Page 48

I know what it is.
She’s here with people who care about her, who she can care for, and she feels needed and appreciated here.
That’s what’s doing it.
I know that feeling well.
I pull out the only empty chair and sit. I’m next to Ruby with Dan on my other side.
“Okay, so the most important thing is keeping you and Elliot safe,” I tell her. “We need you somewhere Christopher can’t get to either of you. To intimidate you, to coerce you, or to hurt you.”
She nods.
“How long until Scarlett and Mariah and…” Ben glances at Will.
But a woman in a bright yellow tracksuit answers, “Cian.”
“Right. Cian. How long until they’re back?” Ben asks.
“I…” I wasn’t expecting to be the one answering questions. “I’m not sure exactly. They’ll be gone for at least another week.”
“Oh, that’s plenty of time,” Will says.
The woman who had been at the bar getting a smoothie from April leans in and nods. “We can definitely have the room remodeled in a week. So they’ll stay with you until then?”
She’s asking Ruby, not me.
Ruby nods. “Of course, that’s fine.”
“Great,” the woman says. “We’ll get started tomorrow, but a week is fine.”
“What’s fine?” I ask. I find myself looking at Ruby. She’s reasonable. She understands the goal here.
She looks from me to the woman. “What room, Wendy?”
“The room at Will and Mandy’s.”
“The bathroom needs some work too,” the woman in the tracksuit says.
“Uh, Henry, this is Maggie,” Ruby says. “Her dad owned the hardware store in town for years and she took it over and has been running it for about eight years now.”
“Hi,” I say as Maggie smiles and extends her hand for me to shake.
I am being steamrolled. And they’re all so smiley about it.
“Everyone, this is Henry. He’s a good friend and?—”
“A bodyguard,” Charles says. “We know.”
Ruby laughs. “Yes. He’s here to help keep April and Elliot safe. Until we can figure out something more permanent.”
“That’ll be about a week,” Will says. “Though she hardly needs a bodyguard.”
“I’m simply—” I start.
“Christopher is an asshole,” Ben says. “But what are you going to do? Shoot him?”
“Of course not, I just?—”