Chloe watched him from her desk, her right eyebrow raised. He glanced up at her and shrugged, unsure how to react to this person on the phone who was practically a stranger.
“What do you want?”
“Can I come stay with you?” There was a slight tremble to her voice. “Just until things blow over. James needs to cool off.”
He closed his eyes. She must’ve been desperate to call on him. James had a way of cutting her off from outside friends, leaving her defenseless and vulnerable to his manipulation. He was the only lifeline that James couldn’t completely cut off, no matter how hard he tried.
If he’d been at home right now, it would’ve been easier to say no. But Junction was less than an hour away from New Hope. He could drive over and back before the end of the work day. There was really no feasible reason to turn her down, except for the fact that they’d been here before - when he was only sixteen. And that fight had ended in him leaving the house for good.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Meet you at Jerry’s Shop in an hour.”
“It’s called Billion’s Auto now,” she replied, relief in her voice. “I’ll see you soon, baby.”
He hung up the phone and grabbed his coat. Chloe was still watching him, her eyes tracking his every movement. He paused and placed his hands on the back of his chair, swallowing hard. “My mom’s had a fight with her husband. She needs me to pick her up. I’ll be back in two hours.”
She stood up and plucked her purse from a drawer in her desk. “I’m going with you.”
He held up a hand. They’d just started dating. This was the last thing he wanted to subject her to. “I don’t think you want to do that.”
Her lips pursed and Jordan could recognize the beginning signs of her stubborn side coming out. He bit back a smile, always amused to find himself on the receiving end of her attitude.
“Jordan Davis, I’m coming with you.” She swung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “And that’s final.”
They left for Junction in his Grand Am. He had to clear off the passenger seat and toss the fast food wrappers before she could get in. Luckily, Chloe didn’t seem disgusted by his messy car. She buckled up like she’d been in it a million times before and grabbed his hand once he’d pulled onto the road.
“Has this ever happened before?” she asked him, searching his face.
He kept his eyes trained on the road. “She’s left me voic
e mails from payphones before. Would never say why she was calling, but I’m guessing it was because of a fight. I never returned them.”
A woman like Chloe could never understand his predicament. She had the perfect family. He still couldn’t forgive his mother for choosing her abusive husband over her own son. It burned a hole in his stomach just to think about it. And yet, here he was, driving out of his way to rescue her. Clearly, he wasn’t free from her like he’d thought.
“Is your sister going to be okay with you skipping out on dress shopping?” Jordan asked, intent on changing the topic. Anything was better than talking about his mom. “I don’t think we’ll make it back in time.”
Chloe nodded. “She already canceled. Something about an appointment with a florist. I swear, those two are so busy they just need to get it over with. Get married this weekend. Then, we can all stop talking about wedding planning.”
He chuckled, feeling the laughter rumble in his chest. It was nice to talk to a girl who wasn’t so obsessed about weddings. “Does this Aaron guy even exist? I mean, you’ve been talking about him for weeks, but I’ve never met the guy.”
“He does.” She leaned forward in her seat, pulling at the seat belt. “I swear. He and Brianna are so cute together. They met their freshmen year of college. If anyone was meant-to-be, it’s those two.”
A soft smile pulled at the left side of his mouth as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was so optimistic, so sure of the world around her. He hated the thought of that ever changing. She deserved a life full of those happy promises - one where parents never split up and kids always came home for family dinners.
The trip to Junction didn’t seem to take long. Within the hour, he was pulling into what used to be Jerry’s Shop. A new sign with the name Billion in bright red letters shown above the auto mechanic shop. He wondered what had happened to Jerry, the red-faced jolly mechanic who always had a beer in his hand. Maybe he’d retired, sold the place and retired to Mexico. Jordan preferred that possibility among all the others.
“That’s her,” he said, pointing to a woman standing outside the shop with a plastic bag clutched in her hands.
Jordan’s mother stood nearly six feet tall with willowy limbs and a thin waist hidden by yards of faded fabric. The dress she wore was a product left over from the nineteen eighties, with a large frilly collar and tied waistband. White tights covered her legs and led down to her sensible white sneakers. The only piece of jewelry she wore was a thin gold band around her left ring finger. Her thick black hair had been brushed back into a severe bun, accentuating her high cheekbones.
“Baby.” She walked up to Jordan’s door, holding her arms open. “It’s been too long.”
He reluctantly let her hug him for a moment, and then backed away. This wasn’t the time for a family reunion.
“You’ve brought your girlfriend,” she said, watching Chloe get out of the passenger door. She smiled and patted her hair for flyaways. “Isn’t she just beautiful? I wish you would’ve told me you were bringing her. I’d have made myself look more presentable.”
Jordan went to roll his eyes, but paused mid roll when he caught a closer look at his mother’s face. A dark bruise had begun to form around her right eye, her eyelid swelling half shut. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to examine it.
“Did James hit you?” he growled. A familiar rage sprung to life in his head. He hadn’t felt that in years. “Did he beat you?”