She said it like her favorite sushi place had closed. Not ideal, but not a big deal.
“And you think it’ll happen that easily?”
“Yeah,” Tara said. “I’m a Rice grad who became a senior analyst at NME Services in three years. You could do the same if you wanted to, you know.”
I gulped. Maybe. But the world outside my father’s cocoon just seemed so…so…
Warm and full of possibilities?
At least with other people?
“You won’t get paid more than you would at NME,” I said.
“That’s fine,” Tara said. “I don’t need to make six figures a year. Even a twenty percent decrease in pay would be fine.”
God, she makes it sound so easy.
“How are you?” she said. “You gonna be safe going back to Santa Maria?”
“I guess,” I said, ignoring Tara’s disbelieving look to me. “I’m only planning on being there during the day, and even if I have to stay at night, there’ll be security. So it’ll be fine. It’s a good career opportunity.”
Tara shook her head.
“For someone that gave me such grief for continuing to supposedly make poor decisions, it seems to me like you’re making one now.”
“Better a shit job than a bad boyfriend.”
“You know Brock isn’t that, Elizabeth, come on.”
I did. I liked Brock.
Brock was the most even-keeled, Garrett was the wildest, Zack was the most intellectual, I didn’t know Connor and Mason that well, and as for the last one…
Well, Steele was Steele; I’d just leave it at that. I couldn’t not feel something for him when he was omnipresent in Tara’s life for so long.
“Do you think last week would have happened if you weren’t with Brock?”
“Probably,” Tara said immediately, albeit with such conviction I believed her. “Remember, the gas station mugging was purely random. We weren’t targeted, but we got caught up all the same.”
So reassuring.
“Anyway, don’t be alarmed, but I asked Brock to make sure you’ll be safe.”
“What?”
“I asked him to send someone to the office to provide security during the day.”
“Tara!”
She rolled her eyes.
“You don’t want protection from the guys that killed three would-be rapists and sent a message to the local gang?” Tara said. “I’d rather them than the police. I’ve never gotten a good vibe from the cops over there.”
“But the police are there to protect and serve!” I said.
Tara sighed.
“And in ninety-nine percent of places, they do that perfectly, yes. But in Santa Maria, for whatever reason, Brock and his guys have always had complaints about the sheriff, and I suspect more and more now they have good reason to. So, yeah, I’d rather trust the Black Reapers than the police, at least over there.”
