Page 25 of Worth of Waste

So, yeah, she hesitated.

“A quick cup of coffee and a drive is all it would take,” the lawyer prodded when Karen stayed quiet.

Karen peered down the hall, seeing just the shadow of one of her employers back at the very end as the woman moved between studio rooms. “I’m working right now, so I can’t say yes at the moment.”

“Later?”

“I have to pick the baby up at daycare at four.”

Mike sighed heavily. “Listen, Karen, I know you probably want to keep a distance from Dino and—”

On that, Karen had to stop the man. “No offence, but you don’t know anything regarding how I feel about Dino or where he and I stand.”

He cleared his throat quickly. “You’re right—I apologize. This is important to him, though, and he’s made a great effort to have it done and ready for you. Not an easy thing being where he is, let me just say.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m aware. Can you get off work a little early?”

“I can try,” Karen obliged.

She wasn’t promising a thing. Her boss could be difficult, though the woman had given her a good job and paid her well. Karen was not about to complain.

“Call me back if you can. I will meet you anywhere you want, Karen.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Karen pulled her car into the lot of a tiny café that was only ten minutes away from her work. She didn’t bother to shut off her car, as she had parked right beside the man meeting her there, and he was already leaning against his own black Toyota.

She rolled down the window when he smiled, and then accepted the to-go cup of coffee he handed her.

“Thanks,” Karen said, taking a sip. “My fuel for the rest of this day.”

Mike laughed. “I know the feeling. Lawyers live off of caffeine and take-out.”

Karen made a face. “Tell me about it.”

“Gotta do what we gotta do. Care to take a drive?”

She checked the time, noting she only had an hour and a half before she had to pick up her son. “How long is it going to be?”

“A half hour there.”

And a half hour back, she knew.

Shit.

“Could I follow you? Just in case I have to come back early and you need to stay behind or whatever. Daycare for the baby, remember?”

Mike shrugged like it didn’t make a difference to him. “Sure.”

Nearly a half hour later, Karen almost missed when Mike turned his blinker on to signal he was turning off the highway to leave the outskirts of the city when an exit ramp came up. She’d been following behind him for so long that the radio and the passing cars had put her into a trance of sorts.

This was why Karen hated driving, though it was a necessary evil.

She didn’t recognize the rural area Mike directed them through, as she hadn’t visited outside of Chicago on this side of the city, but it looked quiet … and certainly private.

It was only when Mike had put on his blinker again, turning off onto a long, paved driveway that seemed to go on and on with no end in sight that Karen really did stop to take notice of where they were. She didn’t have time to take in the beautiful driveway and trees lining either side before a large, Victorian-style home came into view, taking all of her attention.