Billy’s eyes narrowed.Who the hell had put this guy in charge?
“Now, where was I?”Fenton slid his finger down the paper.
“It’s a four,” Roxie said sharply.“A four.”
He squinted again.“Why, yes, I believe you’re right.”
In the end, it wasn’t the runaround they ran into; it was bureaucracy.There was only so much of that Billy could take, but his patience far outlived Roxie’s.She’d done well, really well, but he’d seen the cracks forming.When she’d looked ready to pluck the five remaining hairs off the manager’s pointy little head, he took over.They left a copy of her form with the man, along with her cell number and email address.
“I’m never going to get those files,” Roxie growled as they waited at the elevator.
“Yes, you will.We’ll keep at him.Work within the system, babe.Remember?”
They’d never gotten anywhere trying to fight it.They’d had to find ways to work inside it—like when they’d convinced that judge they would only run away together if he didn’t give his consent on the marriage license.And they’d promised that Roxie would stay in school…
“He probably has the answers sitting right there in that dusty computer.”
“You don’t know that,” Billy warned.“Don’t bet too much on this.If it was a closed adoption, there might not be anything they can give you, Form XYZ or not.”
She turned on him so fast, her hair flew around her shoulders.
He held up his hands.“I know it’s not what you want to hear.”
The elevator finally arrived, and he tugged her into the car.She shot daggers at the uncooperative office until the doors closed.
“Billy,” she said forlornly, turning to him.
He wrapped his arms around her.She tucked her face against his neck, and he rubbed his chin against her soft hair.Drug dealers and slumlords suddenly seemed like nothing compared to ineffective bureaucrats.
“It will be okay, baby.We’ll get whatever they have, I promise.”
She sighed.Her disappointment and dejection made the air in the elevator feel like a two-ton weight.
“Places like this still knot me up inside,” she whispered.“I thought I could handle it, but the feel of that place?The smell?It took me right back to those times when I had to sit on one of those hard, wooden chairs while people talked about me like I wasn’t even there.I felt trapped… overlooked…”
He tightened his hold.“Maybe Maxie or Lexie can get their guys to put some pressure on them.”
Even as he said the words, Billy’s teeth started to grit.He knew how she felt, because he was feeling exactly the same way.Powerless.Ineffective.
The autumn air was crisp as they left the building.They started down the long line of steps to the truck, and Roxie winced.
“Damn it.”Letting go of the railing, she unzipped her boots and took them off.Throwing back her head, she let the wind lift her hair.When she lowered her chin again, a good chunk of the anger was gone.
Barefoot, she began walking down the steps.Her toenails were painted red to match her lips, but that concrete had to be freezing.
“Here,” he said, moving towards her.
She held up one finger in warning.
He backed off.
Carrying her boots at her side, she headed dejectedly for the pickup.Shoving his hands into his pockets, Billy followed.
He’d had a gut instinct that things wouldn’t go well here, but he’d hoped he’d be wrong.He searched for something else to say, anything that might soothe her.He had nothing.
Off in the distance, he heard a starter grind.
He turned his head, instinctively searching out the sound.An engine growled, but never quite turned over.A little engine, nothing big-sized.He zeroed in on the old Camry sitting in the middle of the lot.It coughed and sputtered, but the driver wasn’t giving up hope.
