Lou. I wished I’d known him better. I wished I’d come back again before he’d passed. “He noticed more than he let on, didn’t he?”
“I think he noticed everything.”
I tore my eyes away from the letters and met Clara’s gaze. We were close. Too close. My chest brushed against her arm. Her hair, left long, draped between us and the ends tickled my forearms.
God, she was beautiful. Her tender heart. Her unwavering strength. I soaked her in, giving myself a moment to swim in those chocolate eyes.
My hand lifted, my fingertips desperate to trace the soft line of her jaw, when little feet pounded at our backs.
“Mom!”
She jerked, dropping her gaze. Then she inched away, as far as she could toward the nightstand, and cleared her throat. “In here.”
“Can we go now?” August begged.
“Yeah.” I took a step away from his mother. “We’d better go.”
They’d better go.
For the first time since Clara had surprised me with the Cadillac, I was ready to send her back to Arizona.
Maybe if she was five hundred miles away, I’d actually be able to resist her.
Chapter Fourteen
Karson
“How do you feel?” Clara asked as we drove away from the junkyard.
“Lighter. You?”
“Free.”
Free. Not quite. But almost.
I wouldn’t be free until I could let Clara go.
But for the moment, I was content.
We’d put the top down to get some fresh air. I drew in a long breath, holding it in my lungs. In the back of my mind, I heard the click of a door. The turn of a page.
A chapter had ended, and it was time to move on.
August was in his seat, playing with some metal rings he’d found at Lou’s and had asked to keep. Beside him was the box that contained Lou’s letters and whatever items he’d stored beneath.
Clara and I hadn’t spent time looking through them. Gus had been antsy to get out of there and since he’d been such a trooper all morning, we’d locked everything up and left.
“Think you’ll come back here in twenty years?” Clara asked as we rolled down the road and put the junkyard in the rearview. “See what it’s like?”
“Maybe. You?”
She shook her head. “Probably not. I’m glad I got to see it again. I feel like that door is closed now.”
“I was just thinking the same damn thing.”
“It’s a good reminder of how far we’ve come and why I’m working so hard to make sure August never has that sort of life.”
“You’re a good mom, Clara.”
“That’s the best compliment you’ve ever given me.”
“Ever? What about the time I told you that you were the prettiest girl in the universe?”
“That was because you were a shameless flirt.”
“With you?”
“Always,” we said in unison.
Clara closed her eyes, scrunching up her nose.
I cringed.
Back to awkward then. Because I couldn’t seem to help myself.
Why couldn’t I just see her as my friend? Completely platonic. Why? The answer was buried deep and at the moment, I was not going to acknowledge it. I couldn’t acknowledge it.
The trip to the junkyard had been another distraction to shove it all away, but now that the meeting was over, the nagging guilt came rushing back.
“Sorry.” I ran a palm over my chin.
Maybe it was time to shave. Holly would hate it. She loved the beard. Did Clara? It doesn’t matter, asshole. She’s not your girlfriend.
“I’d better get some gas,” I said, needing a task and a moment to pull my shit together. We were in the middle of town and I stopped at the next station. When I pulled in beside the pump, I got out and stayed out, hovering beside the tank, letting the guzzling sound from the nozzle block out Clara’s muted conversation with Gus.
One more night.
I’d swim with August this afternoon. We’d have a nice dinner. Then tomorrow I’d take Clara to the airport and put this behind me. For good.
Holly deserved better.
And fuck, so did Clara. She needed to find a man who was free.
The tank was nearly full when a door opened and Clara stepped out of the Cadillac, her wallet in hand. “August earned a treat for being so good this morning. Want anything?”
“Nah. Thanks.”
She gave me a small smile and turned, but instead of walking across the lot, she froze. Her entire body turned to stone.
“Clara.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she stared forward at the convenience store where an older man had just come out the door with a plastic sack in his hand.
Abandoning the gas pump, I rounded the trunk and went to her side. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
She gulped and nodded at the man. “That’s him.”
The man had thinning brown hair and a splotchy pallor to his face. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips. His frame was thin beneath his shirt, the bones of his shoulders trying to cut through the cotton.
When he glanced our way and those beady eyes narrowed on Clara, her body flinched.
“Your uncle,” I guessed.
I hadn’t seen the guy before, not that I’d needed to. There wasn’t a person on earth who was likely to get this reaction from Clara. And Gemma had seen him once, ages ago, and the way she’d described him fit this man perfectly. A total fucking creep. That hadn’t changed.
And the rage I’d felt toward that man hadn’t dulled either.
My fists balled at my sides. When Clara had told me about her uncle, I’d wanted to kill the bastard. The anger was still there, an inferno churning in my veins. Hungry for a victim.
I took a step forward, ready to walk over and make that son of a bitch pay for all that he’d done to them, but before I could take my second step, Clara’s hand slipped into mine.
She clutched it, not holding me back, just holding on.
Her gaze was still glued to him as he stared back. She kept her shoulders straight, her chin held high. She didn’t cower. And the glare she sent him was nothing short of murderous.
A swell of pride mixed with my rage. Good for her. Damn, but she was strong.
It took a moment, but he recognized her. His bony frame tensed. He gave her a sideways look, and then he was gone, scurrying to his nineties-model Honda Civic, the tires squealing as he raced out of the station’s lot.
And Clara just held on, staring at the spot where he’d been.
“He tried but he didn’t ruin us,” she whispered.
“No, he didn’t.”
“He knew who I was.”
“Yes, he did.”
“We were scared of him as kids. We knew it was wrong but not how to fix it. We should have turned him in.”
“You still can. You have the power here, Clara.”
Her head tilted to the side. “You’re right. We should have. I didn’t get that as a kid but we’re not those scared girls anymore. And we’ve been ignoring it, burying it. He deserves to pay. To be registered as a sex offender at least. When we get home, I’ll talk to Aria. We’ll do what we can and then never think of him again.”