Page 28 of Love and Other Lost Things

“He might be lonely, sweetie. I’m sure he’s going to miss you a whole lot. But hurting someone is never okay, and I don’t want you to grow up thinking that it is.”

Scarlett absently rubbed her stuffed elephant’s ear, a habit that had started when she was a baby. “I don’t want to go to Canada. It seems so far away. It’s a foreign country.”

“I know, but it’s really not that far. Just a few hours north. And it’s just like the United States, really. Your grandma is from Canada.”

Scarlett looked up. “Maybe Grandma wants to come with us? Then at least we’ll know someone there.”

Jane shook her head. If Mom had wanted to go to Canada, she would have done it when Jane had begged her ten years ago. But she couldn’t say that to her daughter. “I think Grandma needs to stay here. But we’ll meet new people.”

Scarlett nodded. “Can I bring my Lego Barbie house?”

Jane hesitated. Scarlett was already losing so much. She didn’t want to take this from her daughter, too. Which meant she’d need to get moving on her plan. Today. “Yes. Yes, I’ll make sure you can take your Lego Barbie house.”

Scarlett went back to the floor to assemble the Dream House kitchen, and Jane stood. When she turned, she found Mom standing in the doorway with tears in her eyes. As Jane moved past her into the hallway, Mom whispered, “You’re a good mother.”

Jane kept walking. She didn’t know what else to do.

TWELVE

An hour later, Jane pulled her old Toyota into the alley behind Butler’s Garage. She and her friends used to stop by the minimart where they’d stock up on snacks before lying by the lake at Randall Park. But now Jane avoided the front of the store and entered the garage through the back door. She’d learned a lesson running into Mrs. Swanson at Ford’s, and the fewer people who might spot her on this particular errand, the better.

Jane stepped into the building, which somehow managed to be dark and blindingly bright at the same time. A dim fluorescent bulb flickered on the ceiling, casting only the barest light into the corners of the vast room. But scattered through the middle was a variety of cars, some suspended on lifts with mechanics in coveralls working on them from below, and others parked on the greasy ground with their hoods open and bright work lights shining in. Jane jumped at the sudden buzz of a welding machine starting up entirely too close for comfort, its sparks bouncing in all directions.

All around her hung the sharp scent of gasoline and tire rubber. Jane hovered in the shadows, scanning the room for a familiar sleeve of tattoos and a head of short, reddish hair.

“Miss, you can’t be in here.” A tall woman with long dreadlocks and a pair of blue coveralls appeared from behind a high-end SUV, waving a wrench toward the door Jane had entered through. “You need to leave.”

“I’m here to talk to Kait. Is she available?”

The other woman tucked the tool in her pocket and hitched her chin in the direction of the minimart. “If you’re here to have your car serviced, go through the front and leave your keys with the attendant.”

Jane shook her head. “I don’t need my car serviced. I need to talk to Kait. Please? It’s important.”

The woman eyed her for a moment, and then turned in the direction of a Mustang parked a few vehicles away. “Hey, boss.”

“Yeah?” To Jane’s relief, a familiar figure stood up from under the hood. Kait’s hair was still short, still reddish blond, though in the gleam of the work light, Jane spotted a few streaks of gray.

“This woman is here to see you.”

Kait squinted across the garage, and Jane gave a nervous wave. Surely Kait would remember her. It had been a decade, but they’d spent almost four days in a car together. Jane had a feeling that despite whatever kind of excitement came with Kait’s line of work, it wasn’t every day that she drove fugitive teenagers to the West Coast.

Kait wiped her hands on a dirty rag and crossed the garage, giving her employee a nod. “Thanks, Piper. I’ve got it from here.”

“Okay, boss.” Piper shrugged and went back to the car she’d been working on.

“Jane McCaffrey,” Kait said, with a raise of her eyebrows. “This is a surprise. I never expected to see you back in this town.”

“Me either.” Jane shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. “Believe me.”

Kait’s gaze roamed over her. “You look exactly the same. Even that black eye hasn’t changed a bit. Why is that?”

Jane pressed a hand to her cheek. She’d hoped it would have started to fade by now. “Just bad luck, I guess.”

“More like bad company.”

“That, too,” Jane acknowledged with a nod. Kait had been the one person Jane could be honest with all those years ago, and she had a feeling that hadn’t changed. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”

Kait hitched her chin at a door in the back corner of the garage. “My office.”

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