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Surprise sparks in her eyes. Yeah, I don’t know from which galaxy that easy and reasoned tone sailed from, either. Her pretty chin inclines in a gesture I’m going to take as a yes.
“A bad person has something against your son. You by default. We don’t know yet to what lengths this person will go to get his message across. Until the police make some sort of headway in their investigation, home is not a safe place for you and Jacob to be.” Jacob, the little twerp, is chasing a ball around a practice field right now, when he’s the one who rained trouble down on his innocent mother. I’d like to have a word with the kid. And I will, but first—
“This is my home, John. Where am I supposed to go?”
“Family?”
Her head is shaking before the word is fully enunciated.
“Why not?” Observing her plight these last weeks, I’ve wondered if she had anyone on her side, backup when trouble came calling.
“Why? Because I don’t.” Pain etches itself into the planes of her smooth skin.
“No parents? Siblings?”
“My father is gone, and Mom is in a memory-care facility in the Houston area, near my sister.”
“Then visit your sister.”
“I can’t.”
“Not on good terms?”
I get anone of your businessscowl. “That’s four hours away. Jacob has school. His final two games. His senior year. I have work.”
“This is yourlife, Hollie.”
“And this is my home.” She motions around the small room. “You know what happens if I miss my rent payment in a couple weeks, John? Ten years in this place, but one month of nonpayment, and I’m out.”
Are her landlords so hardnosed they wouldn’t have some mercy given the circumstances?
Some people, right?
As much as I’ve been a son of a…gun…to those in my life, I still have people who would be there for me. Hearty souls, that’s for sure.
I look down at my coat, laying there, not a care in the world. Must be nice. “Friends?”
“None I would inflict myself on.”
I glance up.
“I mean, no. My friends have lives. Besides, it isn’t necessary. Jacob and I will be fine.”
Her words trail away under my stare. Even she doesn’t believe the horse hockey she’s dishing out. Stepping around the bulky recliner, I walk to the middle of the living room, launching my in-charge glare—but a pile of neatly folded blankets with a pillow on top, tucked in a corner, divert me. “What’s all that?”
She follows my gaze and begins to chew her lip. “It’s for the sofa.”
“Had company recently?”
I tried to suppress the suspicion, but it comes naturally and must have snuck through the cracks.
A squint deepens her eyes. “It’s mine.”
Hers? I look around the apartment that, yes, is small for two people, and register what I had not before. One bedroom. Something clamps down in my chest. “You sleep on the couch?” Emphasis onyou.
Crossing her arms, she firms her chin. “Jacob is a young man. He needs his own space.”
Un. Be.Lievable. “And you don’t? You’re a grown woman, Hollie. You shouldn’t be sleeping on a blasted sofa! Jacob is akid. He’ll survive the hardship.” Might help him grow the heck up, not being freaking coddled all the time.
