But you’re not on a date with Luke…
She needed to put him out of her thoughts, for at least tonight, and remember that she was on a date with someone else.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak to Rory, her phone rang.
Of course, it did.
Expecting it to be Luke, she glanced down and arched a brow in surprise. It was her mom. “Ah crap.” If she didn’t take this, her mother would worry herself sick.
Last thing she wanted was to see her mother hysterical, thinking something had happened to her. Having seen the nightmare over her sister, she wasn’t about to put her mother through that.
“Something wrong?” Rory asked.
“No, I just need to be rude for a second. Hang on.” She answered the phone. “Hi, Mom.”
“Baby! How are you doing?”
“I’m fine and actually on a date. Mind if I call you back?”
“Goodness no! Tell him I said hi.” Her mom hung up immediately.
She set her phone aside. “My mom says hi.”
“Okay.”
“I know and I’m sorry. It’s just she worries about me, so I try to never roll her calls. If I do, her mind goes to dark places. Same if I text. If she doesn’t hear my voice, she thinks someone has taken me and is using the phone to toy with her.” Her mom had been bad before Siobhan’s death. Since then…
Sorcha always picked up.
“Totally understood. I do the same with my mom. Being a cop, she always thinks I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.” His eyes widened as he realized what he’d said to her. “I mean… I?—”
“It’s okay, Rory. I know you weren’t being insensitive.” It was easy for people who’d never experienced her nightmare to make comments like that. And while it sometimes hurt, she didn’t want others to have to dance around eggshells because tragedy had decided to assault her and her family. She didn’t want anyone to go through their nightmare.
Before he could comment, his phone rang. He glanced at it, then frowned. “Not my mom…worse.” He answered it. “Corvan.”
As the waitress neared their table, Sorcha waved the girl away, since she wasn’t sure how personal that call was. In the event it was work, she was sure Rory wouldn’t want the stranger to overhear.
“I’m on my way.”
Definitely not personal. “Crime call?”
He let out a long sigh. “And this is why I don’t date. Most wouldn’t be happy that I had to leave before we even got to order.”
Rory was right. She understood, as she’d been in his shoes before. There was nothing worse than that disappointed look on someone’s face when she had to get up and leave at a moment’s notice. One of her dates had even once said, “They’re dead. Can’t they wait?”
Needless to say, there had never been another date with that jerk.
But Rory understood and so did she.
“Can I ride along?” she asked him.
“Sure. Especially since this might be one of yours more than mine.”
Oh fun. “What is it?”
“Another student.”
Her stomach shrank at those words. Please don’t be our unknown shredder… She didn’t want to see another mangled kid. “Like the others?”
