“You are until proven otherwise.”
“Then what are you doing on my bus?”
He paused a moment, perhaps considering why himself. “Proving otherwise.”
Grace looked back at me. “You can’t reason with that logic.”
“No, you can’t.”
Just the way she looked at her brother told me she clearly adored him, and that made Quinn all the more attractive.
Quinn slid into a row next to a teenage girl who’d broken ranks with her family the minute she’d entered the bus for my afternoon tour.
“Hi. I’m Quinn.”
The girl went temporarily mute, blinking up at him in awe. I knew the feeling well.
“Mind if I sit with you?” he asked, already getting comfortable as he stretched out like he had in my car. I smiled at his ease.
“Apparently you’re staying,” Grace said. “What do you want me to tell Mom? She’s expecting you for dinner later.”
“Tell her I’ve been abducted by a bus full of angels. That should calm her down.”
“Right. Because any mention of abduction in our family is met with lighthearted giggles,” Grace countered.
Their relaxed ribbing caught the attention of every person in the bus. It was so out of place with the image most people had of this famously reserved family.
“Okay, well. Sorry, Jess,” Grace said as she moved off the bus. “I tried.”
And just as Quinn’s easy demeanor had captured my attention, so did Grace’s. There was just no way not to like her.
“Nice meeting you,” I called out to her as Delene closed the door.
I watched her wave as she walked up to a man and slid her fingers into his.
“This whole day…” Delene mumbled before putting her bus in gear.
“I hear ya,” I said before turning the microphone back on and addressing my passengers. “Okay, Angels, I hope you don’t mind, but we picked up a straggler. Give it up for Quinn McKallister.”
There was a rousing round of applause.
“Answer the question,” someone in the back called out.
“The question?”
“So, Quinn knows it’s you.”
“I think he knows already.”
More chanting. “Answer the question!”
“Just answer the question, Jess,” Quinn smirked.
I spoke low and deliberately into the mic. “Someplace fun—but nottoofun.”
My answer was met with roaring approval as Delene pulled back onto the road.
“Hey, Jess, I want to hear what you have to say about the people who live in that house,” Quinn said, pointing out his own palace.
