She laughed. “I’ll be fine. I love you, son. Be careful.”
I leaned in to kiss her cheek. “I love you, too. See you soon.”
With that, Presley and I walked to the front door and went inside. “Mom!” Ariel jumped up and ran to hug her. “How’s Ms. Manning?”
“She’s going to be okay, but a lot of other stuff came to light tonight that I don’t have time to explain right now. We’re going to spend the night at Ink’s, so I need you to pack a bag for overnight. I’ll fill you in on everything else once we’re finished here.”
“Okay, but I don’t want to leave Sir Pickles here alone if you think something’s wrong. And I know something’s wrong,” Ariel said.
“He’ll be okay for the night,” Presley said. “We’ll lock the doors and set the alarm.”
“I still don’t want to leave him,” Ariel said softly.
“I can stay!” Jake blurted. “I mean, I can sleep on the couch to keep an eye on Sir Pickles and the house. If that’s okay.”
“Mom?” Ariel asked.
“It’s fine with me if it is with you,” Presley said and looked at me.
I looked at Jake. “Text Phoenix and run it by him, but it’s cool with me.”
Presley and Ariel packed quickly and were ready to go within ten minutes. Ariel thanked Jake repeatedly, hugging him each time.
“Are we ignoring that?” I asked Presley.
“We are tonight,” she said and held up her keys. “Do you want to drive?”
I pressed my hand against my chest. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“I shouldn’t have to ask,” Presley said and stuck out her tongue.
“Give me the keys, woman,” I said, holding out my hand.
“If the old people could stop flirting and unlock the doors, the child would be happy,” Ariel said loudly.
“Right. Let’s go,” I said and unlocked the doors.
“Okay, what stuff came to light?” Ariel asked as soon as I pulled out of the driveway.
“The boy that Silas got into a fight with, Bill Woods. Do you know him?” Presley asked.
“I know who he is, but I don’t know him. Why?”
“Silas got into a fight with Bill because he and his sister invited Silas’s sister to one of their brother’s parties.”
“Who’s their brother?” Ariel asked.
“Willy Smith,” Presley said.
“Well, that explains why Silas wanted to kick Bill’s ass,” Ariel said. “But what does that have to do with us spending the night at Ink’s?”
“It’s just a precaution,” Presley assured her. “But you and I are loosely linked to the fight because of the party. And we’re also linked to it because of my relationship with Ink.”
Relationship. She said it so casually. I reached for Presley’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
She flashed me a soft smile before she returned her attention to Ariel.
“Well, we’ll still be linked to the fight tomorrow, so what’s the plan after tonight?” Ariel asked.
