“No, Lizzy from the soup kitchen. I’d better answer it.”
I nod.
“Hello … hey …” Axel sits up. “Is he still there?” He talks faster. “Okay, I’ll be there shortly. Thanks for letting me know.”
“What’s up?”
“I’m so sorry to do this, but I need to run out.”
I swallow my disappointment. “Is everything okay?”
His jaw tightens. “I’m not sure.”
I touch his arm. “Whatever it is … you can tell me.”
He takes in a breath. “There’s too much to tell, you’ll just have to see it.”
It’s not lost on me that he’s repeating my words from earlier. “Okay.”
“Will you go with me?”
I don’t so much as hesitate. “Of course.” I’m relieved that he’s including me in whatever this is. Is this about Dex? The man he asked Lizzy about?
“Thanks,” he says in a distracted manner that lets me know he’s already a thousand miles away.
Chapter
Ten
The secondwe step foot into the soup kitchen, Lizzy motions with her head to where a man is hunched over, wolfing down food. His silver hair is matted and greasy, his coat ragged. Axel squeezes my hand before releasing it. “Could you give me a minute?”
“Sure.”
He goes over and sits down beside the man.
Lizzy comes over to greet me. “Hey, you.”
“Hey.” I motion at the table. “Need any help serving?”
“Nah, I think we’ve got it covered. We had a couple of extra people show up tonight.” She wipes her hands as a coy smile moves over her lips. “Looks like things are going well with you and Axel.”
A shaky laugh slips out. “Yeah, that seems to be the case.”
She arches an eyebrow. “Seems?”
Good grief, this is awkward. “It’s still early. We’ll see how it goes.”
“I know a good match when I see it. Y’all are in this for the long haul.”
Without warning, tears burn my eyes. I dab at the corners. “Sorry.” I gulp out a laugh. “I don’t know where that came from.”
Concern flicks over her pretty face. “Honey, you wanna talk about it?”
“Not really.”
She touches my arm. “I’m sure whatever it is will be fine.”
“I dunno about that.” My stomach knots. Not wanting to talk about myself anymore, I ask, “Who’s that man Axel’s talking to?”
