Page 41 of Unconditional

I sighed, running a hand through my hair.“Benji’s upset I missed our call.I need to call tomorrow morning, make sure he’s okay.”

Talon ruminated for a moment, then said, “You’re good at your job.”

A snort escaped me.“Oh yeah?How do you know?”

Resting the book on his lap, regret lined his features.“I know I said a lot of shit before…about what you do.That’s just my own fucked up life rearing its ugly head.Reality is, maybe if there had been more people like you around when we needed it, things might have been different for Bri, Lo, and me.The kids you work with are lucky to have you.”

Stinging burned in my eyes, but I blinked it back.The reverence in his tone struck me and I knew he was being sincere.

“I wish that it hadn’t gotten to the point of needing to have me.”It was barely a whisper, but Talon heard me.

“We don’t live in a perfect world, baby.There are always going to be kids who need someone to step up.There wasn’t anyone like that for me.I’m grateful I get to see first-hand that it’s not like that for everyone.”

My head fell into my hands, supported by my elbows on the counter.I nodded but was exhausted.I wish I could say that it was just the burden of the last week, or even a lack of sleep.But I couldn’t.This weariness had been building for a long time.

“Why do you do it?”

His question made me blink, my gaze still stuck on the linoleum counter in front of me.

“Do what?”

He cleared his throat, rephrasing the question.“What made you decide to become a social worker?”

Such a heavy question.With an answer I’d not shared with anyone since I was fifteen.

I took a deep breath and when I released it it was with a choked laugh.“You’ve done your research on me.”

“And?”

It was hard to believe I was actually going to tell him.To spill my guts like he were Birdie or some close friend.But the weight was heavy, almost too heavy to bear, and the chance to lessen some of it was right in front of me.

“Tell me,” he said, as if he could hear my thoughts.I took a stabilizing breath.

“Okay, well…I grew up well enough off and when it came to material things, my parents never denied us anything.Most of the people we knew thought we were just a bunch of spoiled brats, and in a lot of ways we were.

“Real friendships were hard to come by.Most of the kids thought being friends with a Fisher meant that they could be included in extravagant shopping trips and spending sprees—they didn’t actually give a shit about us.

“I had two friends though, who I loved dearly, and they loved me.James, who as you already know…well we’ve grown apart.And then Cara.”

twenty-nine

Misely

It’dbeenalongtime since I’d said her name and when I did, it came out a little hoarse.Grief, fresh as the day I’d gotten the news, overwhelmed my senses.The only person I’d ever known in my personal life to understand this kind of pain was Birdie and I’d still never had the courage to confide in her.

I must’ve gone quiet because Talon urged me to continue.“What happened with Cara?”

Hearing her name on someone else’s tongue burned just as deeply, a selfish part of me wanting to rip it out of his mouth and demand he never speak it again.My memories of Cara were mine and mine alone.

I shuddered a sigh.“We met when we were ten.She’d just moved to town, and nobody else was really making a move to befriend her.After a few weeks, I built up the courage to introduce myself and we became thick as thieves right away.

“Every time we had a sleepover, my brothers and sisters made it their mission to sabotage them.But Cara wasn't scared off and insisted it'd be better to have our sleepovers at my house.I didn’t mind, and my parents certainly didn’t care either.They were so wrapped up in themselves and in each other, I don’t think they ever really realized that there had been another child in the house.

“Finally, when we were about…” I paused to think about it, the memories muddling together.“Fourteen, I want to say, I convinced her to let me come to her house.It had been years at that point and I wanted to see where she lived and meet her family.I guess I should’ve caught on when she said she hoped they weren’t home.”

Talon heard something in my tone, because he stood and came to me, resting a gentle arm on my shoulder and directing me to the bed.I accepted his embrace, leaning into his chest with my legs tucked up to my own.The feel of his calloused palms running down my arms centered me, giving me the comfort I needed to keep going.

“The house was completely dilapidated.Just totally neglected.And it looked like her parents might’ve been hoarders.She didn’t let me look around much, just dragged me back to her bedroom.It was tiny, and I don’t mean that in a, ‘my room is huge so anything smaller than that seems tiny’ way, I mean in a truly tiny way.Like—‘how does anybody live in here?’way.

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