“Mr. Maher,” Rowen started.
Dad groaned. “Just go. This isn’t your fault. I know you two have shit to do.”
“Sorry,” Rowen said faintly.
Dad went up the steps and talked quietly to Mom, but she was shaking her head before he ever tried to touch her. She shoved at him.
“No! I won’t stop!” she said, crying harder. “Why aren’t you doing anything about this? You’re just going to let him take Fallon with him?”
Grabbing Rowen’s hand, I tugged him toward the Lexus, and he hustled around to the driver’s seat. He wasted no time putting the car in Reverse. There was a bump as the tires hit the street.
“Mother Mary,” he whispered, hitting the gas pedal. The car raced forward.
Snorting, I reached into the back seat, where I’d tossed my testing kit earlier, and snagged the bag. “Avoid potholes,” I said with a small smile, settling the bag on my lap.
“Och, there’s some of me Fallon. Ye weren’t yerself. Ye’re okay after all that?” he asked, voice climbing higher.
“That? With Mom, you mean? That was nothing.” I shrugged and pulled out my glucose monitor, then stuck a test strip in it. After everything was ready, I set the monitor back in the bag. Bracing myself for the annoyance to come, I grabbed a disposable lancet and jabbed the side of my middle finger, since I hadn’t hit that one in a while. After I had a drop of blood welled up, I hurried to shove it against the strip so I wouldn’t lose it, then stuck my finger in my mouth.
75popped up on the screen.
A minute later I tossed everything, including the trash, back into the bag and grinned at Rowen. “My blood sugar is in the normal range. Low normal, but that just means I need to eat again for real.” I shrugged. “No worries.”
Rowen frowned and clutched the steering wheel tighter. “Ye’re all right then, rabbit?”
“Yep. Please, never let me do that again. I should probably get some glucose tablets to carry. I hate them because they’re gross but ugh. That would’ve been better than going to my parents’ house.” I rubbed my head, which was still aching a little.
“Seemed reasonable to stop,” Rowen said softly.
“It always does.”
He drove in silence for a while.
I settled back against the seat.
“Was she like that over the holidays when ye stayed?” He frowned at me.
Rolling my eyes, I nodded. “She’s getting worse. At first, she just wanted me home, but the longer I ignore her, the more pissed off she gets. I didn’t realize she’d been trying to get Dad to kick me out of the Company.” Anger squirmed through my gut.
Rowen grunted. “She can’t do that and neither can he. Getting out is a hell of a lot harder than getting in. It’s safer for ye to be with others in the Company right now, despite what she thinks.”
“I know.”
Rowen was quiet as he stopped at a drive-through for us and ordered greasy junk that I was overjoyed with. We both munched food as he navigated the traffic. The clock on the dash glowed, displaying a bright3:22 a.m.by the time we were done eating. Rowen pulled the Lexus to a stop in front of a tidy brownstone, which was one of about thirty others on the street. I hadn’t been paying attention, so I wasn’t sure where in the city we were, I just knew we weren’t in Rockaway.
“What are we doing?” I asked, frowning at Rowen.
He shrugged, closing his eyes briefly before smiling at me. “Didn’t ye hear me talk about this? Maybe ye were already feeling off. This is a little place Sloan keeps in the city for people who come to visit. He knew we would be here tonight and likely most of the day tomorrow, so he told me to stay here with ye. It’s easier on everyone not to be running back to the Hamptons with so much going on.”
Frowning, I stared at the clean brownstone. It looked just like it belonged to someone in the community, right down to a window box without flowers that was waiting for spring. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”
He patted my knee. “I packed for us. Everything is in the trunk.”
“Ugh, she’s right.” I flopped back against the seat and thumped the dashboard. “I do need someone to take care of me.” I felt stupid.
“Don’t do that. I did it to save time, and we were so busy I forgot to say anything about it.” He reached for my hand, and I let him take it.
Nodding, I still felt like I wanted to kick myself.
