Page 37 of Burning For You

“Guess he has been for a few years. I didn’t get a lot out of him. I’m still surprised he approached me, but he said he’s changed and I did see some of that.”

Ash snorted. “Where did you see him?”

“I was pumping gas. He said he noticed me at the light and then pulled in to talk. This motorcycle comes next to me and he had his helmet on and he’s just staring at me and I’m like who the hell is this.”

“Bet you didn’t show any fear at all.”

“But I felt it,” she said. “Trust me.” She shook her head. “He took his helmet off and I was stunned. I mean, he walked away from me when he graduated. Ghosted every attempt I made to reach out or stay in touch. I haven’t talked to him since the last day of school.”

Ash studied her face, but made no attempt to ask more about that part of her life. “What did you talk about this time?”

“Since he stopped me, I thought maybe he wanted to reconnect. I asked him to dinner and he offered that place. He showed up ten minutes late and I thought for sure he was going to blow me off. When he arrived he said he considered it.”

“Asshole,” he said.

“Yeah. I thought the same thing, but like I said, I think he changed. Or could be he matured. And my family doesn’t know I talked to Sean. Can I ask you to not say anything to Corbin? Not yet.”

“Sure,” he said. “As long as you’re not in trouble or something with him. If you are, I can’t keep that from anyone.”

There was that protectiveness she’d always gotten from her adopted brothers also. “I’m not. Sean and I talked. Didn’t really say a ton, but enough. I thought for sure that would be it and he wouldn’t even give me his number. I asked right away and he told me he’d think about it.”

Ash shook his head. “I’m sorry. That’s just cold. Did you two not get along or something? I never heard otherwise.”

“We didn’t really fight or anything. Not like that. We both lived in the same house and put up with the same crap. Maybe he got it worse than me. No, he definitely did. In his eyes and in mine. But... but I think he’s bitter that I ended up with the Lancasters and he was on the street.”

“He was eighteen,” he said. “Too old for foster care, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why Carrie and Jim wouldn’t take him, but I didn’t ask. I just thought, maybe they would have kept us together. At least until graduation. He didn’t even get my parents’ Social Security like I did. There was nothing left of the house. No homeowners’ insurance, because I remember Carrie and Jim talking about that. My parents must have let it run out. Literally, Sean had nothing. Or he got what they might have had in their checking account. I don’t know and didn’t think of those things either back then.”

Ash’s head went side to side. Like he might know something and was debating on sharing.

“I’m sure they had their hands full with everyone else.”

“And me,” she said. “I get it. What aren’t you saying?”

He was stretching his neck as if the truth would slip out. “I don’t know for sure the reason or if it was even an option. Please don’t think that. But I do know that Sean and Tate had gotten into a few fights over the years.”

“I had no idea. I know Sean got suspended a few times. He got in fights, but I never heard details. If my parents were told, they didn’t share.”

“Most of the fights were at the end of the day. No one was around.”

“What aren’t you saying? Sean started it, didn’t he?”

“I only know Tate's and Corbin’s side of it,” he argued.

“And you’d believe them. So what happened?”

“Your brother normally ran his mouth some. He liked to bully other people.”

She sighed. “I’m not surprised, but I don’t believe Tate is someone who could be bullied.”

“Nope,” he said. “He’s not. And he didn’t put up with it happening.”

She nodded. “Got it. He was standing up for whoever was being bullied.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m positive Carrie and Jim knew. They would have struggled with you being separated from Sean, but they also had to take all the kids in the family into consideration.”

“I’m not sure why they took me then,” she said.