Smothering the urge to throw myself at him and cling to his solid frame, I gesture frantically for him to follow me. “It’s my friend Clover. She drank too much, and I don’t know what to do.”
He runs past me to the car and yanks open the door. He hauls Clover out and lifts her into his arms, then carries her back into the house. She wakes again, peering at him hazily before flopping against his chest.
“I was going to take her back to her house, but she said not to.” I hurry after him as he puts her down on the living room sofa. “She doesn’t want her mother to know.”
“How much did she drink?” He looks into Clover’s eyes, feels her forehead, takes her pulse at her wrist.
“I don’t know for sure. Vodka and some tequila shots. I wasn’t…” My legs suddenly go weak, and I sink into a chair.
I wasn’t there when she was drinking.
What if I hadn’t been there when those boys—
Nausea roils in my stomach.
“Did she take anything else?” Darius asks.
“I don’t think so, no.” The boys had implied they hadn’t slipped anything into her drink, which also means that they’d been planning to.
“I’ll stay with her and keep her awake.” Darius checks his watch and touches Clover’s forehead again. “Do you know when she started drinking?”
“No.” I push my hair away from my face. “Where’s Dad?”
“He went to bed a couple hours ago.”
“I feel sick,” Clover mumbles, her face flushed and eyes feverish.
I grab the trash bin from the kitchen just in time. Darius holds the back of Clover’s neck as she vomits into the bin.
“I’m going to die.” She starts crying.
“No, you’re not.” Darius takes a damp washcloth from me and cleans the girl’s face before helping her sit back on the sofa. “You’ll be all right once the alcohol gets through your system.”
My breathing eases a little now that he’s taken over. He takes the trash bin out, and I hear the garage door open and close. He returns with the clean bin and sets it next to Clover again.
She mumbles incoherently. Darius sits beside her, one hand on her shoulder to keep her upright.
“Where does she live?” he asks me.
“Over on Kensington.” I wrap my arms around my middle and stare at Clover’s reddened face. “Her mom owns a comic book store. They live in an apartment above it.”
“I’ll take her over there as soon as she’s slept it off.” He digs his phone out of his pocket and swipes the screen.
“She asked me not to tell her mom.”
“You’re not.” With a frown, he pulls up the store’s number. “I am.”
I clench my jaw. Maybe Fern won’t answer the store phone at this time of night. When she finds out about this, she won’t want Clover to hang around with me or Simon again.
“Is this Clover’s mother?” Darius says into his cell. “Don’t worry, she’s okay and she’s safe. Just had too much to drink. I’m Darius Hawke, Nell’s…friend. She brought Clover back to her house after the party. Yes, she’s here too.”
He pauses, tapping his fingers on his thigh as Fern speaks on the other end. I rest my head against the back of the chair. Darius’s worn camera bag is on the coffee table, zipped shut.
“Not a problem,” he assures Fern. “I’ll drive her home after she’s had a chance to sleep it off.”
They exchange a few more words before he ends the call and glances at me. “Are you okay?”
Tears suddenly fill my eyes. I blink them back and nod. “It was just kind of scary. The party was getting out of control.”
His frown deepening, he places another call. This time, it’s to the Grenville Police Department asking them to break up the party and take care of the kids. As he’s still talking, there’s a knock on the front door.
I run to answer it. Fern is standing on the front porch, her face pinched and worried. Wordlessly, I step aside and point to the living room.
She hurries past me. A moment later, her voice mixes with Darius’s deep, reassuring tone.
My chest aches. I stop in the living room doorway. Fern is sitting beside Clover, stroking her daughter’s hair and murmuring to her. Darius stands at her side, his hands on his hips.
“I’ll take her home.” Fern rises to her feet with a sigh. “I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“No trouble.” Darius bends to lift Clover into his arms again. “I’ll follow you in my car so I can help you get her back inside.”
“That’s not necessary, but thank you.” Fern slips her purse over her shoulder, and she and Darius head outside to get Clover situated in the car.
As Darius is occupied putting a seatbelt around the girl, I turn to Fern. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Nell.” She sets her hand on my shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“I didn’t think she was going to be at the party.” My throat tightens. “I’d have looked for her sooner, if I’d known she was there.”
A crease appears between her eyebrows, as if she senses there’s something I’m not telling her. I don’t even know if I can.
“I suggest the usual remedies after she sleeps it off.” Darius closes the passenger door and opens the driver’s side door for Fern. “Water, coffee, food if she can stomach it.”
“Thank you, Darius.” Fern extends her slender hand and looks up at him. “I feel terrible for putting you in this position. I’ve been wanting Clover to make friends at Monarch, so I was the one who encouraged her to go to the party. I should have known things would get out of hand.”
“Doesn’t make it your fault.” He encloses her hand in his. “She’s learned a lesson, I’m sure.”
“The hard way.” A wry smile twists Fern’s mouth. She slips her hand from his and gets into her car. “Thank you again, Nell.”
Darius and I wait in the driveway until Fern has backed her car out and turned the corner. We walk slowly back into the house.
I start toward the stairs, wanting nothing more than a shower and to put this whole night behind me.
“Nell.” Darius shuts the front door behind him. “You did the right thing.”
Hot tears boil into my chest. I grip the stair banister. A sob chokes my throat. Before the tears spill over, he guides me back into the living room.
I sink onto the sofa and put my head in my hands. An image of Clover, spread-eagled and motionless, sears into my brain. A tremble rattles through me.
Darius sets a glass of water in front of me and lowers himself into a chair. “What happened?”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I dig my fingers into my scalp. Even without knowing, he knows. My teeth start to chatter. “I was…I mean, I…”
“Hold on. Take a breath.” He moves to sit beside me, and the strong bulk of his body is a welcome comfort. A wariness that hadn’t been there before radiates from him. “Then tell me what happened.”
I drag air into my lungs. The hardwood floor swims in front of my eyes. “I f-found her when I went upstairs to use the bathroom. Three guys were…they were talking about her being wasted and passed out in the bedroom, and they were going to…to…”