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“Thank God.” Her hands fisted at her sides.
“Celia?” Malcolm asked, hopping up and over the bar, as if the crazy woman couldn’t wait the moment it would take for him to lift the pass-through.
Celia held her hand up. “Stop!”
Malcolm froze.
Celia didn’t trust herself to move closer to Trenton. “This is because of what I told you last night, isn’t it? The part about the crazy gene.”
Trenton’s eyes widened. “No, of course not!” He stepped closer. “If you’d just let me explain—”
“No need!” She’d known it all along. He’d been different since last night. Even Trenton, who was kind and welcoming and helpful, couldn’t handle being around her when he learned the truth. “And don’t worry. I’ll find another place to stay.” She ripped off the apron she was wearing, wanting to be anywhere but there. When Malcolm reached for her, she shoved it in his arms. “I just need a few minutes,” she told him, turned, and ran out of the tavern.
Malcolm followed her, of course. “Celia!”
She knew she was being crazy. The tears she’d denied herself before filled her eyes, and she ran harder, darting between cars.
“Celia, wait!”
“Just leave me alone!” she shouted behind her, trying to go faster.
He caught her despite her struggle against him. “Never.”
The tears started, and she looked up at him, knowing they were a weakness of his. All the times he’d been there for her, and she hadn’t cried very often. When things were tough, an emptiness filled her instead of tears. At least, it usually did.
Malcolm’s hands fell away like she expected. Celia shoved him, hard, and he fell on his ass. “Don’t follow me!” she told him, taking off again. She knew he would anyway, but having to scramble up again slowed him down. She hunkered down around the next corner behind a set of stairs, holding her breath.
He skidded to a stop a little farther down the sidewalk, looking around frantically. “Damn it, Celia,” he muttered, and finally turned back toward the tavern.
The tears wouldn’t stop now that they’d started. She passed the normal bus stop. Her thoughts whirled too fast for her to follow. All she could hear was her mother’s voice telling her she would save her from herself.
Sometime later, a bus slid to a stop beside her. Celia looked up, confused. She was nowhere near a bus stop.
“What are you doing out here again, young lady?” It was the face of the kind man from the very first night she’d been in town. Somehow, when he looked at her like that, the tears came harder.
“Come on up. You shouldn’t be out here like this.”
The bus was empty, which was a relief. Celia huddled in the front seat, knowing she looked insane. The bus driver kept giving her glances in his large mirror, telling her that was the case.
When she managed to get herself under control, she looked out the window. They were just passing that dreaded supermarket. “Can you let me off here?”
The bus slowed, but the driver looked at her in concern. “Are you sure I can’t call anyone for you?”
“No. I don’t want to bother you anymore.”
He sighed, coming to a stop and reluctantly opening the door.
She scrambled from the seat, climbing down the stairs.
“Young lady?” he called, causing her to pause. That same smile, one that Trenton had often worn, was there. “You were never a bother. You shouldn’t think that way. We all need help sometimes.”
She nodded, unable to thank him.
“It’s not right for a lady to be alone at night, the way you have been. If it was a boy that did this to you, well now, you should tell him exactly how you’re feeling. Don’t hold back.” The bus driver’s sweet expression turned into a scowl, though she still thought it was sweet. “Go let him have it.”
The idea made her even sadder. Trenton didn’t deserve that. He’d been there for her after what Daniel had done…
The thought of the man who had let her move there, tried to have sex with her knowing he was going to break it off, and then called her the crazy one, no matter how true it was, sent a wave of heat through her that dried the rest of her tears.
