“I did not break anything, and if you were truly alarmed you are wise enough to scream and attract attention from the neighbors.” The adjacent dining space held a simple folding card table and two folding chairs, the surface of the table covered in clear plastic tubs and Ziplock bags full of beads and strings and pamphlets. The flier on top read Delgado Community College—Medical/Clinical Assistant. He faced her and found her glaring at him with her arms crossed at her chest. “You want to study medicine?”
Her gaze cut to the table and her mouth firmed a second before she marched forward. She snatched the brochures and stuffed them under one of the clear plastic containers. “I don’t know what I want to do. Stop being nosey.”
“Nosey is part of my job.” He flipped the light switch to the tiny galley kitchen, but nothing happened. “Why does your light not work?”
She shoved his hand away from the switch and stepped between him and the kitchen. “Because I don’t have a ladder, so I have to wait on the landlord. Now, you’ve seen I’m okay. You can go.”
Bohze, but she was cute. More so when she forgot her fears and unleashed her attitude. Few and far between were those who stood up to him. It was intoxicating. So much so, he found himself eager to see what other things he could do to provoke her.
Undaunted, he took the three strides it took to reach the bathroom and flipped the light switch there. It worked, showing a simple clear plastic shower curtain, a pale pink towel hanging neatly to one side of it and the most basic of necessities. Again, all clean and perfectly neat.
“Are you for real? You’re checking my bathroom?”
“No. Confirming the rest of your lighting is in order.” He flipped on the light to her bedroom right across from it. A bed covered in a soft blue comforter and a simple desk along one wall took up most of the space, but all manner of hand-drawn pictures were tacked to the walls.
No, not pictures. More like designs, some on sketch paper and done in great color and detail, and others on anything from receipts to napkins. “What are those?”
“Sketches.” She reached behind him and flipped off the switch. “Now, get out of my room. Tell Cassie thank you again for bringing you today, but I think it’s better to handle things on my own.”
He fought the smile building inside him and strolled to the middle of the living room. “You believe you have the means to find your family on your own?”
“Well, it sure beats having some bossy Russian saunter in my house like he owns the damned place. I’ve worked my ass off to make my own way. Missing dad and brother or not, I’ve got boundaries.”
He doubted that. If she did, she’d have told her father to pay his own debts and would be able to afford at least more basic necessities than what he’d seen tonight. “You’ve been on your own for some time, have you not?”
“Since I was seventeen, so you can bet your ass I can take care of myself.”
“You are twenty-five years old, yes?”
“Yeah, what of it?”
He cocked his head. “That’s eight years. I’m surprised you haven’t gathered more belongings.”
She glanced away, and this time when she crossed her arms it seemed more as a means to protect herself than anything based on defiance or anger. “I did have more things.”
“What happened to them?”
Her mouth screwed up in a wry pucker and she aimed a sharp glare at him. “I had a job and my ex didn’t, that’s what happened.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he moved out and helped himself to what he wanted while I was at work one day, then racked up one hell of a balance on my credit card before he skipped town.”
The muscles in his arms and torso tensed and the deadly calm that came when any target stepped into his crosshairs whispered over his skin. “His name.”
Her eyes widened for all of a moment, then narrowed again with realization. “Oh, no.” She planted her hands on her hips and shook her head. “I’ve got enough problems without adding a guilty conscience to the list.” She waved him toward the door. “I’m good. I’m sorry I sent everyone on a wild goose chase today, but thank you for your time.”
She wasn’t good.
She was eking by at best and letting people who didn’t seem to value her good heart and determined nature to walk all over her. Or at least that’s how it appeared from his point of view. And whether or not she willingly gave him her ex’s name, he’d find it. “Do you not want to hear what we learned from Mr. Mitchell?”
Her bravado melted almost as fast as it had ridden in to save her. “You actually talked to him?”
“I told you we would.”
The sheepish expression she’d given him at the door rushed back in place, but she held his gaze. “I assumed you’d change your mind after Cassie told you I bailed.”
“You’ve assumed many things about me and my family today, malen’kaya koroleva. Perhaps you should reevaluate the things you believe to be true.”
In the light of her apartment, her blush was beautiful. A charming pink against pale skin that made her cheeks seem even rounder and her freckles that much more prominent.
Rather than cause her more discomfort, he got to the point. “Pauley does not have your brother or father. Nor does he know who might have them. Though, he did seem to suggest that whomever was at your father’s house was more likely there for Kevin.”
Sad acknowledgment swept across her face, the expression of a woman with far too much experience in the realm of disappointment. “Yeah. Probably not a long shot to think that.” Her gaze slid to the side before she nodded, squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Thanks for trying and for coming here to tell me.” She lifted one shoulder in a defeated shrug and tried for a wry smile. “I still think you’re a bossy dude and overbearing, but I can see why Cassie likes you.”
Such bravery in the face of hopelessness. While he might question the motive that had pushed her to relinquish their help, there was no question she’d do everything in her power to continue forward on her own and take whatever lumps life dealt her.
“Likewise.” He inclined his head. “I wish you the best.”
With that, he turned for the door. He had it open and was one step past the threshold when Bonnie’s voice cut from behind him. “Oh, wait!”
She disappeared into her room and came back seconds later holding the phone he’d given her. “We should probably switch back.”
So tied up in his errands and the aftermath of Bonnie’s departure, he’d all but forgotten her worn out phone in his pocket. He took it out and handed it to her. “Keep the phone I gave you. Forward your old number to the new one. Keep the old one turned off.”