* * *
Harrison picked us up.Keely didn’t tell me he was coming. Not that I usually minded, but he was always really sweet to me. I appreciated the thought, but I hated refusing him when he always tried to give me gifts. He had gone to law school, but because of the economy and other factors, he was in the same situation as Keely: barely treading water.
Keely told me on the way to the car that he had recently gotten a good job, though, and was doing better. The vintage sports car he drove testified to that.
He was nice enough during the drive, but I kept catching him staring at my face. His jaw clenched and his hands tightened around the wheel. Keely must have warned him ahead of time not to make a big deal about it.
Once we arrived at the fair, and I refused to allow him to buy me food and things, he stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, refusing to look at me. After Keely asked me if I wanted to help out a booth that was short a person, he walked off without even saying he’d see us later.
Working the fair gave me some extra money, and food for the day was included. The only drawback was that I had to wear some kind of medieval getup. When Harrison finally came back and saw me, he grinned. He snapped my picture to send to his brothers, I was sure. They’d get a good laugh at my expense.
The ride back was quiet. I was thankful. My nerves were on edge. The day brought temporary relief from all of my problems, but the closer we came to the city, the more dread hung over my head. I was never one to keep thinking,What am I going to do?I just did, even if my options were scattered in the wind.
This time, though, life felt like it had brutally trumped me. I had no money but the measly few bucks in my bag, and no food except a loaf of bread. I had no job. No prospects. No home, and possibly, a crazed man with terra cotta pottery sticking out of his temple on the hunt for me.
I sighed long and hard as Harrison pulled up to Keely’s place.
“I’m coming in for a sec,” Harrison said, shutting off the car. “Give me a minute.”
Keely gave him a narrow look, but she got out, waiting for me to get out before she walked up to her door. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized Sierra wasn’t home. She must’ve left in a rush, because the door to her room was cracked open. Maybe she did that when it was only her and Keely, but whenever I came over, it was always closed.
“I’m going to get out of these clothes,” Keely said, going for her room. “Don’t even think about leaving, Mari!” she yelled over her shoulder. “We need to work on a plan. We need to get your shit together before you disappear on me. If you do, no fucking joke,I’mgoing to hunt you down.”
I took a seat on their second-hand sofa, sinking into the comfort of it. I lifted my feet, dirty from walking the dusty fair, and noticed blood spots between my toes. They’d burned like hell earlier when I took a shower—the cuts on my face, too. I thought about taking out the cold pack in my bag and sticking it in the freezer but was too tired to get up.
“Mari?”
“Hmm?” I looked up to find Harrison standing in the doorway, watching me. He held a wrapped gift in his hand.
“Your birthday,” he said. “I know it’s coming up soon.”
I almost groaned. Why? Why? Why! Why did he have to be so nice when he really wasn’t? There was a reason his siblings called him Grumpy Indiana Jones. He wasn’t the nice one, but in his own way, he was kind to me, even though he knew gifts made me uncomfortable. And my birthday wasn’t until October. It was early April.
I never accepted anything from anyone, not unless I paid or worked for it. No exceptions. Besides, his mother, Catriona, would blow an important vein if she knew how he always tried to buy me things. The woman didn’t hate me, but she didn’t like me either. The only reason she made an effort to find me after I was put into foster care was because Keely refused to eat unless she did. After the third time she passed out, Catriona made the effort and found me.
“Why do you always get that look on your face when I try to do nice things for you, Strings?”
Harrison had given me the nickname Strings when we were kids.
“Harrison…” I bit into my lip, feeling it split again. “I’ve told you before. I just don’t like gifts.”
“Humor me. You can donate it after you open it.”
Fucka me.I rubbed my temple for a minute and then, meeting his eyes again, nodded. To make the situation even more awkward, he sat next to me, watching as I opened it. I held it up, not sure what else to do. “You bought me a cellphone?”
“Yeah. That way you can keep in touch with Keely. Or…whoever. I told Kee I wouldn’t say anything, but I can’t keep quiet. That fucker is going to get his day after what he did to you.”
His eyes were hard to meet, so I looked at the phone. It was the first time in a long time that I had a hard time resisting kindness. He gave me this out of a place of worry. Still. My rule was worth more than his thoughtfulness.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I said quietly. Then I picked my bag up, dug around, and handed him two bucks. “For the phone. I can’t take it unless you take the money.”
He hated to, but he did. He slipped the two bucks in his pocket.
“What did you do?”
I startled, not realizing Keely had come back into the room. I sat up straighter, almost feeling like we had been caught doing something wrong. Harrison stood from the sofa, sticking his hands in his pockets.
“Nothing, Kee,” he said. “I gave Mari a gift for her birthday, sort of.”
