Renegade Path

Finally she turned her bright-eyed expression on Roman. But not to pry into his school day.

“Do you know anything about cars, dear?”

“A little.”

“Would you mind checking my windshield wiper fluid?”

Roman seemed so relieved to have something to do, he practically jumped up from the table. “Sure.”

We followed him outside. Mrs. Shields stood back and watched as he popped the hood.

“I hate doing that,” she explained. “Ray always did all the car maintenance.” She let out a short, sad laugh. “I was always afraid I’d lose a finger if the hood snapped shut. Silly, but Ray didn’t want me to worry, so he took care of everything…”

I slipped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Shields.”

“We had so many good years together.” She forced a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Not everyone is so lucky. I just…miss him.”

I hugged her a little tighter, unsure of what else I could say to ease her pain.

Roman pulled out a gallon jug of green wiper fluid from the trunk. “Good choice, Mrs. Shields. This stuff helps keep the bug guts off the windshield.”

She wrinkled her nose. “It’s what Ray always used in the spring and summer.”

He finished with the car and even got in and turned the key to check the wipers before declaring her good to go.

“Thank you so much.” She turned to me. “Let me grab your bread. I’m sure you two need to get home.”

Roman smiled at me when she went inside.

“Thank you for doing that.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced away. “I don’t mind. She's a nice woman. Seems to like you a lot.”

“I’ve known her since I moved in with my aunt and uncle. She and her husband were always nice to me.”

Mrs. Shields returned with my bread in one hand and a couple of folded-over dollar bills in her other.

“If I’d known you were coming, I’d be sending you home with bread too, Roman.”

The corners of his mouth twitched.

She held out the money to him and he put his hands in the air. “No, ma’am. I can’t take your money.”

“Nonsense. You saved me a lot of trouble.”

He shook his head again. She gave up and handed the money to me. “Seriously, make sure he takes this. It would’ve cost me twice that if I’d taken it into the shop.”

“Yes, Mrs. Shields. Thank you.”

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and waved to Roman before going inside.

At the bottom of her driveway, he shook his head again. “I can’t take her money, Juliet. It’s not right.”

“She’s a proud woman, Roman. I think it would hurt her feelings if she felt like she took advantage of you.”

He groaned and relented, allowing me to slip the money in his pocket. “I didn’t do much.”

His wary gaze darted down the street and I realized he was probably antsy to get back to the house.

“Do you need to be home earlier than usual?”

“No one said so. But after last night, I don’t want to do anything to call attention to myself.”

My throat tightened and maybe it looked like I was about to cry because he squeezed my shoulder. “It’s okay, Juliet. Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

He sighed and took my hands. “The only thing I was upset about last night was that I might not be able to see you again. I didn’t want to disappear on you. Especially after we had such a nice day together.”

Disappear. That’s what would happen, wasn’t it? One day, he’d just be gone. Maybe I’d gather bits and pieces of gossip from the other kids.

As if he heard my thoughts, he brushed his knuckles over my cheek. “I’ll always find my way to you, Juliet. I promise. The rest doesn’t matter.”

“You matter to me.”

His jaw flexed and he swallowed hard before nodding once. “I haven’t mattered to anyone in a long time.”

“Well, you matter to me,” I repeated.

I’d say it a hundred more times until he believed me.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Roman

I hated like hell taking money from anyone. But the money from Mrs. Shields provided me with a way to buy Juliet a birthday present.

Sometimes on the weekends, the home took us to the mall and turned us loose. Dangerous probably. Only level twos were allowed on these special trips. The counselors were supposed to stick with us, but more often, they’d hand us a couple dollars and tell us to meet them in the food court in an hour or two.

Pip always stuck with me. This trip was no different. His curious eyes were full of questions when I ventured into the small world crafts store.

“What do you want in here?” he sputtered.

“I’m not sure yet.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw it. A wide green leather bracelet with daisies embossed into the leather.