Long Road Home (The Barker Triplets 4)

Dora rolled her eyes. “I’m just trying to help a sister out on account of the fact her husband is a no good son of a bitch who drank until four this morning and couldn’t drag his butt here to work the grill in the kitchen.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m coming, Sara Lee.” She topped up Shane’s coffee and paused. “You’re right, you know. I used to dance,” she said softly. “A long time ago.” She cleared her throat as if embarrassed by her admission and then headed to the kitchen.

Shane dug into his food. It didn’t take him long to finish up. Dora Lee brought him another coffee, and she’d just filled his mug when she glanced up over his shoulder and frowned.

“What is she doing with that child out there?”

Shane turned to have a look and spied Mackie standing outside the diner with a slender woman who looked so fragile, the damn wind could blow her over.

“That’s Mackie,” he said.

“Sure is. And that’s his mother, Gabby.” Dora’s voice dropped. “A sad soul if ever I saw one. She’s got her problems, that’s for sure, and I didn’t think she was allowed to be around her child.”

Shane glanced up sharply.

“Drugs and such,” Dora said. “Sad, really. That girl had so much potential, and Lord knows Marshall loves her more than just about anything, but she can’t seem to get things right. It’s such a shame. Maybe I should call Marybeth or Miss Callie.”

Shane shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll see what’s up.”

Shane slid off his stool and downed the last of his coffee. It was time he headed back to the bed-and-breakfast anyway. He had things to do and a woman to see. He thanked Dora Lee and headed out into the sunshine, though his mood dimmed when he caught sight of the anxiety on Mackie’s face and the blank look in his mother’s eyes.

“Shane!” Mackie said, face opening into a big smile. “I didn’t know you were in there.” The little guy was wearing the same clothes he’d had on the day before. His face was as dirty as his knees, and in spite of his excitement, he looked tired.

Gabby scratched at her wrists, and though she tried to hide it, he saw the twitch. The woman was on something and looking to score more of the same.

“I’m Shane,” he offered. “I’m staying out at your mom’s place.”

“It’s my Nan’s. My mother’s only there sometimes.” Her voice was husky, as if she didn’t talk a lot or smoked too much.

“Mama’s taking me there to meet Daddy. He had to go out of town last night, so I got to sleep at Mama’s ’cause Nana Marybeth was gone too and Nana Callie wasn’t feeling too good.” Mackie pulled on his mother’s hand. “Can we go now? I’m hungry.”

“We can’t until…” Her eyes moved to Shane’s, and she clammed up. “Well, we just can’t. Not yet.” Her voice was sharper, and little Mackie’s expression turned wary. None of this played right with Shane. He found himself offering to take Mackie back to the bed-and-breakfast.

“You don’t mind? Really?” She offered a shaky smile. “I mean, I planned on getting him back there, but I just have this thing to do, and…” She exhaled heavily and scratched at her wrist again. “And I can’t wait, is all.?

?

“I don’t mind.” Shane looked down at Mackie. “You want to walk back with me, buddy?”

“I do, but…” The little guy kicked out his foot and shot a look toward his mother. But she was peering down the street, most likely on the lookout for her drug dealer, and didn’t catch it.

“I’m awful hungry,” he whispered. “We didn’t have breakfast yet.”

Shane’s mouth tightened for a moment, but he made himself relax. “No problem.” Shane nodded behind him. “What say we grab you something, and you can eat it along the way?”

Mackie’s face lit up, while his mother mumbled something Shane couldn’t understand. She took off without a goodbye. Without a look to her son, a hug or anything. Shane watched Mackie stare after her for a few seconds, and then he grabbed for Shane’s hand as if it were perfectly normal for his mother to leave him like that.

“Can I have one of those big donuts?”

“Sure can, after you eat an egg sandwich.”

Ten minutes later, Shane and Mackie followed the river home. There was a paved walkway built in memory of a local, and while Mackie ate his egg sandwich and drank his orange juice and chatted about frogs and bees and a big old alligator that lived in the river, Shane wondered about a mother who’d pawn off her child to a complete stranger.

He couldn’t judge her—that’d be the pot calling out the kettle—but he sure as hell wondered how far gone she was. Addiction was a bitch and something he’d danced with years ago, when the world was a place he didn’t want to live in. Back then, the only thing to get him through was his art, booze, and anything else he could get his hands on.

He’d come a long way since those days, in spite of the challenging last few months. But the thing was, you needed something to live for. Some person or thing that meant more than the fix drugs and booze offered. That kind of haze covered things whole, and if you weren’t strong enough, there was no coming back.

Lost in thought, he didn’t realize Mackie had stopped chattering about bees and alligators until they were nearly back to the B and B.

“Is that the police?”