Page 43

I cast a quick glance at the mess, then at Mrs. Holly, who glares at us. “Do you want to get out of here, Didi?”

Her eyes light up, then she glances at the ten boxes of supplies piled into the corner. And a whole shitload of potato sacks. “I can’t…I’m working.”

“Well, when are you off?”

“She’s not off until those are put away,” Mrs. Holly yells from the corner.

Old hag.

Didi sighs and runs her hands down her pants. “I’ll be a while, yet. She got a shipment of potatoes that need dealing with. Plus, this box of jarred pickles.”

I hop over to one box and pull it down. “Pickles and potatoes, got it.”

She lets out a squeaky laugh, covering her mouth. “What are you doing?”

I give her my best grin. “Helping you so you can finish faster and hang out with me.” I eye the massive amount of potatoes that just came in. Damn, how many sacks of potatoes does this woman need?

“Why would you do that?” she asks carefully.

“Because I want to take you out tonight, firefly. Away from school and everyone. Not to hide you, just to spend time with you.”

Her eyes sparkle in a way that makes my heart hurt, almost as if no one’s ever been kind to her.

She bites her lip, and all I can think about is slipping my tongue into that mouth, trying to ignore the fact that Remy and Bax are still in the car, probably wondering where I am. The only reason they haven’t noticed is because Bax rolls obese joints, and they are too busy getting high to notice.

“Tommy, I can’t go anywhere with you. Mama will be waiting for me to come home.”

I line up the jars on the shelf before she can protest.

She lets out an exasperated breath. “Tommy…”

I give her puppy dog eyes, only out of pure desperation because it seems to work on everyone else. “Pretty please?”

She casts her eyes down as if she can’t handle my cuteness. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”

I give her a sly smirk and shake my head. “I don’t know what that word means.”

She folds her arms. “Fine, but there’s lots to do.”

I shrug. “Leave that to me. I bet I can get this done in a quarter of the time, and your mama won’t know any difference. I’ll take you home at normal time.”

Her eyes dart to Mrs. Holly, who’s staring at us with one eye. That damn woman is gonna be an issue.

The door chime rattles as a sudden gust of wind sweeps through the shop. Didi darts her eyes in the direction of the voices just as Bax walks in.

Bax looks out of his damn mind as he runs his hand along the stand, grabbing a bag of chips and dropping a few. “Hey man. You’re like taking forever, dude,” he says in his usual slow drawl.

“Hey,” Mrs. Holly barks out. “You better pick those up.”

Bax glances at her and gives her a puzzled expression like he had no idea she was there. “Oh hey, sorry, Mrs. Holly.”

She presses her lips together and Bax chuckles. Bax turns to face me but pauses when he notices Didi. “Oh, hey there, pretty snowflake girl.”

Didi smiles softly, and that’s when Remy walks in behind him, his presence taking up the entire room.

I follow Remy’s eyes as he looks right at Didi, and what little color in Didi’s face drains when she sees him. The tension between them is thicker than smoke.

“Didi, this is Bax and you already know Remy.”