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“The only motive was forcing them to take another look at the case, and if I believed you did it, why would I steal a child to get them to look again?” She was talking now, as opposed to sounding rasping in a raised whisper, as the noise in the room increased with more people arriving. Everleigh hadn’t made it out to the kitchen yet. Hadn’t had dinner.
Didn’t really want any. The imploring look in Amie’s gaze grabbed at her. Like a suffocating claw. And in grief, too.
Her mother was trying to comfort her, to show her love, but all Everleigh could see was that her mother had been reluctant to believe the DNA evidence could be wrong.
Where had Amie been during the two months Everleigh had been sitting in jail? Maybe not totally believing her daughter was a murderer, but she hadn’t stood up for her, either. Hadn’t supported her as Gram had.
She knew where her dad had been. Futzing around the house now that he was retired from the factory, and on his regular stool at the pub on the corner. Drinking his beer.
“I love you, Everleigh. You’re my life...”
She nodded, needing to get away so bad she was ready to push her mother aside but for the chance that the woman would draw her into another hug.
And for the fact that she didn’t want to hurt her mom. She still loved her. And knew her mother loved her, too. It had never been about the love.
Glancing up, she saw Clarke just off to her mother’s left. Clara, the lady who lived across the street, was talking to him, but one glance from Everleigh and he was close enough to Amie to reach beyond her for Everleigh’s hand, pulling her out slowly, causing Amie to naturally step aside.
“Clara tells me you used to take ballet lessons at the local family center,” he said, and then included Amie in his glance. “Is that true?”
As Amie smiled at the two of them, regaling Clarke with the story about Everleigh being the only one in her four-year-old class who’d remembered the whole dance routine during her first recital, he leaned in and kissed Everleigh on the cheek.
It meant nothing, she knew.
But standing there, clutching his hand like the lifeline he’d just offered her, availing herself of the breather from the emotional distress her parents’ defection had caused, she could have sworn his affection was real. That he’d saved her because he cared for her, not because he was working.
Which scared the crap out of her.
She couldn’t even tell when someone was being honest anymore.
Had she ever been able to do so?
How was she ever going to trust herself to know?
Clarke didn’t provide any answers. How could he? But when he slid his arm around her and walked her over to say hello to Clara, she allowed herself the distraction being close to him offered.
Even if it was the wrong thing to do.
* * *
He could feel her fear. Clarke might not have known Everleigh for long, but after spending two full days in her company, in very trying circumstances, he’d learned enough to know that she was struggling.
She smiled as she introduced him. Was great at parrying congratulations on her release and bringing the conversation away from herself and to her grandmother’s plight, wanting everyone to continue to support her gram in any way they could. To write letters to the GGPD. He could have told her that wouldn’t do any good but didn’t.
She asked after ongoing situations in neighbors’ lives, chatted with her aunt, talked to her dad about having visited his mother the day before, urging h
im to go himself.
And a good bit of the while, she was clutching Clarke’s hand, as though she’d fall down if she let go.
While her gaze darted around the room.
She’d even jerked against him a time or two when the front door opened, signaling another new arrival.
When they made it to the kitchen and she moved around the spread of food there, she seemed to relax some. He stood by her as she put veggies on a plate, and then he leaned in, nuzzling her neck, to whisper, “You’re doing great.”
He knew he’d never forget her grateful smile. He just knew it.
And as they found a hallway wall to lean against while they ate, he was able to ask, “Have you noticed anything about anyone? Got any sense that anyone is treating you differently?”
