AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jasper looked from Tony to Jess and back again. She’d taught him to listen to adults, and it was clear Tony had earned the boy’s respect and admiration quickly. Rhys had as well.
But her son also loved his food, so she didn’t doubt for a second he wanted to remain until he whined his way into getting her to agree to stay for pizza.
“Go on, Jasper,” she said. “This won’t take long. Help Aunt Berta until it’s time for us to leave.”
He nodded sadly. “Okay.”
Aunt Berta took his hand, the two of them returning to the kitchen as Tony gestured toward the living room.
Jess walked across the room, sitting down at what was becoming her usual place on the couch, Rhys and Tony claiming the same spots where they’d sat Saturday night as well.
“We can’t stay for dinner,” she said, wanting to end the argument before Tony picked it up again. “I have to get the car back to Debbie’s, then get in line for the shelter before six. That doesn’t leave me much time.”
“The shelter?” Rhys asked. “What about social services?”
“We were slammed at work and another one of the waitresses called out sick. I couldn’t leave Paulie shorthanded, so I didn’t make it to the intake office. I’ll go first thing tomorrow morning to fill out the paperwork. It’s just one more night, so—”
“You’re staying here,” Tony said.
She huffed, exasperated. “Tony,no. Enough is enough. I can’t keep doing this to you guys.”
Rhys reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Tony’s right, Jess. Youarestaying here. But it would be nice if the three of us could engage in a civil conversation about it. I prefer that to watching you two butt heads.”
“Rhys, I appreciate the offer, but—”
“Can I ask you a question?” He cut her off midsentence.
She paused for just a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”
“How did you end up outside our house Friday night?”
Jess leaned back, his question catching her off guard. “What?”
“Feels like more than a coincidence,” he said quietly.
She considered lying, insisting it had been by chance, but the moment she opened her mouth, she found the truth spilling out.
“I knew sleeping in the car was dangerous. Not just because of the cold but because it left us vulnerable to other things as well. I didn’t knowwhereI was going at first. I was just driving around, trying to keep us out of the elements and get us warm again. We’d been walking all over the city, looking for a place to stay prior to getting the car.”
Tony grumbled something she didn’t understand, but she didn’t look his direction. She didn’t need to see his face to know he didn’t like what she was saying. So she kept her gaze locked on Rhys.
“I was trying to figure out how to feed Jasper with no money, feeling depressed about my empty wallet…then I remembered it wasn’ttotallyempty.”
She slid her eyes to Tony. “You put one of your business cards on the bulletin board at the diner a few months ago.”
Tony nodded. “I remember.”
“I took it. I don’t know why, but…a couple days after you hung it up, I took it down and slid it into my wallet. I pulled it out Friday night, looked at the address, and drove here.”
“Why not knock on the door?” Tony asked.
She snorted. “Yeah, right. I was just going to knock on the door with my kid in tow and say ‘hey, remember me, your waitress from the diner? Can I crash here tonight?’”
She had thought those same words Friday night, dismissing them as utter nonsense. Now that she’d gotten to know Tony and Rhys, she realized they would have swung the door wide and invited them in.
“If you weren’t going to knock, why come at all?” Tony pressed.
“I told you. We were going to be vulnerable. You guys seem like the kind of men who would come running if someone yelled for help.” Then she gave them a rueful smile. “When I think about it now, I didn’t even yell and youstillcame running.”
