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“Hey!” I heard.

I stopped when I reached the porch covering, then turned to find the friend that was in the passenger seat crawling out of the truck, his eyes wide and worried.

“What?” I asked shortly.

He turned his eyes to the door, gauging to make sure that the boy was actually inside, then turned back to me.

“I’m Mace Turner,” he said quickly.

“Okay,” I drawled, waiting for him to get on with it.

“I’m…I’m a friend of Attie’s,” he said.

My eyes instantly narrowed.

“How friendly?” I drawled, hands clenching into fists.

“I’ve been seeing her for a while…at school. We’re just friends.” He licked his lips. “Well, we were seeing each other. Then she abruptly stopped seeing me about six months ago. She changed.”

I blinked, not ready for that response.

“She changed?” I asked.

I nodded.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “But that’s not what I want to talk to you about.”

I gritted my teeth.

“Well then, what was it you wanted to talk about?” I said in exasperation.

He pointed at the door where the boy had disappeared. “That’s Ellison. He’s not very nice.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Then why are you with him?” I asked gratingly.

He pointed at my house.

“Your daughter lives next door to him,” he said simply.

I wanted to laugh.

“Okay,” I muttered. “Get on with it.”

“Ellison’s not a good person. If you’re not careful, he’s going to do something stupid, and you could get hurt in the process,” Mace explained quickly, the words seeming to tumble from his lips in his haste to say them.

“I don’t think that really matters at this juncture. He’s a kid. I’m an adult. There won’t be any more contact between the two of us, if I have my say so about it. But thank you for informing me of your concerns,” I said simply, surprised by his worry over me.

He nodded quickly, then tossed one look back over his shoulder before he sighed.

“I have to go home. I have to be at work in an hour. He was taking me home when you came out of your house,” he explained quickly.

My head hurt.

“How are you getting home?” I asked.

He pointed.