Page 12 of Beyond Perfect

“We did. Things are still strained between us.”

Annie’s face fell.

No, no, no, Maisy wasn’t going to spoil her friend’s mood. “But don’t worry, I have time to get back to a better footing with him. We’ll be fine.”

“All right. Now, I bought some bridal magazines. Let’s go through them after school.”

“Yeah, that’ll be so much fun.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Great.” She stood. “See you in between classes.” And Annie floated back out of the room.

Maisy put her face in her hands. All that time with Jackson. What would it do to her willpower?

* * *

The DFS worker got Freddie out of the foster care placement and into another emergency one by nine that night. Tom had reported the perpetrator to the police.

Jackson went home after Freddie was safe. His house was nice but not ostentatious. He’d had a ranch built on the outskirtsof Westwood. Most of the rooms faced the woods behind the place. The kitchen was all granite and chrome, the living room huge with a lot of windows and two bedrooms sat in the back. The third was a personal gym. He’d work out before he tried to sleep.

But first, he dropped down into a chair instead and called Maisy.

“Hello.”

She was laughing at something, and a male voice in the background said, “I got a triple score!”

“Maisy, did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, I’ve been waiting for you to call. What happened?”

He’d explained the night’s events. “They’ll find another placement tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Did you tell Frankie?”

“Yes. I walked over to his cabin before I left.”

“Wow, you are something else.”

“Thanks. Do you have company?”

“No. That was my brother, Caleb.”

“Oh, yeah. He lives with you.”

“We’re playing Scrabble and he’s gloating.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“What are you doing?”

“I just got home. I waited until Freddie was settled.”

“You work so hard.”

“Sometimes. It helps me with…never mind.”

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