Chapter Fifteen
On Saturday morning, Davin checked his watch as he sat at the island in the kitchen, sipping his coffee. He was going to have to leave for work soon, and Booker was still sleeping. He’d hoped that he’d be able to see him before he left.
Alexis set her coffee down and perched on the stool next to him. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’ll feed him some breakfast, and hopefully, convince him to stick around.”
“I hoped to see him before I went out.”
“I know, but I’ll try to convince him to stay. That may not mean that he’ll still be here by the time you finish work.”
“True. Even if he does want to stay, he’ll be at work tonight. I might pop in and talk to Tino today if I get the chance. I want to see how much he knows – although, I don’t imagine that he knows much.”
“No.” Alexis made a face. “He thought that personal hygiene was the worst of Booker’s problems.”
Davin smiled. “Don’t be too hard on him. He might not have noticed what was going on with the kid, but he did give him a chance – gave him a job.”
“True. And don’t worry if you don’t get the chance to talk to him, we could always go over there tonight.”
“You don’t want to go to The Boathouse?”
She made a face. “We could. I know Cal will give me a hard time if I don’t at least show my face. How do you feel about it?”
“I’ve been looking forward to it – to taking you out and showing you off.”
She laughed. “Really?”
“Yup. I know some of those guys have felt sorry for me. A lot of them seemed to meet their lady within the first five minutes of arriving at the lake. Like Kenzie told you, I’ve been here for years now and …”
“And you finally got saddled with me?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I was going to say that I finally understand that the best is worth waiting for.”
She rolled her eyes at him, but he could see that his words touched her, even though she said, “Flattery won’t get you far with me.”
He chuckled. “I guess I’ll just have to keep telling you the truth then and hope that you believe me.”
He rested his hand on the counter palm up and waggled his fingers until she linked hers through them.
“I’m serious, Alexis. You were well worth the wait.”
She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. “So were you. Would you do me a favor, though?”
His breath caught in his chest; it sounded as though she was going to tell him to back off, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. “Anything.”
She smiled. “I find myself in unfamiliar territory.”
“How so?”
She smiled. “I feel relaxed with you – at ease – in a way that I’m not used to. Perhaps it’s just because we share similar backgrounds but … I trust you.”
“And that’s a problem?”
She smiled. “It might be. I don’t want to take too much for granted. Don’t want to get so comfortable that I make assumptions.” She met his gaze. “Will you let me know if I get too far ahead of myself – of us, and of where you want this to go?”
He squeezed her hand and smiled. “I will – if that happens, but I can’t see it. I feel the same way. I feel like we’re on the same page. I imagine we’ll hit some bumps as we figure things out, but I don’t imagine that you’ll get ahead of yourself – or of me. If anything, I was concerned that I’d be the one who might assume too much.”
She held his gaze. “I don’t see that happening, either. Of course, there are no guarantees. Either one of us could discover that there’s something we can’t live with about the other, but for now … I don’t see what that might be.”
“Me neither. I say we play it by ear. I’m not good at games. I think we should both just go with how we feel and know that if it gets to be too much, we’ll say so.” He reached up and traced his fingers down her cheek. “I have high hopes for us, but even if those hopes don’t pan out, I’d like to think that we’ll stay in each other’s lives if only as friends.”
She leaned her cheek into his palm. “I’d like that.” Her smile faded. “Actually, I wouldn’t. I want this to work out, but failing that, you’re the kind of person I’d love to have as a friend.”
“Hopefully we can be both.”
She raised her eyebrows. “And that’s what makes you so different. I don’t think I’ve ever had that before.”
He chuckled. “I know damn well that I haven’t. I hate to break this up, but I need to get my ass into gear or I’ll be late.”
“Yes, get going.”
“I’ll just take Booker’s clothes up and leave them outside his door.”
She smiled. “You want to check on him before you go, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I know that the two of you will be fine together, but …”
“It’s okay. You don’t need to explain; you don’t need a reason. Come on, his things are on top of the dryer.”
~ ~ ~
Alexis watched Booker rinse his plate and put it into the dishwasher after he’d eaten.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?”
“I’m good, thanks.” He patted his stomach. “I’m full.”
“Well, there’s always fruit in the bowl.” She pointed. “And you can help yourself to anything in the fridge, freezer, pantry … anything you can find.”
“Thanks.” He’d opened up a little while they ate breakfast. Alexis had made eggs and bacon and hashbrowns, grateful that she’d bought them for brunch with Davin on Sunday. She’d eaten far more than she normally would in an attempt to make Booker feel that it was okay to do the same. She hoped that he was eating at the restaurant during his shift, but she didn’t know for sure. He looked like he could do with feeding up, but that might just be a teenage boy thing.
“Would you like another orange juice?” she asked. “Want to come and sit outside with me?”
He met her gaze before looking away again. “You don’t have to do this you, know. I’m … I mean, it was awesome of you to let me stay the night and to do my laundry and feed me but …”
She raised her eyebrows. “But?”
He fiddled with the hem of his T-shirt but didn’t meet her gaze.
“You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to,” she told him. “I’d hate for you to feel obligated in any way. If you want to pick up and go, I won’t try to stop you. But I would like it if you wanted to stay here.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Why not? We’re both new in town. I don’t know many people yet. I’d like to get to know you. I have a house with more bedrooms than I need, and you find yourself without a place of your own yet.”
“Do you have kids of your own?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
She let out a short laugh. “I didn’t want them. I know myself – I’m not the motherly type. And I had a career that I loved that wouldn’t have fit well with family life.”
He met her gaze, and she could see that he had more questions. She’d let him ask whatever he wanted to know – and then hope that he might answer some of hers.
“Do you want that juice?”
He smiled and got to his feet. “I can get it. Should I top up your coffee?”
“Thanks.” She breathed a sigh of relief; she’d half expected that he would refuse the offer and leave.
When they were settled at the table out on the back deck, she waited for him to speak. If she kept taking the lead, it’d probably feel like an interrogation, and he’d be on his way just as fast as he could.
Eventually, he looked her in the eye. “What kind of career did you have?”
She looked around as if checking to make sure that there was no one around who might overhear her answer. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
He pursed his lips. “You’re not joking, are you?”
“No. I mean, I wouldn’t actually kill you – I am joking about that.”
He smiled. “I was kind of hoping.”
She frowned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think of it that way around. It must have felt like you were taking a risk coming back here with us last night.”
“Nah. I … You guys were never going to hurt me. I knew that. You guys are good people. I could tell as soon as I met you that first night at the restaurant. There are a lot of scary people out there. I don’t trust anyone usually – it’s too risky.”
“Good. I mean, I’m glad that you keep your wits about you – there are a lot of dangerous people out there. But I hope that you’ll trust us enough to stick around. There are no strings, Booker. We just want to help you find your feet.”
“Thanks.”
She smiled. “I thought you were going to ask why again.”
“Nah. I don’t need to. I can see it. It’s like I said, you guys are good people. I wasn’t sure that people like you still existed.”
“Do you mind if I ask how long you were in foster care?”
He shrugged. “Five years. Since my mom died.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged again. “We should never have left here.”
Alexis wanted to ask why they had but thought it better to wait and let him decide what and how much he wanted to share.
“I loved it here when I was small. We moved here when my dad got out of the Navy. I don’t remember anything before we came to the lake. Dad was kind of … depressed, I guess. But he had good days. I went to school here, and Mom worked at the resort cleaning, and …” He stared off into the back yard as if he could see his earlier life playing out there. “I remember life being good here. It can’t have been great; my dad went out back and shot himself.”
Alexis closed her eyes and nodded. She’d known far too many who’d taken their lives in that way.
Booker blew out a sigh. “Mom did her best after he died, but she wasn’t making enough money. She got a job in the city, and we moved to an apartment there and … I don’t want to tell you what the job was. She only did it to make enough money to feed us.” He clenched his jaw, and Alexis waited.
“She never would have done that kind of work if she had any choice. They were the ones who got her on drugs and …” He sucked in a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. “She died from a heroin overdose. The other women who shared the apartment called child services, and they took me. I never got placed with a family – no one wants a thirteen-year-old boy. I was in group homes the whole time.”
“That must have been tough.”
He shrugged. “It was better than the placements some kids were sent to.”
Alexis nodded. “I don’t know the first thing about the foster care system.”
He gave her a sad smile. “You don’t want to.”
“I do. I want to understand about this aging out – how does it work?”
“Like Davin said – once you turn eighteen, you’re out on your own.”
“They don’t help with finding you a place to stay or a job or … anything?”
“They do. But they don’t really want to help. They just want to keep their numbers up. I could have shared an apartment with some of the other kids, but I didn’t want to do that. They were all excited about being able to do what they wanted.”
“And you weren’t?”
“Yeah, but they were excited about partying, and I was excited about being able to come back here and find a job.”
“And you succeeded.”
He made a face. “I’m not exactly succeeding, am I?”
“You’ve achieved what you set out to, so far. You’re back in Summer Lake. You have a job, and you have a place to stay.” She smiled, hoping that she wasn’t overplaying it.
He met her gaze. “Are you a do-gooder?”
She couldn’t hold in a laugh. “No. I’m sure that there are a few of those in this town. But believe me, kid. I’m not helping you out just to make me feel better about myself.”
“Why then?”
“As we told you last night – because you’re a good person and you deserve a chance. You’ve been dealt a shitty hand in life so far, but that hasn’t stopped you. You made it here to the lake. You talked your way into a job at Giuseppe’s. You’re not …” She stopped and frowned at him. “I’m assuming that you haven’t lied and stolen to get this far?”
He shook his head rapidly. “No ma’am. My mom might have gone down a bad road, but she had her values when I was small – and she taught them to me. I don’t lie, I don’t steal. I treat people with the respect they deserve.”
Alexis smiled at that. “I noticed that about you – you are very respectful, both of people and their property.”
“Yep.”
“How did you find the trailer?”
He dropped his gaze again. “I know I shouldn’t have broken in, but it was obvious that no one lives there. And I didn’t do any harm. I thought no one would notice.”
“I’m not criticizing – honestly. I’m impressed. You’re right. You did no harm to the trailer or to anyone. In fact, if it weren’t for me, you probably could have stayed there indefinitely, and no one would have been any the wiser. Lily thought that someone had been in there, but I think she would have convinced herself that she was imagining things. I was the one who wanted to investigate – and that was only because I was concerned about who might be staying there. The reason I asked how you found it is that the barn is kind of out of the way.”
He smiled. “It is. I got lucky. I love horses. When we lived here, I used to go for walks with my dad and we’d walk by Joe Walton’s fields. The barn wasn’t like it is now. It was just fields with horses. My mom used to give me apples and carrots and I used to give them to the horses. When I first got back here, I was going around seeing all the old places – our house, and the elementary school, and I saw a sign for the riding stables, so I went up there to see the horses. The lady – Lily – she’s nice. She was kind to me when I said I just wanted to see the horses. I told her about when I was a kid, and she even gave me some carrots that I could feed to the horses.” His smile faded. “I felt bad, breaking into her trailer after she was so nice to me, but I wasn’t doing any harm.”
Alexis reached out and patted his shoulder. “I’m sure when we talk to her, she’ll tell you that she doesn’t mind.”
“Talk to her?” Booker’s eyes were huge.
“I’m afraid so. I told her that I was going to find out who was staying in the trailer. Now that I have, I need to let her know. You won’t be in any kind of trouble – I promise you that.”
“You can’t promise. You don’t know …” There was an edge of panic to his voice.
“Booker?”
He met her gaze, looking for all the world as if he was about to bolt.
“I can promise you – and I do. I understand if you don’t believe me, if you don’t trust me yet. But I intend to do everything I can to prove that you can trust me.”
He remained silent for so long that she felt like she’d lost him.
“I understand that you’d rather not have to see Lily. Rather not tell her that you were the one who was staying in the trailer. But can you see that she needs to know? She needs the peace of mind of knowing that there isn’t some axe murderer lurking around the barn at night.”
That caught Booker’s attention and he nodded slowly. “I guess.”
Alexis smiled. “Being a responsible adult sucks sometimes, but the more practice you get the easier it becomes.”
He blew out a sigh. “Okay.”
“Did you like the horses?” She’d pushed hard enough for now and wanted him to relax again.
He smiled. “Yeah, they’re awesome.”
“Which ones do you like best?”
“There are two new ones. Lily said that they’d just arrived – that some lady had rescued them. They were skinnier than the others and scared. I liked them best. The smaller one was really scared, and he hid behind his friend. Some nights, when I couldn’t sleep, I’d go and hang out with them.” He smiled. “The big one came straight to me, and the other one started coming around, too.”
Alexis couldn’t help smiling.
“What?” Booker asked. “Do you know the ones I mean?”
“I do, their names are Mac and Beau.”
Booker smiled. “Let me guess – you’re the lady who rescued them?”
“I am.”
His smile faded. “And now you want to rescue me?”
“No. I want to support you while you rescue yourself. The horses don’t get a say in what happens to them. When I found them, they were about to be shipped off and killed for dog meat.” She gave him a wry smile. “No matter how dire your situation may get, I don’t see you meeting that fate.”
He shook his head.
“I intervened with the horses because there was nothing that they could do for themselves. That’s not the case with you. I’m really not a do-gooder. I’m more a live and let live kind of person. Whatever you choose to do is entirely up to you. I’m simply offering some support. Right now, through no fault of your own, you’re at a disadvantage. Most young people have a support system they can fall back on while they figure out their way in life – I’m offering that for you if you want it. And of course, Davin is, too.”
“Thank you.”
“Does that mean that you’re prepared to accept our help?”
He smiled. “I’d be stupid not to, wouldn’t I?”
She smiled back at him. “Well, yes, but I wouldn’t say it that way.”
He chuckled. “That’s because you’re so polite. Are you British?”
“I am.”
“You guys say please and thank you all the time, don’t you?”
She laughed. “Apparently, we do. I’ve lived in the States for over twenty years now, so that may have worn off.”
“You still have your accent. It’s cool.”
“Thank you.” She set down her empty coffee cup. “What time is your shift at Giuseppe’s today?”
“I start at four.”
“And what would you be doing today if we hadn’t interrupted your plans?”
“Fishing.”
“For food?”
He nodded.
That broke her heart. “Will you come to the grocery store with me?”
When he hesitated, she added, “I could really use your help.”
“Okay. What do you need?”
She led him back into the house and took all the cash she had from her purse. “I need to know that you’re going to be okay, no matter what. I would like you to stay here. As I’ve already told you, you can eat whatever you like, you can make the guest bedroom your own, I’ll give you the spare key, and here …” She held out the twenties from her purse. “You can have this to keep you going until you get your first paycheck. I’d like you to come to the grocery store with me, because I want to get the kind of food that you want to eat. And I want to buy extra so that if you take off on me, you can take it with you and not have to fish for your breakfast.”
He clenched his jaw and for a moment she thought that she’d made him angry. His eyebrows drew together, and he ground out the words, “You don’t need to do that.”
“I know, but I want to.”
She could see his throat working, and his eyes shone a little too brightly with unshed tears.
“I want to stay here, but I don’t want any of the other stuff.”
“Okay.”
He took a step toward her, and she braced herself, wondering if she’d misjudged him.
“Can I give you a hug?” he croaked.
“Oh, sweetheart. Of course!” She held her arms out and he flung himself at her. She held him tight, wishing she could soothe away the tension that hummed through his skinny frame. She patted his back. “It’s okay, Booker. It’s all okay. You’re going to make it. You’re going to do great in life. I know you are.”
He clung to her tightly for a few moments before stepping back. “Sorry. I …”
She smiled. “I’m not. I don’t think of myself as a huggy kind of person, but just lately …” She chuckled. “Between Davin and you, I think I could learn to like hugs.”
He smiled back. “It’s not cool to be a hugger.”
She shrugged. “Do I look like I give a shit?”
He laughed out loud at that. “No. You don’t. I did. I had to. You can’t be seen as weak – you know?”
“I do know – can you imagine what it was like being a woman working with a bunch of big burly men?”
He nodded. “Wow. Yeah. For me it was the other kids. If they thought you were soft, they’d beat the shit – err, crap out of you.”
“Well, neither of us needs to worry about that anymore. Any time you want a hug, I’m in.”
“Thanks. My mom was a huggy kind of person; that’s one of the things that I miss the most.”