“I get it.” Tears clogged Tyler’s voice as he dragged on the coat, and my heart couldn’t take it anymore.
“What’s going on?”
Tyler whipped toward me and that’s when I realized how useless his right eye was now. I’d managed to walk up completely in his blind spot. He wasn’t ignoring me. He couldn’tseeme.
“Oh, hell.” Bile crawled up my throat. What did Dad do? What did I do, leaving Tyler to deal with the maniac?
Fury sparked in his other eye, a rich brown that struck me as beautiful. I’d remembered a lot of things about Tyler, but agehad turned him into the type of man who could make me tongue-tied.
“How did you find me?” he snarled, zipping up his coat with such force I worried he might punch himself in the face by accident. He still had the same apple cheek on his left side. He looked thinner, though. I’d been so surprised yesterday that I hadn’t really taken a good look at him. My memories had overshadowed the man in front of me.
The door slammed shut, and Tyler cursed as he hefted the duffel bag and book bag from the floor to sling them over his shoulders. He started walking and shoved past me. Oh, he was still a couple of inches shorter than me. The discovery sparked something happy in my gut. His warmth was a welcome distraction from the conversation, and I cleared my throat as I stumbled down the stairs in his wake, grabbing the railing to stop from tumbling after him.
“Where are you going? To look for a job? Of course you are. I feel terrible. Perhaps I could help.”
He snorted as he hurried down the stairs, then shoved outside. I slipped the second my foot hit the icy sidewalk, and he grabbed my shoulder with a sigh, keeping me upright. A flicker of his old smile snuck across his face.
My breath caught when he tightened his grip. Was there a chance he might not hate me forever?
“Thanks,” I said with a grin.
He rolled his eyes, then marched on.
“Where are you going?” I rushed to his side again. “Do you know? You don’t, do you?” I waved a hand in front of him, and he slapped it down.
“Away,” he snapped.
“From what?”
“You.”
“That’s going to be difficult, since I’m walking with you.” I dodged around a man with a cane and banged my knee on a metal garbage can. Tyler didn’t slow at all, and I darted back to his side once more. “Why are we walking so fast?”
“Because they only stay open as long as they have boxes.” He scowled in my direction.
“That’s cryptic.” I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. “Boxes of what? I could carry the box.”
He sighed and his shoulders slumped, but he didn’t slow down until he stopped in front of an old brick building. The top two stories were likely apartments, but the bottom had a big sign above the double glass doors that read “Harvest Home Food Bank.” My stomach flipped as he went inside.
Why did Tyler need to visit a food bank?
A pretty woman who was younger than me smiled at him from behind a wide counter, the type of thing you’d see at a real bank, only there was no glass separating her from the public.
“How are you, Tyler?” she asked. She pulled down on a purple beanie as she talked. She was wearing gloves, too. They must not waste a dime on heating the place. Her button nose was pink.
“Fine, Opal. Can I still get a box?” The old Tyler would’ve been all smiles. This one barely made eye contact. My stomach hit my toes and kept on going toward the center of the earth. This wasn’t the same guy I’d left behind when I’d escaped to college.
She nodded. “I’m not supposed to, but I always set one aside for you.” She slid a clipboard toward him, and he signed his name.
“They know you here?” I whispered, feeling deeply uncomfortable.
He glared at me out of the corner of his good eye. “They do.”
I felt ready to puke up my breakfast as I rubbed my abs. How long had Tyler needed to come to a place like this? Shit.
The woman handed a large box over to Tyler with a bit of difficulty, and I couldn’t help but peek inside. The top was piled with bread and pastries from a local bakery. I raised my eyebrows at him.
He shook his head. “After two days, they send stuff here. Sometimes it’s stale, but it’s always fine.”
