Page 35 of Passion in Bloom

A half hour later, I saw Fergus back to the bank and texted Janelle. She wasn’t in, already on her lunch break in her office. She rolled her eyes at me through the window, pointing at her phone and indicating she was on a call she couldn’t get out of.

Heather: Running out for lunch. Be back soon.

She was that chill of a boss that the text would be sufficient.

I hurried outside, not too distracted to slack in keeping an eye out for David hiding in town. When I didn’t see him, I hurried toward my car.

The sounds of someone retching made me slow to a stop.

I turned, finding Navaeh in the alley behind the bank.

Now what? Seriously?

I cringed, impatient to get to Roarke, but I couldn’t walk away from someone so obviously in pain. She hadn’t given me any sign that she’d want me to come near. Every time I tried to look out for her, she snapped at me like a cornered, feral cat.

But I didn’t have it in me to just walk away and ignore the fact she was leaning against a dumpster and puking.

“Nevaeh?”

She groaned, hearing me coming near.

“I won’t ask something stupid like if you’re okay...”

She winced. “Then do me one better and fuck off.”

You never stop. Never tone it down. I wanted my privacy too, but I didn’t lash out from the get-go like this. I hated that I could see myself in her. That we had this similarity of wanting to be left to ourselves. While I was like this to maintain my independence because it was the only way to survive, I had no clue what prompted her to be this bristly yet at other times eager to beg for help.

“Come on, Nevaeh. What’s going on?”

She hunched her shoulders as she focused on breathing. “Nothing. Nothing that’d be any of your business.”

Ouch.

It was like looking into a mirror, hearing a line I used so often myself.

With her so clearly sick and weak, though, I wondered what it would take for her to let someone in before it was too late.

Not now. Not here.

“Leave me alone,” she muttered, turning to avoid all eye contact.

I exhaled a long breath and did as she wished.

I left, but with the intention of going to talk to Roarke, I would be mentioning her sick state to him as well.

It was ironic, insisting on not leaving her alone like that, but I realized it didn’t matter. If she didn’t want me interfering in her life when something was clearly wrong, then she could hate me later.

I’d never live with myself or handle the guilt if I didn’t speak up somehow.

As I walked to my car, though, I dreaded the idea that this was how Roarke might feel about me and my stubbornness for him to butt out of my life.