I knew what they saw when they looked at me. I knew that they could see right through the nonchalance and the cool expression. They saw the way I was desperate to see Kara, the way I worried about her and pined for her and couldn’t seem to focus on anything but her. I couldn’t imagine any reason that she would cancel a visit unless there was an emergency, but by the looks on my family’s faces, they didn’t see it the same way.
“She’s fine,” Curt said dryly. “But my baby isn’t. Someone slashed poor Roxanne’s tires.” Roxanne was his fully restored Chevelle. I rolled my eyes, but followed along with his change of subject.
“You know who it was?” I asked, leaning forward on my elbows. We’d faced a lot of backlash since the day I’d beat the hell out of one of our classmates, but I’d hoped that me being inside would take some of the heat off my brother. I was already being punished, they didn’t need to give him shit, too.
“Coulda been Caleb Carson,” Curt said, rolling his lips inside his teeth in an effort to hold back his smile. “Actually, I’m pretty sure it was.”
“Yeah, because you were parked outside his girlfriend’s house while her parents were out of town,” Charlie said in disgust.
“She was helpin’ me study,” Curt said to me, straight faced. “She’s real smart.”
I knew Caleb’s girlfriend, April. Sweet, pretty, and fun described her. Smart did not. I snorted.
“You know,” my mom said, rolling her eyes, “it’s gonna be real nice when you two are old enough to visit without me. I love bein’ here, but it goes against nature for me to hear this shit.”
All of us paused for a moment, the reality of the situation dropping like a bomb in the middle of the room. Eventually, Curt and Charlie would be legal adults and able to visit me by themselves—and I’d still be in here.
Not for the first time, my mind circled around whether or not what I’d done was worth it. Inevitably, the look on Kara’s face when she saw the video someone had taken of her half naked and vulnerable flashed through my memories. That memory always popped up when I was feeling sorry for myself and I always came to the same conclusion. If I could go back, I’d still beat the shit out of the asshole who’d taken that video—I just wouldn’t have done it with so many witnesses.
Chapter 1
Kara
Four years later
“You want a bean?” I asked, leaning out of the window toward the large truck and the chubby old man inside.
“You know it, darlin’,” he replied, grinning.
I gave him two, just because.
“Here you go,” I said, handing over his coffee, the two little coffee beans rolling around on top. “Gimme one sec and I’ll get your bride’s.”
“Thanks, honey,” his wife called from the passenger seat. I couldn’t see her face unless she ducked down, but I could picture her perfectly. She wore her hair in a long gray waterfall down her back, the top half pulled back and held with a barrette, and her eyes were permanently crinkled at the corners from laughter.
Bill and Hazel were two of my best regulars. I loved them, probably because they reminded me of my grandparents who I didn’t see often enough.
As I placed the lid on Hazel’s coffee, I cleared my throat and glanced at the clock. Only two more hours until I closed up the little coffee cart, but it felt like I still had two weeks to go.
“Here you go,” I said, not bothering to add beans to Hazel’s half-sweet mocha, since she thought they tasted like the bottom of a shoe.
“Don’t tell anyone,” Bill said as he took the coffee carefully from my hand, “but you’re my favorite.”
“You really are,” Hazel said, ducking down to meet my gaze. “He always watches to see if your Jeep is out front!”
“Well,” I replied, glancing sneakily from side to side before I continued, “you’re my favorite, too.”
Bill hooted, and put his hand dreamily over his heart, making me laugh.
“Now get outta here,” I said, glancing toward the sky.
“You should be leavin’, too,” Bill said as he started up his truck. He had to practically yell over the sound of the diesel engine. “Can’t be good for you to be workin’ in this.”
“I’ll be alright,” I assured him. “I’m almost done here and then headed home.”
“You be safe,” Hazel yelled.
“You, too,” I replied.
I cleared my throat again as they pulled away from the window and suppressed a cough as I leaned toward the truck that had taken their spot.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I said automatically.
“Better now,” Draco replied.
I huffed and gave him a half smile, trying to hide how flustered I was. I’d known Draco for most of my life and we had a more dramatic history than most couples that had been married for fifty years, but things were beyond weird between us now. I tried to keep an eye out for him and I usually had a second to brace myself before he got to the window, but I’d been too distracted this time.