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“What? No way I can aff—”
“It’s part of room and board,” I said, and when he threw me a skeptical look, I squeezed his shoulder. “What if something happens and I need to get a hold of you? The phone will be added to my plan until it can be transferred to you. That way, you won’t miss any more calls.”
He paced the room as he considered it. “Fine, but I’m going to keep a tally of what I owe you.”
I smiled. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”
An hour later, we were walking in the pleasant weather toward Tower City, an indoor shopping mall near Public Square. We shopped for a cheap phone and clearance sale clothes because he insisted.
“Thank you,” he said, briefly knotting our fingers together on our way out. But I hung on to his hand until the crosswalk, where we were separated by a large group of people wearing similar shirts. Some sort of fundraiser at the casino, if I had to guess.
“Have you been to the Rock Hall?” I asked as we neared East 9th Street. If we headed east, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would soon appear in the distance.
“Not inside. The harbor next to it is nice, though.”
“Wanna get lost in a museum for a couple of hours?” I asked before adding, “I get a discount from the university.”
It only took him a second before he replied, “Let’s do it.”
We strolled down 9th Street to the North Coast Harbor, taking in the pretty view of Lake Erie, before turning our attention to the museum, whose architecture resembled the Louvre in Paris.
Tickets in hand, we walked through the displays, reading about the different musicians and studying their costumes and instruments.
At the Beatles exhibition, I smiled. “My parents would love this. They’d play Abbey Road, and we’d dance around the house like a bunch of goofballs.”
Lachlan got this distant look in his eyes. “Same, in the kitchen with my mom. But Sgt. Pepper’s.”
We grinned at each other before heading to an alcove where a documentary on the band was playing. We whispered favorite songs to each other and laughed at their antics in the recording studio.
The Rock Hall was hard to do all in one go, so by the fourth level, I suggested a break and some lunch. We ate our sandwiches at a table facing the water. Again, I got that feeling that he had drifted off somewhere in the space of his own thoughts. I just hoped he wasn’t regretting the purchases we’d made earlier.
“How about we finish setting up your phone?”
The store had already helped with most of it, so when he pulled it out of the bag, I helped him punch in my cell and work numbers.
“Anyone else you want to add?”
He shook his head and glanced out the window with a sad expression, and I was sorry I’d asked. He had lost contact with most people in his life, even his father.
I placed a hand on his wrist. “You okay?”
“Yeah, sorry.” He looked out at the view again. “It’s just…see those benches down there?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I used to sit there and read, and it was one of the only times I was able to let go for a little while and not worry so much about my next meal or surviving.”
“Sounds like a nice memory,” I said, picturing him paging through the book I’d lent him.
Lachlan nodded. “Before reality set in again.”
I waited because I had the feeling he had more to say.
“There was another incident on an unhoused person. Last weekend.”
My eyes sprang to his. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I felt guilty.”
I knew he meant because of not filing a police report, or maybe because he was safe now and they were not, but I didn’t say anything, letting him work through it.
He stood suddenly. “There’s something I need to do.”
“Want me to—”
“I need to do it by myself.”
“Okay, sure.”
We cleaned up our litter, then headed for the exit. I walked with him until we got to Superior Avenue.
“I’ll see you at home in a couple of hours.”
I liked that he called my apartment home. It helped settle my nerves a little.
“If you need anything, text me.”
“I will.” He patted his front pocket, where he’d slipped his cell. “And, Foster? Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
As I walked back to my apartment, I felt a bit rattled about whatever Lachlan thought he needed to do. But given that he’d turned in the direction of the bridge, I could only assume he was headed to the shelter.
I just needed to trust that he was doing what was right for him.
25
LACHLAN
I knew I’d confused Foster, but what I’d told him was true. This was something I needed to do by myself—for myself.
Tessa didn’t always work on Saturdays, so I was taking a chance by showing up at the shelter, but I hoped I’d gambled right and it would be worth the effort.
