Page 36 of Breaking Rules

The door was open, but I knocked anyway. Soleil was sitting on one side of a desk, her head down, shoulders slumped. She didn’t even look up when I stepped inside or when the man on the other side of the desk stood up. He was older, probably working this as a semi-retirement or retirement job, but the way he held himself made me think he’d been a cop or something similar.

“Lumen Browne,” I said as I held out my hand. “Thank you for calling me.”

“I’m Malone.” His grip was firm but not tight. He gestured to the seat next to Soleil. “The store gives me discretion when it comes to how shoplifting is handled, and for anyone underage, I like to get a family member’s thoughts on the subject before deciding what to do.”

The look he gave me said he wasn’t so sure that Soleil and I were related, but he didn’t ask. With as many blended families as there were out there, Soleil and my obvious physical differences didn’t necessarily exclude us from being siblings. I had a feeling that, rather than embarrass anyone by asking, he planned to wait to see what I had to say.

“What did you take?” I asked Soleil directly.

She shrugged and didn’t look at me.

“Malone?” I turned my question to him.

He hesitated, and then said, “I’d rather she told you herself. It doesn’t need to be now. I’ll just say that it wasn’t expensive, and it can go back on the shelf, so if this isn’t a habit, I’d be willing to let her go with a stern warning.”

Something was off here. The last thing I’d expected was security to want to go easy on her and to not tell me what it was she’d stolen. I met his gaze, surprised to find concern there.

“I have a granddaughter about her age,” he said. “Sometimes, kids do things without thinking them through, and a second chance serves them better than harsher consequences.”

Soleil shifted in her chair, but when I glanced her way, she still wouldn’t look at me.

“I’ll take her home now,” I said. She stood when I stood. “Thank him, Soleil. A lot of places would’ve called the cops first.”

I wasn’t actually her sister or anyone with any authority over her, but she’d wanted me to come help her, and I was counting on that to get her to express some gratitude.

“Thank you,” she muttered.

“Let this be the last time you’re in this situation,” he said before turning to me. “I just need a signature here saying I released her into your custody.”

I signed, and then we left. There wasn’t another bus stop between here and the group home, which meant we were going to walk. With only one umbrella, her choices were limited. She could walk close enough to stay dry, or she could be stubborn and get even wetter and more miserable by the time we reached the house. At first, I thought she’d choose the latter, but she didn’t. When we reached the sidewalk, I asked the question that had been burning in my mind.

“What did you take?”

She didn’t say anything, and I let the question hang between us. It had to be her choice, but what she chose would determine what I told Brie, and she’d been in the system long enough to know what that would mean. Placing teenagers in foster homes was difficult enough. Kids with run-ins with the law were nearly impossible. She had to decide that it would be better to trust me and hope I agreed not to say anything to Brie or Josalyn than it would be to keep her mouth shut and hope for the same.

We went a block before she spoke, her voice low enough that I almost missed it.

And I was immediately glad I hadn’t.

“It was a pregnancy test.”

It took me a few seconds to shut down my automatic response of shock. “Is this…preemptive? Do you want to have it because you’re planning to have sex with someone, and you’d feel better having it just in case?”

She shook her head but didn’t say anything else.

“Is your period late or are you scared because you recently had unprotected sex?”

Instead of an answer, I got a question. “Are you going to tell?”

A bright fluorescent light to my right caught my eye, and I saw an opportunity to give me time to think before I answered. “Well, first we need to know if there’s anything to tell.” I gestured to the pharmacy we were next to. “The way I see it, trying to pocket a ten-dollar test isn’t really the issue. Come on.”

She followed me into the parking lot and then through the pharmacy to the appropriate aisle. I picked up one box, read the back, then chose another one. After we went through the checkout, I snagged Soleil’s sleeve and steered her toward the bathrooms.

“I want you to take it now,” I said. When she glared at me, I gave her a steady look right back. “I mean it, Soleil. I need to have all the information before I decide anything else.”

For a moment, I thought she’d storm off, but after a few seconds, she grabbed the test and went into the bathroom. I gave her a minute before I followed. I doubted she wanted to wait alone, but I also doubted she’d ask for me to wait with her. If she told me to leave, I would, but I didn’t want her to go through it alone.

“It’s just me,” I said quietly. “I’m going to wait out here.”