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“It’s not infected. Rub this tube on it three times a day to keep it that way. Take two of these when the pain gets too bad, but no more than three to four times a day. Okay?”
“Got it. Thanks for the help. It was…nice of you.”
“Any friend of Charlie’s—”
“We’re not friends,” she blurted, and there was no heat, no passion to her words.
“We’ll just have to agree to disagree on that one. Hungry?”
“Not really,” she said, even as her stomach growled loudly. “I’ll just throw it up anyway,” she clarified, her tone slightly embarrassed. “I ate a sandwich earlier.”
“Well, won’t hurt to try some homemade chicken casserole. Let’s get you in the kitchen. Come on, you can lean on me for help.”
A long moment passed and then movement. I heard shuffling toward the kitchen and they appeared in the doorway. We both helped Savannah find a comfortable position in one of the chairs around the table.
“Okay,” she said when Ma put some food on a plate. Savannah managed about five bites before she rushed off to the bathroom, leaving me and Ma alone.
“You sure you know what you’re doing, son? I know you’re the president of the club now, and you make the rules, but the guys won’t be happy with you keeping her here. Especially knowing where she’s been since she went missing.” She shook her head. “Poor girl.”
“I’m sure, Ma. She needs help. Maybe it was how you and Dad raised me, but she didn’t deserve what she lived through. No woman does. And I’m going to help her. Just to get her back on her feet.”
She smiled at me the way she did when I was an adventurous little boy, so eager for her attention. “Even after all the trouble the Black Jacks have caused for us?”
“Yep, even after all that. I get to do a good deed while taking away something, or someone, they value.” I didn’t want to think of Savannah in those terms. It just didn’t seem right, but that was how the Black Jacks and the Ashbys would see it.
“Then I support you. If she needs anything, you just let me know.”
A bitter laugh escaped at Ma’s hopeful words.
“Like she’ll tell me if she needs anything. I do know she needs some clothes. Found her with the rags she was wearing. Not even a decent pair of shoes.”
“Give her time, Charlie. She’s been through a lot and no matter who she is, nobody deserves that.”
“Nobody deserves what?” Savannah asked, appearing silently in the doorway. Her blue gaze bounced between us, full of suspicion.
“Charlie’s cooking,” Ma said without skipping a beat. “It’s terrible for the most part, edible but tasteless.” She frowned and shook her head. “If there’s some dish you want, I love to cook.”
Some color had come back into Savannah’s cheeks, but she slipped into her chair as if she was afraid she might fall. “Thanks, uh, ma’am, but I won’t be here long enough for that.”
I growled and turned to Savannah. I’m sure my anger came through my gaze. I was furious as I stood and got in her face. She didn’t even flinch.
“I told you that’s not a good idea. The Jacks will find you, and you’ll be back to where you were a week ago. Is that where you want to be? Only this time, it’ll be worse because you ran away.”
She glared at me, her blue eyes full of hate. “What. Ever.” Without another word, she turned and pulled herself out of the chair, sending it careening against the table, and stomped down the hall, slamming the guest room door so loud it shook the windows.
“See what I mean? She hates me.”
Ma laughed. “She’s angry. And hurt. Give her time. I’ll bring some clothes by later.”
Time was the one thing I could give her because if I let her go, the Jacks would pimp her out again.
She’d be dead before the week was over.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Savannah
Oh fun, I’m alive to see another shitty day. Yay me.
I’d had an easier time on withdrawal for the past few days. I woke up feeling less shitty than yesterday, so that was a good thing, right?
My mind was clearer, my ribs were healing, and I was hungry.
I thought about Charlie’s mom. I could tell she was one of the good ones. She had a warm and sunny disposition and kind green eyes, not to mention a soft touch that made it easy to trust her immediately, even though it went against my every instinct. She was the wife of an outlaw.
But, shock of all shocks, she hadn’t suggested that Charlie drop me off on the side of the road and forget about me.
She just supported him—and me. Her kindness touched me unexpectedly since it had been so long since I’d felt the love and support of a mother.
