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“You’re welcome!”She placed the black marker back in the box and hopped up from the love seat where she’d been keeping me company since my return from my late-afternoon doctor’s appointment.“I’m going outside to play now.See you at dinner?”
“Maybe,” I hedged.With my teeth still wired shut to keep my jaw mostly immobile, I didn’t have a lot of options.Everything Marcy cooked looked and smelled delicious, and my stomach grumbled in protest that I didn’t get to eat any of it.I either had a smoothie, protein shake, or some kind of broth for any meal.As soon as the wires in my mouth were gone, I was going to go on a binge and eat anything put in front of me.
“Okay.See you later.”As if she understood my reasons for not giving her a definite answer all too clearly, Molly gave me a hug and skipped out of the room.
“Knock knock,” Delaney called as she caught the door before it could close behind my last visitor.“I heard you got the best color cast.”
A little self-consciously, I lifted my arm.“You like?”
“Love it,” she said, her hands signing the words as she spoke them.I was starting to pick up a little American Sign Language just from hanging out with her.During our second visit, she told me about how she’d lost her hearing, and I’d had to blink back tears.Each day, she told me a little more about herself.The way she so fearlessly opened up to me, a complete stranger, had encouraged me to tell her a little about myself as well.
“Ronan broke his arm last year when he fell out of the tree at Raven’s house.Thankfully, it was a clean break and didn’t require surgery.Ugh.I was a mess, but Max was worse than me.Don’t let his reputation fool you.He’s just a big teddy bear.That man cries more often than I do.”She rolled her eyes.“I wanted Ronan to get the pink, but he said it was too girly.”She huffed, making my lips pull up in amusement.“Of course, he had to go for the red.I was so disappointed.Boys.”
Sitting without hesitation, she took my arm and inspected Molly’s artwork.She traced her thumb over the bicycle.“Does Molly want to learn to ride a bike?”
I snickered at her question.“No.That’s supposed to be Jack’s motorcycle.”
“Of course it is.My bad.”She grabbed the box of markers and lifted a brow.“May I?”
“Go for it.”
I watched as she wrote her name all swirly and pretty with the blue.“There,” she announced approvingly.“Now I’m part of you too.”
Her words warmed me, and I settled back, getting comfortable for our visit.
“Where’s Jack?”
I shrugged, trying and failing not to think about the man who occupied my mind ninety-five percent of the time.Jack was always close, and that only fed my obsession with him.Or maybe it was an addiction.I wasn’t sure which, but what I did know was that Jack was dangerous to my heart in more ways than one.“He escorted me back and then got a call.I guess he went to return it in private, because he didn’t answer.”
“Probably work-related,” she excused.“That’s the only time Max doesn’t take a call in front of me.”
“Max won’t take calls about a vehicle in front of you?”I asked with a frown.Her husband co-owned the local garage with his dad and Jack’s grandpa.At least, that was what I’d been told.
“I meant MC work,” she amended.“He never discusses MC-related jobs.”
My frown only deepened.“Why not?”
“Because he’s an overprotective asshole who loves me.”She laughed.“He still thinks I won’t understand.”
Her answers only confused me more, but before I could ask what she meant, Delaney started telling me about her son’s coach.“Poor guy flirted with me once, and now Max won’t even let me drop Ronan off for practice.I told him I wasn’t going to sit around the house waiting all evening and came to see you.Am I making a nuisance of myself?Are you tired of me yet?”
“Of course not!”I exclaimed in disbelief.“I look forward to you coming over.”
She grasped my free hand and gave my fingers a squeeze.“Now that you can get around without Jack carrying you everywhere, we can go shopping.Do you want to go to the mall with me?It’s a bit of a drive, though.If you’re not up to it, we can go to WomanLand.Mila and River’s store has everything, but there are more options at the mall.Plus, we can get smoothies and maybe catch a movie.”
“I don’t have any money.Maybe once I get a job, I can come with you.”
She cocked her head at me.“Jack said you just started college back in New York.I thought you would just sit out the rest of this semester and transfer to Trinity.”
My heart lurched at the thought of losing my scholarship and not getting to finish college.I hadn’t allowed myself to think about it often.There were so many other things to worry about, but I ached, thinking about the college education I would miss out on after working so hard to get there.
“I doubt Trinity would accept me, and I don’t have a way to pay for college right now.Maybe I’ll work for a while and save up for community college.”
“Like Jack is going to let you pay.”She scoffed.“I’m sorry, but he’s even worse than Max, and I honestly didn’t think that was possible.Besides, Sanctuary has a scholarship program through Trinity.As a resident, you could apply to cover courses and books that will help you get a job in any field.It just doesn’t cover housing or meals.What were you studying?”
“I was getting my core classes out of the way before I made up my mind.But I was leaning toward accounting.”She made a face, and I found myself smiling again.“Yeah, it’s boring but stable.Especially if I could have gotten into a good financial firm.”
“If that is what you’re passionate about, then take accounting courses.But if your heart isn’t in it, then pick something else.There are infinite options.I took a few classes at Trinity.They have excellent programs.But it’s Trinity, so how could they not be?They’re ranked with Harvard.”
