Remembering what we’d been talking about, I faced him again. “You always need to tell your mom when someone bothers you.”
He opened his mouth, no doubt to protest, but I cut him off, barely remembering to keep my voice down. “I know you worry about her, and I know she's working as hard as she can for y’all. But something like that is always above your pay grade, mostly because it can always lead to something worse. I know you’re trying to take on everybody’s problems, and I know you look like an adult, but you are, in fact, just a kid. You deserve to be protected. And your mom would want to know that adults are hitting on you.”
“I really would,” Sadie said from the recliner.
Her eyes went to the empty bags on the counter. “Did you buy groceries?”
“Yes, and I’ve already argued with Jaxon about it, so just accept it.”
She jerked the noisy recliner into the upright position and stretched her neck before leaning forward to rest her forearms on her knees. She buried her face in her hands, stress and exhaustion radiating from her underfed figure.
“Fine. But what happened?”
Jaxon recapped what he’d told me.
“JD told her to back off?” Sadie asked, even more surprised than I’d been.
Jaxon nodded. “Yeah.”
She shook her head. “I don’t like it.”
“Why, Momma? I was kinda relieved that he stepped in.”
She brought her fist up to her mouth, a calculation in her eyes. We exchanged a glance and I gave her the go-ahead gesture because something clearly bothered her about the situation.
“Sometimes adults will do a nice thing to make you feel like you have to return the favor. And JD doesn’t do a damned thing out of the goodness of his heart.”
“What do I do if he asks me to do a bad favor for him?”
“Just tell him you need to ask me first.”
Jaxon nervously rubbed his hands together. “Okay.”
Sadie looked to be holding back tears, and it broke my heart that she had to teach her barely teenaged son to watch out for wolves in sheep’s clothing.
“Don’t worry, Momma. I’m big enough to protect myself.”
“I get that, but you’re my son. And I swear to Christ if he tries something shady, I will fucking kill him.” She looked over at me. “Sorry you had to hear that, Rowdy.”
“Don’t be,” I said, agitated and wishing I could do more. “Call me first—I have a friend of a friend who might come in handy.”
The more I thought about it, the firmer my conviction that I was gonna try to contact that friend of a friend anyway. Anderson, or something. I trusted Sadie’s instincts about this JD guy.
My phone went off.
Skylar: Are we still on for this weekend?
“Excuse me,” I said. “Let me tell my friend I’m running a few minutes behind.”
Me: Yeah, sorry I’m late. I’ll be there in thirty.
Skylar: No worries, hun. I’m just here, looking fabulous.
I chewed my lip as I looked between mother and son. I felt so goddamned helpless. I wanted to get them the fuck out of here, but after the groceries and shoes, I didn’t even have enough room on my credit card to put them up for more than a few nights at a hotel.
“Look,” I said, acid roiling in my stomach. “We’ve got more to talk about, but the first thing we can do is you call me if you have to work an overnight shift.”
Sadie flushed but nodded her head. “I normally don’t?—”
