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He responded with a grunt, releasing his hold on the cover and dropping his arm. He took a step back, features impassive. “Told you I’d give you money for that kind of stuff, didn’t I? There’s nothing to pay back.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He sounded almost mad at my offer to pay him back, which made no sense at all. Before I could thank him, he spoke again, the words coming out of his mouth just as gruff as all the rest had been so far.
“Saw you went to the grocery store. Also saw there’s not a car out front. How’d you pull that off?”
“We just took Cash’s little red wagon. It wasn’t a big deal.”
At that, his eyes went big, his hard, cold façade slipping for the first time. “Youwalked? You have to be shitting me.”
His reaction left me confused and on edge. I crossed my arms over my chest, holding myself in a defensive gesture as I snapped, “It’s not that far, and Cash had fun. He thought it was an adventure. He liked it. I don’t see why our little trip today warrants you cursing at me.”
Laeth reached up and scrubbed at his face, and for the first time, I noticed the smudges of dark blue beneath his eyes. The man looked exhausted, run down.
“Fuckin’ hell,” he grumbled under his breath before pulling in a deep inhale through his nose. “Look, I have a truck I drive most days, and a sedan for when I’m haulin’ Cash around. I’ll give you the keys to the car to use for errands like that.”
“I can’t take your car.”
He hit me with a fierce scowl. “Like hell you can’t. You can’t just walk all over town, pullin’ my kid in a wagon whenever you need to get somewhere.”
“Why not? I’m perfectly capable of walking wherever I need to go, I’ve been doing it all my life.”
He crossed his arms, his biceps and the muscles in his forearms straining as that glower of his got even deeper. “Not with my kid, you won’t.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but this man was pushing buttons that had blood heating in my veins. “It’s perfectly safe. You’re being unreasonable,” I chastised, speaking to him in a way I never would have dared speak to a single member of the Fellowship. A tiny voice in the back of my head was yelling at me to be quiet, but it was like I didn’t have any control over my own body.
He threw his head back on a caustic bark of laughter. “Ha! Unreasonable? Because I insist on keeping the two of you safe?”
“Yes,” I snapped back. “But it doesn’t matter anyway, because I don’t have my license.”
He let out a groan. “Of course you don’t,” he grumbled under his breath, and I got the distinct impression he wasn’t talking to me as he lamented, “Christ, will this day ever end?”
I mirrored his stance, crossing my arms and popping a hip out. “It can end right here and now by you leaving my room.”
We entered into some sort of stare
down. My blood was rushing so fast I could hear it in my ears, and the part of me that had been raised within the Fellowship of the Enlightened, the part raised to fear and cower, fought to silence me, but I didn’t have to live like that any longer. And I wasn’t going to cower to this man simply because he was in a perpetually bad mood. No, I stood my ground untilhefinally caved.
With one hand planted on his hip, he jabbed a finger in my face, ordering, “You’re going to get your license, damn it. You can’talwayswalk to where you need to go.”
“If I can’t walk somewhere, I’ll call Myra for a ride,” I countered, feeling uncharacteristically combative. It was no longer about standing my ground, but about sticking it to him instead.
“This isn’t up for discussion.”
“Well, the joke is on you, because I don’t even knowhowto drive.”
What was happening?
“Of course you don’t!” he belted, throwing his arms wide. “Because why would anything in my life be easy?”
I remained silent, figuring that wasn’t the type of question that required an answer, but I did it with a glare that I hoped was fierce enough for him to feel its burn.
“You know what? I’m not doing this right now. I’m fuckin’ beat. I’m going to bed.”
With that, he turned on his heel and started for the door.
“I made dinner. There’s a plate for you warming in the oven,” I called out. He might have made me angry, but it was obvious the man wasn’t taking care of himself. I had to help where I could, because as far as I knew, he was all Cash had.
He grunted, and I could have sworn I heard athanksin there before he slammed my bedroom door closed behind him.
