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There weren’t any “shoes” left to wear. HerKickshad all but disintegrated and weren’t even among the things he retrieved from her house. He flinched, and she could imagine him running over the contents of her bedroom in his mind—Were those pathetic sneakers the only ones she had?
“Never mind.” He turned abruptly, waving her off. “Wait here.”
Sick with worry, Loren watched him enter the school. Though he wasn’t in uniform, he looked no less intimidating in slacks and a windbreaker—an odd outfit considering how cold it was. Loren was freezing in her thick sweater.
She huddled on the front seat, feeling like a kenneled puppy.
He was inside a long time. Already, the trickle of students heading into the school was starting to pick up. It felt strange to not be a part of the morning rush. Even stranger to be sitting in a police officer’s truck.
When he finally exited the school building, she sat bolt upright, tense with anticipation. His expression alone revealed nothing. He wasn’t smiling or frowning. With no explanation whatsoever, he wrenched open the door on her end and dumped a pile of books onto her lap.
“Sign it,” he demanded, nodding to a document resting on top of the pile.
Loren took the pen he offered and complied, scanning the document as she did so. It seemed to mention something about termination—withdrawing from academic activity.
Before she could read more, Officer McGoven snatched the page and shoved it into his pocket. Then he returned to the driver’s seat, started the engine, and peeled out of the quickly filling parking lot.
“From now on, you’ll do your assignments on your own,” he explained while turning onto the main street. “Someone will drop off the work and turn it in for you. This way, you won’t fall behind. At least until…”
He seemed to deliberately keep himself from saying more, but Loren had a grim idea of what words filled in the blanks.
Until Lukka comes for you.
Dazed, she eyed the textbooks on her lap. They were for all the subjects she was taking, along with a few notebooks from her locker.
She didn’t dare ask any questions, not that Officer McGoven seemed inclined to tell her anything else. Silently, he drove through the heart of town, finally parking along the busiest street. Here, various stores sold everything from clothing to ice cream.
“What size are you?” he asked gruffly.
Loren blinked, but her hesitation only earned her an impatient scoff.
“Yourshoesize. What shoe size are you?”
Confused, she inspected her bare feet. She had always just grabbed a pair that fit, without ever worrying about that little number on the bottom.
When she shook her head, Officer McGoven palmed one of her knees without warning. Shock paralyzed her as he lifted her leg, cupping her bare foot in the center of his palm. He seemed to weigh it, inspecting the shape. Satisfied with whatever he’d observed, he released her and left the truck, slamming the door behind him.
Loren waited, wondering what on earth he could possibly need with her shoe size. When he finally emerged from a nearby store, she saw the box first. Big and beautiful, it consumed her attention as McGoven approached and shoved it unceremoniously onto her lap.
“Try them on.”
Without even explaining what “them” was, he headed toward the driver’s seat.
Loren had an idea, though... Her fingers shook in anticipation as she wrestled the lid off and set it aside.
A mixture of shock and awe left her dizzy. She couldn’t even speak. “Them” was a pair of boots. Sturdy hiking boots, to be exact. Naomi Tanner wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a similar style, but Loren thought they were the most beautiful things she’d ever laid eyes upon.
“Try them on,” McGoven insisted, his voice slightly less gruff. “They should be snug but not too tight.”
Heart in her throat, she removed each boot gingerly. Someone had shoved a pair of novelty socks in each one, both decorated with ribbons and trees for Christmas. She pulled them on first, then the boots lacing them tightly. Marveling at the feel, she gave her foot an experimental kick.
“How do they feel?”
“P-Perfect,” she stammered. “Thank you…but I can’t—I can’t possibly pay for these.”
He gave her an exasperated look and started the truck as if he needed the distraction to compile a response. In the end, he grated four words through his teeth, “Don’t worry aboutit.”
They didn’t speak all the way back to the farmhouse. The second he parked, Officer McGoven grabbed her stuff and mounted the porch where Sonia stood in the doorway to greet him.
