Page 6

Chapter Five

It had taken a lot of effort for me to put last night’s conversation with Beau aside and concentrate on work, but I’d managed. And after the miserable day, I was bone tired by the time I made it home. I threw my satchel on the kitchen table and headed to the couch. I fell on it face first and finally mustered the energy to roll over.

It was after nine, and there wasn’t one site visit I made that showed promise. The worst was the three Hollister kids living with the shittiest foster parents I’d ever met. The house was filthy, and when I checked the cupboards and fridge, there was hardly anything to eat. When I questioned the kids, it was clear they were too scared to say anything bad about the Farley family. How in the hell the Farleys ever made it through the screening, I’ll never know.

What’s worse, I couldn’t say that the kids were in imminent danger, so all I could do was go to my supervisor so that another arm of DCS could investigate and determine if the Farleys were truly unsuitable to be foster parents. This was the third time I had to report a foster family, but in the other two cases the kids were in imminent danger so I got to immediately pull them out. The fact that I had to leave them there was killing me.

I considered going to my freezer and pulling out my bottle of vodka to have a double shot, but walking over there would require too much energy.

I heard the faint sound of my phone buzzing. Rolling onto my side, I looked over at my purse and gave it the evil eye. I thought I’d put my phone on do not disturb.

Most of my cases called into my office phone, but I’d given the oldest Hollister boy, ten-year-old Bobby, my cell phone number. I had to answer it.

It was when I pushed myself to a sitting position that I realized I’d plopped down on my sofa—my beautiful sofa—with my muddy boots on.

“Fuck me!” What a perfect ending to a perfect day.

With that jolt of adrenaline, I shot to my purse to grab my phone out of its designated pocket and answered.

“This is Miss Avery.”

“Hello Miss Avery. You haven’t answered any of my texts this evening. I figure you had to work late. Bad day?” The sound of Beau’s voice ran through my system like warm chocolate syrup, rich, sweet, and decadent.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I just got home.”

“Did you ever have time to eat?”

“I found a package of Twinkies in my center console, so I was covered for lunch.”

“Are Twinkies still a thing?”

I almost smiled. “That’s blasphemy. You cannot ever speak badly about a Hostess product. I remember you partaking back in the day. I think your favorite were the cherry pies.”

“At least they had fruit.” He defended himself.

“Three cherries and unidentified red sugary filling does not constitute fruit.” Since I was up, I walked into my kitchen, pulled out the vodka, and poured a generous shot.

“Just think about the names of your choices, HoHos, Ding Dongs, and Twinkies. Just the sound of those names should have told you they were bad choices. Kind of like that guy Ted you were engaged to. All bad choices.”

I had the shot halfway to my mouth when Beau said that. Thank God I hadn’t been in the process of swallowing. “There was nothing wrong with Ted. How did you know about him anyway? Now you’re forbidden from talking for thirty seconds.”

“Why?”

“Thirty seconds.”

“Why?”

“If you talk, I’ll hang up.”

“Fine.”

I swallowed the shot. “Good boy.”

“You just had a shot of something, didn’t you?”

I frowned. How had he known? I hadn’t drunk hard liquor in front of him any of the times we had gone out with Kai and Marlowe. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Let me come over with a pizza.”

“I need to sleep.”

“You might need to, but will you?”

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. The smart thing would be to say no. To tell him I was too exhausted. But the idea of scrounging around for Ding Dongs and eating them alone sounded even worse.

“How soon can you get here?”

“I’ll be there in twenty.”

“No pineapple and no anchovies.”

“Done.”

“And no peppers.”

“Got it.”

“And no onions.”

“So, meat only?”

I smiled. “Yeah. Meat only.”

“Coming right up.”

* * *

Twenty minutes gave me just enough time to shower, which I desperately needed to do. I thought about just unlocking the front door; this was Jasper Creek after all. But I’d seen too much in my line of work. I couldn’t do it. I hustled into my bedroom, pulling clothes off as I went.

I heard a knock on the door after I was dressed, my hair still in a towel. I whipped off the towel and ran down the hall, finger-combing my hair. When I looked out the peephole, I saw it was the local pizza guy.

I giggled.

Great, I was going to have to pay for the pizza that Beau had promised to bring me. By the time I unlocked the door and opened it, I found Beau and the pizza delivery guy exchanging the pizza for money.

“You sure timed that right.” I grinned at Beau as I opened the door further. He had a white plastic bag with him, along with some root beers. I snatched the pizza box out of his hands.

“Eager much?”

I scowled. “Starving is more like it.” I turned and hustled toward my kitchen and had the box open by the time he got there. I was basking in the scent of meat and cheesy goodness. “What’s in the bag?”

He set the sodas on my counter and dumped out a plethora of Hostess products onto my counter. “The cherry pie is mine. I need my fruit after all this meat and cheese.”

“What did you do, rob the local Weigel’s?”

“Bite your tongue. I have better taste in gas station pastries. I purchased this at Pilot Flying J.”

I let out a laugh before I could stop myself. He helped himself to plates from my cupboard, and what was creepy was that he knew the exact right cupboard to look.

“You have forks, right? Or do you eat all your food like a feral racoon, with your fingers?”

“Hey, my car is better than a diner. Utensils are a luxury.”

His expression softened a little, but thank God, he didn’t give me any big brother or boyfriend type of hogwash. He just handed me a plate with two pieces of pizza and nudged me out of the kitchen toward the dining room. “Eat. You’ll feel better.”

I was too tired to argue. I pushed my satchel out of the way and sat down at the table. Beau came and set down silverware, root beer, and napkins. Then he took the chair across from me. His legs were so long, his feet touched mine.

My root beer was already open, so after I swallowed my first two bites of ambrosia, I took a long swallow and looked up to find Beau staring at me.

“What? Did I drip sauce on my chin?”

“Nope. Just watching you. Is that a crime?”

I shrugged and took a smaller bite and peered up at him under my lashes. He was looking at me as if I were some kind of puzzle. It was like we were on a date. It was too intimate. I needed to break the moment before I noticed how good his attention felt.

I pointed my slice at him.

“No deep thinking tonight. This is going to be one of the easy-breezy nights.”

“Why?”

I frowned. “There doesn’t have to be a reason for easy-breezy. They just are.”

“I would be down with that. I really would, but I see the dark circles under your eyes. Despite your Twinkie jokes, I see pain in your eyes.”

“You’re making that shit up,” I protested.

“And to top it off, one of your shirts and a bra are on your hallway floor.”

I damn near tipped over my chair to go see if he was right. When I got to the hallway, I realized he was. I vaguely remembered pulling off my clothes on the way to my bedroom, but how in the ever-loving fuck had I walked over them on the way to my front door?

I scooped the clothes up off the floor and threw them into my bedroom, then slammed the door shut.

When I got back to the table, Beau had a shit-eating grin on his face.

I shoved my fists on my hips and glared at him.

“Really? You’re going to laugh at me for that? I have one of the crappiest workdays of my life, and you’re going to laugh at me?”

His expression changed to one of compassion. “Sit down and tell me about it.”

I shook my head and sat down. I stared at my pizza.

“Come on, Maddie, eat. You know you want to.”

“Yeah.” I picked up my half-eaten slice and finished it off. I started to feel better.

“You want to tell me about it?”

“It started out great. I suppose that’s why when it turned out so awful, it seemed really, really awful. Ya know?”

He nodded slowly. “I know exactly what you’re saying.”

Just looking at him, I could tell he did. I’d looked up Marine Raiders and realized he was in Special Operations. Kind of like a Navy SEAL. They did the really tough stuff. My guess was, he’d seen and done some really harrowing things. It probably made my stuff seem like small potatoes.

“Beau, you’ve been in war, right?”

His expression changed. Turned harder and a little bit cautious. He nodded.

“I don’t intend to ask anything. I’m just saying, my shitty day doesn’t probably even come close to your easiest day. So why should I vent?”

He reached over and covered my hand with his. “You matter, Maddie. What you do matters. The kids you work with matter, and I want to hear about your day.”

Aw hell, he’s making me melt .

“The good news? I started out with a quick visit to check on Eli.”

“He’s with those good foster parents you told me about, right? Nate and Fran Patterson.”

I looked at him in awe. “You remember their names?”

“I remember what’s important.” Beau nodded. “So that was the good part of the day, then what?”

“I had to do some follow-ups. Those are where I see if a parent has cleaned up their act. Is the house dirty? Is there food? Sometimes I’ll check in with the child’s school. Things like that. I had five of those calls.”

“Isn’t that a lot?”

“No. The system is overloaded. Five follow-ups are normal. Then I had to check in on two foster families who were fostering some of my kids. One wasn’t there, even though they were supposed to be. The yard had two cars up on blocks.”

“The yard?”

“Yep, the yard. Not the driveway. The driveway was all torn up. Don’t ask me why. All in all, this did not look good. I took pictures so I could ask the person who had originally certified this foster family, if this is how the house originally looked.”

“Eat,” Beau said. He pushed my plate closer.

I shook my head at him, but reluctantly grinned. I figured I better eat before I started talking about the Hollister kids.

When I’d finish a bite, he’d push my soda toward me.

I could get used to this .

When I was finished, he looked at me. “Now tell me.”

“There are three kids. Bobby is ten, his two younger siblings are seven and six. They got placed with the Farleys three months ago. I just got assigned to them two days ago. I went for my first site visit today. Mrs. Farley didn’t want to let me inside. She said that the children were at school.”

“What time were you visiting?”

I scowled. “Six PM.”

“So, she’s a bright one.”

“Yep. Anyway, I pointed that out to her, and she explained they were at a school function, but she couldn’t remember what. I said I still needed to come in and inspect the place. I explained that was part of my job.”

“The kids were there?”

“Boy, you’re smart.”

“I have my moments,” Beau said bashfully.

“Yeah, she lets me in, and the place smells like cigarettes and booze. You’d think I was in a bar. I’m in the living room and there are four overflowing ashtrays. I explain to Mrs. Farley I have to do an inspection of the house. She told me none of the other Department of Children’s Services ever did that.”

“Do you go for the kitchen first or the bathroom?”

“Kitchen. I need to find out if there’s food. There was hardly anything in the cupboard. Just some spaghetti noodles. When I looked in the fridge, there was mustard, ketchup and beer.”

“Fuck.”

“I took pictures of everything.”

“Betcha that didn’t make Mrs. Farley happy.”

“You’d be right about that.”

“I ask to see the children’s bedrooms. She is jumpy as hell, and that’s when I realize the kids are on the premises. Probably told not to make any noise. I demand to know where they are. She shows me their tiny bedroom with two beds. The ten-year-old, Bobby is huddled in the corner with his arms around his two sisters. The girls look scared as hell.”

“Do you get to take them out of there?”

“I wish. I insist on talking to the kids alone. Even Bobby is afraid to talk to me. I recorded the session. I ask them when they last ate, and they can’t remember.”

“You must have been pissed.”

“You can say that again. On my way to McDonald’s, I call my supervisor. She says there’s not enough cause for me to take them out of there. Which I knew, dammit. Hence the trip to McDonald’s. Farleys are pissed, but I don’t give a shit. I sit in the bedroom and eat with the kids. Bobby talks just a little more. He seems like a resourceful kid, so I gave him my cell number. I told him to call me if he has any problems.”

“And?”

“What do you mean and?”

Beau smirked. I bit into my next slice of pizza because his smirk irritated me. After four big bites, I set down the remaining crust and looked him in the eye. “Nobody likes a know-it-all.”

“And?”

“Fine, I went to Publix and bought groceries. So, sue me.”

Beau looked around my house. “Do you rent, or do you own?”

“That’s none of your damned business.”

“Just answer the damn question.”

I lifted my chin. “I own.” I still appreciated my zero percent loan I got from Evie and Aiden. It gave me the ability to do the job I love and not live hand to mouth.

“Well, that’s good. I know teachers are constantly buying classroom supplies, hell, Marlowe talks about it. How often are you buying things for foster kids?”

“Not all that often,” I lied. “The system has specific stipends for the kids and it’s my job to make sure that the money is paid out for them. Trust me, I squeeze the county for every cent owed to these kids.”

“You’re still a liar.” He got up and picked up our plates and took them into the kitchen. I followed him. When I started going through the Hostess treats, he caged me in and looked over my shoulder. “Choose carefully, Maddie,” he whispered. His breath teased the drying hair at my temple.

I trembled. I quickly grabbed a package of Ho Hos and ducked under his arm.

“Scaredy cat.”

“Smart cat,” I refuted.

He picked up his cherry pie, and we stood there in silence as we ate our treats.

“What are your next steps with the Hollister kids?”

“With my photos and the little bit I got Bobby to admit, I’ll take that into my supervisor. She’s a good woman. A fighter. She’ll take it over to the department in charge of reviewing and selecting foster families. They’ll make a determination if the Farleys are unfit. In the meantime, I’ll be making more unannounced visits.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

I frowned. “Huh?”

“I know I can’t kick the door in for you. But is there something I can do? Somebody I can pressure. Someone I can call?”

Words stuck in my throat. I’ve told my sisters and some of my friends about what goes on with my job, but nobody had ever asked if they could do something to help.

“I really appreciate that.” I paused. Then swallowed. “You don’t know how much. But there isn’t anything anyone can do but wait.”

“And buy groceries, and maybe something a little healthier than MacDonald’s.”

“Ding Dongs? Oh, I’m sorry, three cherry pies?”

“Brat.”

He used to always call me that. And he used to always want to help me with whatever problem I had. It didn’t matter if it was a school problem or something going on at home. He always wanted to help. Sometimes when he couldn’t or shouldn’t. That’s why I got in the habit of not telling him things. At least this situation wasn’t nearly as bad as what went on when I was a kid and Dad lived at home.

“I am not a brat. You’re a bully.”

I turned back to the pile of Hostess products and picked up the package of Twinkies. He yanked them out of my hand.

“Hey, those are mine.”

“If you have any more sugar before bedtime, you’ll never sleep.”

I sighed. He was right. But I didn’t want to admit it.

“Don’t you stick that bottom lip out at me.”

“Why? Will it work? Will you give me back my Twinkies?”

“Nope.”

I watched in horror as he scooped up all the treats back into the white bag. “What are you doing with those?”

“I’m taking these with me. I’ll bring you a treat in the morning.”

The morning? I perked up.

“What kind of treat?”

“Depends on how rested you look. If you get to the door all bleary-eyed, you’ll get nothing. Now, if you come to the door like Little Maddie Sunshine, you’ll get something really special.”

Damn. It was like I was eleven years old again. I was practically bouncing on my toes.

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart. Now come lock up behind me, then go blow-dry your hair so you don’t catch a cold.”

“When in the hell did you get so pushy?”

“It comes with the job.”

I followed him to the door, where he stopped and looked down at me. He tilted up my chin, then traced along my cheekbone with his thumb. “Remember, Maddie, I’ll be looking you over. I want to see you rested,” he whispered.

“Yes, Beau.” I breathed out, wondering if he would kiss me. He let me go and then left.

I shuddered as I locked the door behind him and fell against it.

Damn.

My treat better include his lips on mine .