Chapter 7
Patricia’s apartment was an improvement over Harper’s in only two ways: size and location. The two-bedroom wasn’t in a great part of town, but Kieran didn’t know where it was, and Patricia’s couch was comfortable enough. Harper had slept worse places. With worse audiences.
“I got a new pack for the trip!” Lucas ran into the living room, clutching a dull green backpack. “It’s actually Cedric’s old one, but he didn’t need it anymore and mine had holes in it. And I got a new uniform, too! Want to see?”
“Are you kidding? Of course I want to see!” Nell said.
Lucas dropped the backpack and hurried back to his room, leaving Nell sitting on the floor with scout equipment piling up around her.
He had joined the Cub Scouts back in Shreveport, to everyone’s surprise. They were all city-people, so Lucas’ love for camping had taken some getting used to.
“You’re responsible for making him change.
” Harper had been crashing on the couch for the past few weeks, so she had gotten his excitement in piecemeal, but Nell wasn’t so lucky.
Even though her smile suggested otherwise.
“He hasn’t talked about anything but this trip for days.
He’d wear that uniform to bed if he was allowed. ”
Before Nell could answer, Lucas came back, wearing a worn scout uniform. Nell gestured him closer, showering him with compliments as she smoothed out the crinkled fabric.
Since Harper would be working and Patricia was out of town, Nell had come by to look after Lucas and make sure he got picked up for his camping trip the following morning.
That trip involved very little camping, apparently.
A few months back, Lucas met a boy at a scout event, and the two had become close to inseparable.
Cedric lived hours away, in Chicago, and to celebrate his birthday, he was spending the weekend at his family-owned lodge in upstate Illinois and had invited a few friends to join him, including Lucas.
Harper’s jaw had dropped when she saw pictures of that ‘lodge.’ It could house twenty people or more, easily.
“Did you finish your homework?” Harper asked. Someone had to be the boring grown-up, and Nell was too busy cooing.
Lucas groaned. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, you do. You’re being picked up early, so if you don’t do it now, you won’t have time.” Harper grabbed his shoulders and turned him towards his bedroom. “Bring it out here, and Nell can help you. You can show her the rest of your stuff afterwards.”
An excited smile replaced his pout. He ran to his room so fast he nearly slipped on the linoleum floor.
“Have you heard from Patricia?” Nell asked when Lucas was gone. “She met with them this morning, right?”
Harper wiped sleep from her eyes. Most of her work hours went far past midnight. Even though it was past noon, she’d been sleeping when Nell arrived.
“She was supposed to, yeah. Haven’t heard anything yet, which doesn’t bode well. Not that it’s surprising. Those vultures have already proved how soulless they are.”
Nell hugged her knees. “I don’t get how it’s still an issue. Mason was clear about what he wanted. Everyone at the station said so. It’s his kid they’re keeping the money from, for crying out loud.”
Harper was about to say that the people involved in this issue were more concerned with being right than doing the right thing when her eye caught on Nell’s wrist. She was wearing an oversized sweatshirt, the sleeves almost covering her hands, but one of them had crept up. Revealing a dark bruise.
“What’s that?” Harper asked. Nell yanked down the sleeve.
“Nothing! I just fell. Landed poorly.”
That explanation wasn’t uncommon. There were plenty of times when Nell had been wearing bruises and dismissed raised questions with the story that she ‘just fell.’
Sometimes it was true. And at other times, like now, she could only provide that hollow explanation if she wasn’t making eye contact.
“What happened, Nell?”
Nell cringed. Then glanced over her shoulder, making sure Lucas was still out of earshot.
“Nothing serious. I swear. New guy got too touchy a few nights ago. I told him to stop, and he didn’t want to, so I went to leave, and that’s when he grabbed my wrist.” Nell picked at a nail. “It was one of Colton’s friends. When he heard what happened, he demanded I apologize for being rude.”
“Please tell me you didn’t.”
Nell hugged her knees tighter.
Conflict had never been her strong suit. She was probably the sweetest person Harper had ever met, and it wasn’t doing her any favors.
When someone was cruel to her, she was more likely to fawn over them than attempt any kind of confrontation. The only people she could even tease were Evie and Harper, and it had taken a long time before she’d been comfortable enough for that.
“It wasn’t a big deal. It doesn’t even hurt that much.” A smile crept onto Nell’s face. “For what it’s worth, I doubt the guy will come back. Colton might have taken his side, but Maya didn’t. When she heard what happened, she kicked him out. Literally, it looked like.”
Though Harper had every intention of drilling further into Nell’s half-hearted dismissal, she couldn’t. The questions she’d been ready to fire off got stuck in her throat, transforming into a strained stammer.
Maya shouldn’t summon that sort of response. She wasn’t even present! And over a week had passed since that evening walk by the river, so these flustered reactions should have stopped by now.
The confusion in Nell’s eyes had just turned into excited realization when a groan sounded from the hallway.
“Are you whispering about dating?” Lucas trotted into the living room, homework in hand. Harper swallowed, reclaiming control of her voice.
“We’re just talking about boring adult stuff.”
She ruffled up Lucas’ hair as he sat on the floor. Nell barely looked at him. Instead, she was smirking.
“What?” Harper said, eyes narrowing in warning.
Nell pursed her lips. Then shrugged.
“Nothing. I was just thinking, since Lucas brought up dating, that you might have something to share in that department.”
Harper’s face went hot, and it only got worse when Lucas looked up from his work. At eight years old, he was cemented in the opinion that anything related to romance was gross, but right then, curiosity outweighed ick factor.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harper said. Nell nodded slowly, then covered the side of her mouth and lowered her voice.
“If Patricia finds out about you and Maya, I’m not going to help you.”
The heat gathering in Harper’s face heightened further. And whatever effect it summoned had to be obvious because Nell’s smile suddenly looked really fucking annoying.
Harper grabbed a pillow, intending to wipe off Nell’s amused expression by flinging it at her face, when the front door swung open.
Everyone stilled when Patricia stepped inside. Snowflakes clung to her long dark hair, frizzy and unkempt, and there were shadows under her eyes.
Homework forgotten, Lucas beamed and shot to his feet. “Mom!”
Patricia stiffened before she got a smile in place, catching her son’s running hug.
“Hey, honey… I didn’t realize you were out here.”
Though she tried, she couldn’t keep the tiredness out of her voice. And even if her exhaustion wasn’t a cause for concern, her presence was. She wasn’t supposed to return to St. Louis until the next day.
“You’re back soon,” Nell said carefully. Patricia ran a hand through Lucas’ hair.
“The meeting was moved up. By almost twenty-four hours, so it was lucky I got there early.” Her gaze went distant. “I didn’t want to stay any longer than I had to. I started driving back last night, slept at a motel when I got too tired to continue, and then drove the last stretch today.”
“Does that mean you can go on the trip with me?” Lucas asked brightly.
Harper and Nell exchanged glances. The provided reason for why Patricia wasn’t going with him that weekend was that she needed to be in Shreveport. The real one wouldn’t make sense to an eight-year-old.
Patricia crouched down to Lucas’ eye level, caressing his arms.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” His smile withered. “All the other moms are coming.”
“The other moms are passive-aggressive bitches,” Harper muttered, biting the inside of her cheek when Nell shot her a look.
Since the birthday trip involved both sleepovers and wilderness, the parents could accompany their kids if they wanted. Patricia was in that group, her invitation being delivered through a brief and very curt phone call.
Typical. The other parents were all pulling in six figures, they weren’t single, and the few times they’d met Patricia, they struggled to keep the disdain off their faces.
While she wasn’t ashamed of what she did for a living—none of them were—it didn’t make the comments any more pleasant.
They had just grown accustomed enough that they knew how to deal with it.
But Lucas wasn’t. If Patricia went with him, it would only be a matter of time before her presence produced whispers that were easily overheard.
Then Lucas would be surrounded by boys repeating what they’d heard from their parents, asking why his mom was whoring herself out instead of getting a proper job.
It had happened before. More than once.
“I have to work this weekend.” Patricia brushed Lucas’ hair away from his eyes.
He had the same fair skin as his mother, but his hair was all Mason’s.
Thick, black, and so curly that the only one who could tame it was Nell.
“But you’ll have so much fun with Cedric that you won’t even notice I’m not there.
You can tell me about the trip when you get back. ”
Lucas’ bottom lip quivered, and he lowered his eyes. But even that slight movement had an effect. Patricia took a sharp breath, her hold on Lucas loosening.
After a moment, Nell got to her feet, walked to the door, and put a hand on Lucas’ back.
“How about we go get some pizza from that corner place? My treat. You can pick all the toppings you want.”