Page 370 of Evil Hearts

Misfit Souls

Sierra MacKenzie

CHAPTER ONE: MARYSSA

“Ryse, your momis going to flip her shit when she finds out you looked at a possible store location two hours from Black Falls.” Lisa shimmied around in her thick winter coat, doing her best to get her cell phone in her back pants pocket without thrusting her hand out into the freezing air prematurely. The small device continued to vibrate persistently. “What the hell was Andy thinking about showing you a place this far out?”

Her steps drifted to a halt, leaving me with no choice but to stop on the sidewalk to avoid leaving her behind in a city neither of us really knew.

It was times like this that I was grateful that I had chosen to wrap a thick, soft scarf around my face to help keep the cold temperatures at bay. Especially when it allowed me to watch my best friend move around like a fish out of water with my coy smirk carefully hidden.

A strangled groan escaped from her lips when she realized there was no way to avoid having such an intense brush with the winter air, not when her jacket didn’t extend long enough to cup over her bubbly ass. Her head fell back with those blue eyes rising up toward the overcast sky above us. “Don’t think I can’t sense that smirk. I know you’re laughing at me.”

“Who said I waslaughing?” I teased. Tugging one gloved hand free from my jacket pocket, I leaned over and snatched the device out of her back pocket for her. I was quick to shove the device up her jacket before tucking the end against her body, effectively controlling how much cold air slipped inside.

The noise evolved into a loud squeak. “God, it’s fuckingcold!”

I didn’t hesitate to grin behind my scarf. There was really no point with masking my amusement when she knew me too well. One slight twinkle to my eyes gave me away every time. “You’re welcome.” With a slight shake of my head, I put effort into twisting my tone into a more annoyed one. “I don’t know why you’re bothering to check. The last five calls have been Jerry trying to convince you to give him a second chance.”

“I know.” Lisa rolled her eyes and wiggled around a little more to grab the buzzing device. “But I’ve gotta run with the slim possibility that it might be my uncle asking me to stop by the store on the way back. Dani is running a low grade fever. She might’ve caught a cold.”

My lips pressed into a tight line. “Or her dad brought the usual yearly bug home and doesn’t want to admit it. Why don’t they just ask the baby daddy to watch over his newborn for a few days so she can rest?”

She shot me a hard glare. “Because Jonathan is currently sleeping on his best friend’s couch until they wise up and realize he’s slumming at their place. It’s a bachelor pad, Ryse. There’sno roomfor a baby.”

Touché…

The buzzing continued and my best friend was soon heavily distracted by the fight to reach the small device sitting at the rim of her jacket. It didn’t take her very long to wrap those delicate thin fingers around it, not when there was no more struggle against everyday movement to counter. She wiggled it up to thetop of her jacket and stuck it out of the neckline just enough to take in the name displayed on the screen. “Aha!”

I watched her expression shift from a slightly panicked one to a glare that could literally kill. Shaking my hand, I jammed my gloved hands back into my pockets. “Call number six?”

Lisa blew out a heavy breath, letting the call go to voicemail rather than openly rejecting the call. “Call number six…” she confirmed softly. “I’m starting to think I need to get a restraining order against Jerry. It has been non-stop groveling and ‘oh, woe is me’ shit since I found those pictures on his phone.”

“I don’t understand why you haven’t just gone down to the police station and gotten that done already.” It took every ounce of strength that I had not to succumb into the urge to roll my eyes. I turned on my heel when she finally pried herself loose from the sidewalk. We continued on down the block with a surge of rage swirling around in between us.

Those deep blue eyes swung over toward me. She wrinkled her nose at me. “Black Falls has less than a thousand people in it. We’ve only got six blocks of businesses. All of our houses are tucked up nearby. It’s notpossibleto keep that man a hundred yards away in a town that size.”

“He could move.”

Lisa threw back her head and cackled. “If only! That boy dropped out of high school. He’s shown no interest in getting his GED. As long as daddy owns the only garage in town, he’ll have a job with a steady income.Hewouldn’t have to leave town just to accommodate that restraining order.”

Shrugging, I surveyed our surroundings. “Well… If this place ends up having the space that I need, you can move out to Saint Valencia with me. I could use a roommate until I get on my feet.”

The bubbly energy shrank, almost as if an invisible force had sucked in a lungful of air and sent it back into the little vial that it had come from. Her expression grew solemn. “You know Iwould if my uncle didn’t need me here. It’s just him, Dani, and the baby. I have to be there to help out when he’s gotta work.”

I could feel my own excited energy beginning to diminish. How could I push forward with that argument when I knew it wasn’t an excuse woven together?

Dani’s pregnancy had been unexpected, especially since she hadn’t quite graduated high school yet. Her father had been stunned to the core that Dani had been fooling around with Jonathan without some protection. That didn’t mean she hadn’t shied away from her new responsibilities. That kid was willing to stretch herself thin just to put herself through school and ensure that her baby was a content one.

That was where Lisa fit into the puzzle. She’d already graduated. Her uncle would pay her to babysit every school day so that Dani could finish her education. A lapse in judgment wasn’t going to stop him from ensuring she had an escape route from that town, should she desire it.

My lungs expanded with a fresh wave of cold air rushing in. “I know…but you can still come stay with me on the weekends. It’ll give you a chance to recharge.”

The edges of her lips curled into a small smile. “Really?”

“Sure.” I grinned back at her. “You’re my best friend, Lis. Why wouldn’t I be there for you like you were for me when Dad died?”

Lisa’s expression softened. “As much as I hate to change the subject and flip this back on you…but where in the hellisthis place? Saint Valencia is fucking huge compared to back home. It’s bigger than I remember from our trip. I feel like we’ve been walking forever without actually gaining any ground.”

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