AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So much for being friendly.
My guard goes up as I watch him walk away, wondering if his nice guy, gentleman act might have been just that—an act.
“All right, who’s ready to see the new house?” my dad announces as he gets out of the truck.
He’s cleaned up a bit since I last saw him. Or, well, at least changed his clothes, which is considered cleaned up for him.
“Where the hell have you been?” I demand as I stride toward him.
Between having to break in last night to waking up to dealing with our new neighbors, I’m feeling a bit testy. And his blasé attitude about ditching us last night is only adding fuel to the wildfire.
“Picking up the keys for our new place, getting the power and water turned on, and finding a job.” He pats my shoulder. “Thanks for taking care of things last night.”
I grind my jaw from side to side. “I had to break into a house I wasn’t even sure was ours, just so we didn’t have to sleep in the car. Where were you all night? Because I know you weren’t getting the keys for this place and finding a new job at two o’clock in the morning.”
He scrubs his hand over his head. “I was taking care of some other stuff.”
“You mean, finding out which bar lets you open a tab?” I question. “Or which bar has the most inattentive bartender so you can hand him a fake credit card, and then stiff the bill altogether?”
“That’s not what I do.” But his guilt is written all over his face.
“I know your scams, Dad.” I back away, shaking my head. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the one who’s had to go down to the bar and pay your outstanding tabs, or convince the bar owner that you just forgot to pay the bill and weren’t trying to take off.”
“I wasn’t scamming anyone over last night,” he bites out. “I really did have some stuff to take care of.”
I don’t believe him. I’d be stupid to.
“So, where’s your new job then?”
He shrugs, scuffing the tip of his boot against the dirt. “Around here.”
“Mmmhm.” I roll my eyes. Sure it is. “And what exactly are you going to be doing?”
“Stuff.” He tosses me a set of keys before hiking to the back of the truck. “It requires me to be gone a lot. I might even be gone for a week at a time, so I’m counting on you to take care of your sisters.”
“I always do,” I mutter.
God knows what the hell he’s actually doing for work. Probably something illegal. Or he might even be lying about having a job altogether. Wouldn’t be the first time.
The last time he pulled a stunt like that, he pretended to go to work every morning, only to go spend the day at the bar, spending what little money we had on whiskey. It took me three weeks to catch on after I realized no money was coming in. I ended up tailing him and, sure enough, discovered his dirty little secret.
After that, I started keeping an eye on him. That was also when I got my first part-time job. I was fourteen and lied about my age to get a job waitressing at a café. I’ve been working part-time jobs ever since. So do my sisters. It’s how we buy food, school clothes, and other necessities, and pay the bills when needed. It’s never enough, though, hence the constant moving. It doesn’t help that our dad is always either borrowing money from us or stealing it when we refuse to give him any cash.
After Dad drops the tailgate, Bailey and I start helping him move stuff inside the house. Eventually, Londyn and Payton return with a can of tire inflator.
“What happened to your tires?” Dad asks as he follows me with a box in hands.
“The neighbors,” I answer as I set the can of tire inflator on the hood of my car.
He blinks confusedly. “They flattened your tires? Why?”
I lift a shoulder. “We got off on the wrong foot, I guess.”
He shifts his weight. “Do you want me to go talk to them?”
I quickly shake my head. “No, I can handle it.”
Adjusting the box underneath his arm, he scratches his head. “I think maybe we should keep our distance from the people around here.” When I give him a puzzled look, he adds, “I just don’t think we’re going to be here very long, and I don’t want you girls getting attached to anyone.”
“We never do.” A bit of annoyance rings in my tone.
He doesn’t seem to notice, giving me a pat on my shoulder before walking into the house.
I start to turn back toward the truck to grab some more boxes when my gaze magnetizes toward the neighbors’. Blaise is standing on the front porch and leaning against the railing. His face is mostly shadowed, so I can’t see it very well, but I can feel his stare burning into me.
And I stare right back. He doesn’t look away. Neither do I. The air starts to burn, scorching hot, as I refuse to let this asshole intimidate me.
“Hadley.”
I flinch as Bailey nudges my foot with hers.
“Huh?” I blink at her.
“I asked which room you wanted?” She frowns, her eyes traveling to the neighbors’ house. “What were you staring at over there?”
I dare a glimpse back at Blaise, only to find him gone. “Nothing.” I shake my head, trying to clear the unsettling feeling that I somehow just lost a silent battle with Blaise when I looked away.
I shouldn’t be worried, though. They’re just guys. Nothing more.
And I’ve handled worse.
Six
My sisters and I spend the rest of the night unloading boxes and furniture into the house and making a quick trip to the grocery store to buy some food. Our dad helps for a bit, but eventually goes up to his room and passes out, probably hungover.
The house has three bedrooms, so Londyn and I bunk up in one and Payton and Bailey in the other. We don’t have much for furniture, just some mattresses, bedframes, and a couple of dressers, so organizing doesn’t take too long.
Once we’re finished for the night, Londyn climbs into bed, while I stare out the window at the next-door neighbors’, playing guard basically. The lights in the house are off, but the back-porch light is on, highlighting all the cars in the backyard.
“So, what do you think about Dad already having a job, but not telling us where he’s working?” Londyn asks, fluffing her pillow.
“I’m not sure.” I sit down on the dresser and continue to stare out the window. “He could’ve been lying, or he could be doing something illegal.”
“Where do you think he was last night?”
“I have no idea. Probably at a bar.”
“All night?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Yeah, but … didn’t he seem sort of, I don’t know, evasive about everything?”
“Isn’t Dad’s middle name evasive?” I remind her. “While I spend a lot of time trying to keep an eye on him, I feel as if I barely know him.”
“Me, too,” she mumbles through a yawn. “One day, maybe we’ll have to do some detective work and figure out what he really does.”
“Wouldn’t that be funny?” I muse. “To use the detective skills he taught us when we were younger to bust his ass for doing something illegal.”
“It would be pretty funny. He’d probably get pissed off.” A beat of silence drags by. “Had, if he ever hits one of us again, I think we should report it to the police.”
My fingers drift to my cheek. “I thought about doing that, but at the same time, if the police try to intervene and social services gets called, we might be separated.” My hand falls to my lap. “But if he hits any one of you, I’ll do it.”
“I wish we could just gain guardianship of each other.” Londyn yawns again. “You’re almost eighteen and way more responsible than Dad.”
“I wish I could, but I’m not sure I can.” No, unfortunately, if our dad ever does lose guardianship, my sisters are probably going to end up in group homes, even though I’ll be a legal adult in just a month.
I remain sitting on the dresser for a few more minutes, staring a
t the neighbors’ backyard, listening to Londyn breathe heavily as she dozes off. Eventually, my eyelids grow heavy and I move to my bed, deciding playing guard all night isn’t possible. But the moment I hop off the dresser, a large SUV pulls into their driveway and parks near the porch. The headlights click off, and four figures hop out.
