of the building where they used to have auto shop class. The heavy metal door slammed closed behind me, echoing throughout the large space. Minimal light filtered in from the small square windows in the garage door. The long green sedan looked much the same as last time I saw it. It didn’t appear as if Jonah had been working on it, and it didn’t look like he was here now.

Swallowing my disappointment, I turned to go.

“You lied to me.”

My body tensed as I looked in the direction of Jonah’s voice. He walked toward me from a darkened corner, where he must have been standing the whole time.

“What?” I asked.

He stopped a few feet away from me with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “There was no misunderstanding. You looked like you wanted to jump out of your skin when Drew touched you.”

I swallowed hard, hating that he was right and knowing I had to lie again. “I didn’t want you to hit him. People were watching. You could have gotten in trouble.”

He tilted his head. “You didn’t care who was watching. You just didn’t want me to hurt Drew. Why?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “Because it was no big deal. You overreacted.”

Jonah shook his head, laughing bitterly. “I overreacted. Right. That’s why you looked like you would have hit him yourself if I didn’t beat you to it. What did he want, Candy? What’s he holding over you?”

I squeezed my eyes closed, knowing I had to change the subject because he was far too perceptive. “Jonah, please. This isn’t why I wanted to talk to you today.”

When I looked at him again, the stubborn glint in his eye was slowly fading.

“I know what you want to talk about,” he said. “Sorry I didn’t tell you yesterday. Things got kind of hectic, but you don’t have to worry about my father anymore. I told him you didn’t find anything out at your dinner and that you don’t want any part of his deal anymore.”

I studied him. “He accepted that?”

Jonah nodded, and I could tell he believed it. It made me want to believe it too. But he was still looking at me hard because he hadn’t forgotten about Drew.

“You stopped working on the car,” I blurted, wanting to distract him.

“You stopped cooking.”

I bit my lip. He was right. We’d both abandoned our hobbies. But Jonah hadn’t abandoned me. He still came to my rescue today, even though I just tried to convince him otherwise.

“There was another thing I wanted to talk to you about.” I cleared my throat. “I want to talk to my father again. Could you help me with that?”

His gaze sharpened, and the hesitance I saw there wasn’t encouraging. “I don’t think they’ll allow it. It was unusual the first time.”

“Could you at least talk to your father for me? If you’re not going to let me see him, you have to let me talk to him sometimes. You can’t completely cut him out of my life.”

Jonah’s face became pinched. The fact that he couldn’t do what I was asking obviously upset him. “Candy . . .”

“You know what that’s like, don’t you? To have a parent disappear from your life? It’s nearly Christmas. Could I talk to him on Christmas Day since I’m spending the holiday alone?”

The tears that sprang to my eyes caught me off guard. The next moment, Jonah’s arms were around me, pulling me close.

He whispered in my ear, running his hand up and down my back. “Don’t cry. I’ll see what I can do. Okay?”

I nodded against him, wanting the comfort of his arms as I settled against his chest.

“I’d spend Christmas with you if I thought you wanted me to.”

It was a kind offer, and so different from the one Drew made. “Aren’t you spending it with your father?”

He nodded.

“That’s where you should be, then. With your family.”

“Say the word, and I’ll be with you.”

He was torturing me and making me cry again. I was so tempted to say the words he was looking for, or anything else that could erase the past few weeks and let me spend the holiday with him. But it wasn’t so simple, and he knew that too.

“You don’t have to be alone. Maybe you could go to Theo’s or Lea’s.” He made the suggestion once it was obvious I wouldn’t ask him.

“Maybe,” I replied because I did intend to see Theo over the holiday. I just didn’t know when yet. Also, I didn’t want Jonah to feel badly for me or to blame himself for my tears.

After a while, I reluctantly withdrew from his arms and wiped at my cheeks with the back of my hand. We were both quiet and sullen as we left auto shop with neither of us having eaten any lunch.

***





That evening after I’d had dinner, I stared at my mother’s recipe book. She had several recipes for Christmas cookies, and to my surprise, I was toying with making some. Today had been the last day of school, and now a long Christmas vacation stretched in front of me. My only definitive plan was to visit Theo before he left for California with his family, and I thought I could bring over some homemade cookies since he was eating again.