Chapter 8 #2
“Chelsea made your aunt’s boyfriend sound a little dodgy.”
“Yeah? That would make sense. He has a free home, as far as he’s concerned, and he may not be happy to lose it.”
“And I don’t know much about her mom at all, but Chelsea made it very clear that she was happy to be away from her mother.”
“Good to know. Thanks for the information, but don’t get yourself riled up over it. We’ll see what my lawyer has to say.”
“Will do.” She ended the call, then walked outside to her vehicle, where she found Chelsea standing there in the parking lot, staring down at a flat tire. “Uh-oh,” she muttered out loud.
Chelsea nodded. “Yeah, you’re not kidding, this is a big uh-oh. I have places to be.”
“I can give you a lift, if you want.”
She looked at her and asked, “Would you mind?”
“No, let’s go, but you still need to get somebody to fix this.”
“I’ve already called, and they will be about ten minutes, and that was about ten minutes ago,” she noted, as she stared around. No tow truck was coming.
“Is it just a flat tire?” Lindsey asked.
“Yeah, it’s just a flat, … four of them.”
“Four flats in a parking lot?” And, sure enough, they were all flat. “Did you run over glass?” She frowned as she looked around, then asked, “Did somebody slash them?”
Chelsea shrugged. “I don’t know.”
But something was in her tone of voice. “Chelsea, are you in trouble?”
“No, no, no, I’m not in trouble,” she said.
But definitely something was off. Lindsey stared at her and asked, “Would you even tell me if you were in trouble, or has life been so hard that you don’t think anybody would help you if you were?”
Chelsea swallowed and replied, “Let’s just say there hasn’t been a lot of joy in many ways in my life. And my mother’s boyfriend is somebody I don’t want to spend any time with.”
“Would he have done this?”
“I don’t know why he would have, except that it might bring me back into his orbit again.”
“And that sounds pretty rough.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, “it’s very rough and not anything I want to deal with. But, right now, I really need to go.” She called and made further arrangements with the tow truck driver, then hopped into Lindsey’s vehicle, and they headed for the hospital.
“Is that where you’re working?” Lindsey asked.
“Yes, at least right now while I do my practicum. I don’t know where I’ll end up working afterward, but maybe out of town,” she said hopefully.
“That bad?”
“Sometimes, yeah,” she agreed. “Part of the reason I was always avoiding everybody growing up was because of my mother. She’s a bit of a nutcase.”
“Oh gosh.”
“Now she’s on the warpath, and I made a comment that they didn’t like, so they’re all on my case.”
“I’m sorry. That sounds awful,” Lindsey whispered.
“It is, but when you find out some family history that you didn’t know about, it can make for a pretty rough introduction into who your family really is.”
“Do you have a grandparent or anybody who can help you?”
“Granddad is in a home, and apparently he’s on the rampage about something too, but I don’t know what,” she said, with a laugh.
“They say that he’s incapacitated, and they’ve been working to get him declared unfit so they have control of his estate, but he’s been hanging on and fighting as much as he can. I’m on his side.”
“Why?”
“My mother is trying to get control of something, and he won’t sign off. So, until that happens, they’re both on my case.”
“So, in other words, you’re hiding from your mother, her boyfriend, and your grandfather?”
Chelsea looked over at her and nodded. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“Jesus,” she muttered. Soon she pulled up at the hospital, and, when Chelsea got out, Lindsey added, “Look. If you need a friend or a ride or even a place to hide, you call me, okay? You’re not alone in this world, even though it may feel like it.”
“I am alone in this world,” she countered, staring right at her. “I’ve always been alone.” And, with that, Chelsea quickly disappeared.
Lindsey phoned Sterling right back. “I just talked to Chelsea some more, and she seems to be in a pretty-bad situation.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, worry in his tone, and she smiled, recognizing his protective instincts kicking up. She explained what was going on. “I have no idea what home he’s in, but only a couple are here nearby.”
“They told me Granddad was dead,” he muttered in a quiet tone that was almost too subdued. “They told me that he’d passed away a long time ago.”
“When? Who?”
“The people at foster care, when I was eight years old, asking for him.”
“Could this be another grandfather?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” he declared.
So much conviction filled his tone that she half smiled. “That’s got you going, hasn’t it?”
“Yep,” he confirmed. “I know that Chelsea doesn’t know who I am, but, if she’s in trouble, you let me know.”
“And then what?” she asked. “You would have to connect with your cousin then, wouldn’t you?” She was having a hard time hiding her laughter.
He noticed it. “I can’t believe you’re laughing at me.”
“I am but not at you. I’m laughing in delight because you’re not alone, and neither is she. I think that family is a mess, and they’ve made your world a nightmare, but you don’t have to stay so isolated in it.”
“And you,” he pointed out, with his own note of laughter, “are one of those people who sincerely wants to see everybody doing fine.”
“Yeah, kind of,” she admitted. “I’m not necessarily a do-gooder like you’re trying to imply, but the world is a shitty-enough place that we don’t need to be assholes to each other.”
“Oh, I agree with you,” he added. “Anyway, if she needs a hand, you know where I am.”
“Will do.”
And, with one last look at the hospital, she turned and drove back to her place, wondering at the twists and turns that life had suddenly thrown her way.
Not only had she not seen Chelsea in a very long time but, of all the times for Chelsea to show up, this was the one that mattered.
She gave a brief moment of thought as to whether Chelsea could have been faking it, but Lindsey had seen the fear in the woman’s face and the realization, as Chelsea stared at the tires, knowing full well who had done it.
And that was all Lindsey needed. This poor girl was up against something she didn’t quite know how to handle.
She was fighting on the side of right and battling the bad guys with absolutely no weapons or backup.
What she didn’t know was there was about to be a whole team on her side, a united team and a real family whom Chelsea had never even met.