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“Mr. Reeves. Excuse me—” She started to brush by him but he grabbed her arm, halting her progress. I saw that the two boys in the booth were watching with keen interest. One looked like the same blond boy who had stopped Eleanor after school. I pulled my attention back to the man holding Eleanor’s arm. “Are you okay?” he was asking.
“Fine.” Seeing that she wasn’t going to get by, Eleanor crossed her arms over her chest.
“Hi.” I reached past her and tried the handshake thing again. This guy accepted it, closing a large, dry hand over mine. “I’m Jude Tiernay, Eleanor’s sister.”
“Beck Reeves. Eleanor’s guidance counselor.”
“Ah… you look very young, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“Not at all. I am young; it’s my second year out of my program. Sorry; I couldn’t help but notice she looked upset.”
“Sheis going to the car so theadultscan talk freely about her.” Eleanor shoved past Reeves and stomped away while I looked on in surprise.
One of the boys at the table cough-hacked into his hand. “Brutal.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I apologized, inwardly rejoicing. An opportunity to keep a closer eye on my sister had just fallen into my lap. “She just learned her mother was found dead.”
“Oh, no—I’m sorry to hear—”
“Thank you. Listen, could I give you my phone number? I’m not listed on Eleanor’s emergency contact form, but I’ll be gaining custody of her shortly. Would you mind keeping an eye on her, and if you see any signs of concerning behavior, could you let me know?”
“Of course.”
Reeves handed me his phone and I programmed my number in. “I appreciate it. It’s a complicated situation.”
“Want to tell me about it? Might help me understand more specifically what to watch for.”
I eyed the boys behind him at the table. The last thing I wanted was to stir gossip about Eleanor. They appeared to be intent on their food. Lowering my voice, I explained briefly. “I don’t trust her uncle. He was given custody because I’m still a college student, but he’s an alcoholic and...he looks at her.”
Reeves wore a frown line between his eyebrows. “Do you think she’s in immediate danger?”
I shook my head. “She swears he hasn’t tried anything. I got her a baseball bat to keep in her room, and she puts a chair beneath her door knob at night, so I think she’s as safe as possible at the moment. I just… I don’t want something to happen and not know about it. We just need to get through the remainder of this school year, and then I’ll be able to get her out of that place.”
He nodded and touched the back of my hand, which I hadn’t realized I had clenched into a fist. “I’ll keep a close eye on the situation; I promise.”
I let out my breath in a gusty exhalation. “Thank you.”Thank you for believing me, I added mentally. I hadn’t realized until his promise that I’d worried he wouldn’t believe me.
I left the diner, giving Mabel and the guidance counselor a wave of acknowledgement as I did. As I drove her to my uncle’s, Eleanor and I made plans to visit Mom’s grave site in the next couple of days. It was oddly comforting to think of making the trip, putting flowers on her grave, and saying goodbye.
We would finally be able to put this part of our life to rest, and maybe then, we could move forward into a brighter future.
Chapter 40: Ezra
Ijogged down the steps to the second floor of McMillan, feeling a sense of lightness despite the rough week it had been. In the past seven days, Jude had learned of her mother’s death, had to break the news to her younger sister, and had suffered a severe asthma attack that had landed her in the hospital. But we had also come to terms with the unusual nature of our relationship, and were embracing it. Moving forward.
Things could be worse.
Instead, they were slowly settling into what I hoped would be our “normal.” We had gone with Jude and Eleanor to put flowers on their mother’s grave and say good-bye, and now Jude was back in class and back to work at Sugar Babes most evenings. One of us always accompanied her, because despite our willingness to share with each other, we were jealous bastards.
When Jude came home in the evenings, she puttered in the kitchen for a while before she was ready for bed. She fixed the coffee pot for the next day, sometimes played with a new muffin mix for the morning. Sometimes she was super industrious and made lunches for all of us, ready to eat either here in the dorm or somewhere on campus.
One of us met her for lunch every day. Our schedules were so busy, with Galen and Baron’s hockey season getting started and Jude’s work schedule, it was practically the only time we could consistently find to see each other.
Galen was busy designing the modifications to Jude’s farmhouse. We had kind of a tacit agreement that we would live there, together, eventually, but right now we were content to move slowly in that direction.
The second-floor hallway of McMillan stretched out before me as I emerged from the stairwell, the floor a sea of pale tiles, the plaster walls broken by dark wood doors set into alcoves. It was empty save for a few random students hurrying to destinations of their own. I scanned the corridor, looking for Jude. I was meeting her here, and then we were going to eat lunch together.
I saw her before she saw me as she stepped out of the stairwell at the opposite end of the hall, and settled back into a nearby alcove to watch her approach. I loved to simply watch her, to observe the sway of her hips in the short, flirty skirt she wore, the soft jiggle of her tits beneath her sweater. The way her eyes moved restlessly about, never inviting anyone in for conversation but somehow being aware of them completely.
