Page 36 of No Kind Words (Calston Cove #3)

The last ten days have flown by. Between work and looking after Roddy, I’m exhausted, but seeing Roddy begin to heal is a joy. George has done another check-up. His chest infection is improving, and the bruises are fading. The only issue is that he’s still silent about why and how he’s come here. The one thing he’s said is that he needed to get away. Hopefully, he’ll eventually trust me enough to tell me.

“Hey, Roddy,”

I call as I walk into the house. After three days of me sleeping on the sofa, I’d had enough, and we moved over to Ben’s. Roddy and Ben are getting on well. All Ben does is cook and feed him. Roddy’s already filling out a little.

“I’m in here,”

he shouts back, and I’m not surprised he’s in the kitchen. He’s taking a great interest in cooking and is showing a talent for it too. I am worried about his lack of education and why he lied about his age, though. I’m not sure how to approach it. I suppose the best way is to ask him.

I walk through to the kitchen and find him looking through recipe books. I sit at the table opposite him. “Roddy, can we have a talk? You’re not in any trouble, but I’d like to know why you lied to me about your age.”

He worries his lip between his thumb and finger, and his eyes well with tears. He shakes his head so the tears splatter across his cheeks. I capture his free hand in mine and squeeze it gently. “I told you, you’re not in trouble. Nothing you say will make me send you away.”

“I knew you’d tell the police, and they would take me home. I wasn’t safe there. My dad, he-he would do things to me.”

A shiver of terror runs down my spine. I thought what my dad had done to me was bad, but if Roddy had been molested, that knocks anything that happened to me into the dust. “You weren’t thrown out, were you? You ran away.”

He nods. “I couldn’t stay there any longer. He was getting worse. He never touched my sister, so I thought she’d be safe.”

“Jesus, Roddy, I’m so, so sorry. I wished I’d known. I would’ve helped you so much more. God, how did you survive?”

He shrugs. “I just did what I could. I hid a lot of the time. I thought he’d be looking for me or told the police.”

He lifts his head, defiance glaring in his gaze.

Is his nonchalance an act to look as if he doesn’t care, or is he so hardened by his past it’s genuine. A lightbulb goes off, and I know why he ran to me. “He found you.”

Tears flow freely down his cheeks. “Yeah, twice. The first time he beat me up when I refused to come home, then dumped me at the hospital. I think he knew he’d be able to keep an eye on me there, but I ran away.”

“Did you try to call me from there?”

God, why hadn’t I picked up the call? He nods but doesn’t say anything. “I’m sorry, Roddy, about everything. You said he found you again.”

“Yeah, one of the other kids I hung out with said a man was looking for me. When he described him, I knew I had to leave. I walked, hitching rides when I could. I gotta say it was scary as fuck, Jet, but not as scary as being found again.”

He wipes his face with his palm and gives me a watery smile. “I’m sorry.”

“What for? You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know what will happen next, but we’ll work it out.”

“Are you going to tell Benny?”

He fiddles with his lip again, an obvious nervous reaction.

“Do you want me to?”

This is a heavy secret to keep from Benny, especially as he’s letting Roddy have his spare room.

Roddy’s chin wobbles, and he bites down on his lip, but with a tiny nod, he whispers, “Yes, but not when I’m here. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Okay, but he’s not going to think of you any differently, except how brave and strong you are.”

Roddy scoffs, muttering under his breath something that sounds very much like, ‘Yeah, right.’ I give him a smile.

“Do you want to know why I invited you the first time I met you? It was because I saw myself in you.

Because it could have been me.

I grew up here.

I haven’t been back for over fifteen years because of what happened.

Ben was my boyfriend when I was eighteen, and he was twenty-five.

No one knew I was gay.

I had to keep it secret because my father was a violent, drunken arsehole.

Homophobic doesn’t even cover his hatred.

Anyway, he found out and took it out on me.

The only reason I got to be able to go to university instead of being thrown out was my mother.

She should have taken me to hospital, but she was afraid of what he would do to her.

So she looked after me until I was well enough to leave.

While I was never allowed to return, she made him pay for me to become a vet.

I got to live with the consequences of not getting proper hospital care.

I’ve only ever shared this with Ben, but I think you deserve to see it so you’ll understand why I wanted to help you.”

I stand, pull my sweatshirt over my head, and turn my back to Roddy.

“Fucking hell. Shit, I’m sorry, Jet.”

Before we can say any more, the front door opens, and the dogs bark. Ben is home. He talks to the dogs, fussing them. “We’re in the kitchen,”

I call out. I’ve tugged my top back down, and in an attempt to look like nothing dramatic has gone down, I put the kettle on.

Ben tilts his head on the pillow while I’ve got mine propped up in my hand.

He looks as if he doesn’t want to believe me, but he knows it’s the truth.

“What are we going to do? What’s the legal take on this? He’s only sixteen.”

“He’s old enough to leave home, but his parents are still responsible for him unless there are specific reasons they shouldn’t be.

I think that’s the basics of it.

There’s no way he can go home, and he doesn’t want to go to the police.

He wants to stay with us.”

“I’m okay with that, but you’ve just got your home refurbished, and there’s not enough space for you and a teenager.

Don’t look at me like that.

You know I want you here, but is this the right way to decide to live together?”

I relax the scowl on my face.

He’s right, but I don’t have the answer.

I can’t get the cottage remodelled.

I don’t have the cash for it, plus I love it there. I’ll have to talk to Drew. He may have some ideas that won’t cost an arm and a leg. “I know. I’ll see what can be done to the place without breaking the bank.”

It’s time to stop all the serious talk and get down to something way more fun.

“No more talking.”

I lean in and press a no-nonsense kiss on his mouth, telling him exactly what’s going to happen.

It takes a few rings before Drew answers his phone. “Jet, how are you?”

“I’m good, but I don’t think you’re going to be happy with me. Can you meet me at the cottage this evening?”

“Is there a problem?”

Of course he sounds concerned.

“No, nothing that you’ve done. I’ll explain when I see you, if that’s okay?”

I doubt there’s anything that can be done, but I’m no builder. It’s the cost I’m more worried about.

“I can do half past six. Is that any good?”

After that’s dealt with, I can get back to work. It’s hard leaving Roddy at the house, but he assures me he’s okay by himself. I think he’s enjoying dog-sitting and getting to watch the telly again. Having the chance to be his age.

Drew turns up bang on time, and as much as Roddy wants to hide, I remind him that as he’s going to stay here, he needs to meet people. With a nod, he agrees but sticks close to me, fiddling with his lip, the way he does whenever he gets nervous.

“Hi, Drew, thanks for coming down.”

I give Roddy a gentle squeeze on his shoulder. “This is my friend Roddy. He’s going to be living with me.”

“Good to meet you, Roddy. Welcome to Calston Cove.”

Drew raises his eyebrows. “You need more room.”

He laughs. “I told you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

I turn to Roddy. “Drew tried to persuade me to keep a spare room, but stubbornly I wanted as much space and light as I could.”

“Why don’t we just stay at Ben’s? There’s room for all of us.”

Roddy asks without any whingeing, just interest.

Drew claps his hands. “Why don’t we have a look and see what’s possible?”