“I went to bed right after you left. I thought he was sound asleep. I got up to go to the restroom and decided to check on him. He’d been asleep for a while. But he wasn’t there.” Quincy whirled around the room. “He stuffed his bed with pillows. I have no idea how long he’s been gone.” He ran to Auri’s room to check and then to Sun’s.
“Quince, he’s not here. Let me get dressed—”
“Wait,” Auri said. She hurried to her window. “I could’ve sworn I heard something last night.” She struggled to lift her window.
Sun helped, and they looked over the edge to see a sleeping boy propped up against the garden supply box.
Auri didn’t hesitate. She turned to Quincy, then rushed past him outside. He followed her, Sun on his heels.
“Cruz!” she said, sliding to a stop beside him.
He was dressed in a thin T-shirt and jeans. Even in May the mountains got chilly at night.
“Quincy, get a blanket,” Sun said.
With a worried nod, he rushed back in.
“Cruz,” Auri said, patting his face softly. “Cruz, wake up.”
When he didn’t wake up fast enough for her daughter, Auri patted harder until he caught her hand in his to stop the attack. “Please, stop hitting me.”
Auri released a sigh of relief and took his hand into both of hers. “Sorry. I panicked.”
Sun knelt beside them and draped the blanket over him. He was so disoriented, Sun began to worry. “Cruz, sweetheart, did you take something?”
“Only the painkillers the doctor gave me,” he said, slurring his words.
“And how many did you take?”
He tried to hold up two fingers but couldn’t quite manage it.
“We need to get him to the hospital.”
“No, no, no,” he said, trying to push the blanket off him. “I’m a really heavy sleeper. I’m okay.”
“He is,” Auri said, nodding in agreement.
“And just how would you know that, young lady?”
“We were in the hospital together for days, Mom.”
“Right,” she said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
Cruz managed to hold up two fingers at last. “I’ve only had two painkillers all day today. I took the second one right before bed, but then I heard the call on the radio.”
“What call?” Quincy asked, helping him to his feet.
He shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “The one about some guy looking in the window.”
“You came here to keep watch?” Auri asked, and Sun could’ve sworn she saw tiny hearts burst out of her daughter’s eyes.
“I got here late and didn’t want to scare you.”
“Where’s your truck?” Sun asked.
Quincy answered. “It’s still at the house. Was that to trick me?”
“Trick you?”
They walked inside, and Quincy helped Cruz to a chair at the kitchen table as Sun got him some water. Auri sat next to him, keeping her arm around his.
“I didn’t trick you,” he said to Quince. “I didn’t want to drive after taking a painkiller, so I walked.”
This kid never ceased to amaze Sun.
“What about the pillows in the bed to make it look like you were asleep?”
“I sleep with pillows beside me. It helps support my stomach. It’s still a little sore.” He grabbed his side in explanation.
Quincy sank into the chair next to him. “Son of a bitch. I thought…”
“What?” Cruz asked after gulping down half the glass.
Quince glanced at Auri before answering. “I was just worried about you.”
Cruz glanced at her, too, then rubbed his forehead. “The poem.”
“I’m sorry, Cruz.” She dropped her gaze. “I had no right to tell anyone.”
He turned to her. “Yes, you did.” When she refocused on him, he continued. “You did the right thing, Auri. Any time you think a friend is headed down that path, it’s your responsibility to talk to someone. But I promise you, I’m not. It really was just a poem.”
Sun sat across from him, and said softly, “I’m going to say something that you’re not going to like, sweetheart.”
He eyed her, but didn’t protest.
“Whether you had written that poem or not, we were going to get you into counseling. We talked about it even before all of this.”
He shifted self-consciously. “I’m fine, Sheriff. I promise.”
“I know you are, but you have been through hell and back, all in a matter of weeks. If it were one of my deputies, I wouldn’t give them a choice. So this isn’t me picking on you, Cruz. It’s me doing my duty to you and Quincy and Auri and everyone in this town who loves you.”
He studied the glass in front of him, his lids growing heavy as they spoke. Those must be some powerful painkillers.
“How about you sleep here tonight?” she said, surprising Auri and Quincy. But he was absolutely wasted. What could he do? “You can sleep on the couch.”
“I’ll sleep in the chair,” Auri offered. “You know, to make sure he’s okay.”
He cast her the sweetest smile Sun had ever seen. One that reminded her so much of Levi. Her daughter was in so much trouble.
“Okay, you can sleep with Auri, one on top of the covers and one underneath.”
“Deal!” Auri said before her mother changed her mind. She stood and helped Cruz to her room.
“I can take him home,” Quincy said, seemingly offended.
Sun stood to follow the kids into the room. She turned back to him. “I’m not questioning your capabilities as a guardian, Quince. I just want someone to watch over him while we go to Albuquerque tomorrow.
“I thought we were going back to the canyon.”
“We are, but first I want to talk to Whitney’s roommate. And with Cruz already here—”
“Your parents can keep an eye on him.”
“Precisely.” She made a mental note to request pancakes first thing in the morning and explain the situation to her mom.
By the time Sun got to Auri’s room, Cruz was already curled up next to Auri asleep. Auri pulled the blanket off the foot of her bed and covered him with it. He woke up for just a moment and gazed into her eyes, his own glazed over, leaving Sun to wonder what the hell the doctors gave him.
Auri laughed softly. “No more painkillers for you, mister.”
“Did you know I don’t have a single family member left?” he said, slurring his words sleepily.
Auri leaned closer and whispered, “Yes, you do, handsome,” before kissing him on the nose and snuggling closer.
Sun was in so much trouble.
* * *
“Thanks for doing this, Mom.” Sun washed down a bite of banana pancake with coffee as Auri walked in, dressed for school. “Is he still asleep?”
“Yes. He had a rough night.”
“In what way?” Sun asked in alarm.
“He—he was having nightmares. He tossed and turned a lot.”
Sun nodded. “I’m sorry, hon. I thought he’d sleep through the night.”
“Thank you for letting him stay, Mom. I’m glad I could be here for him.”