Page 100 of All In Good Time

Derek bit his lip and grinned into the rearview mirror, chuckling breathlessly to himself.

He’d tried to think of the right word to describe how he’d felt since last night, but nothing was strong enough to encapsulate the full extent. Happy? Elated? Euphoric?

All were correct, but didn’t fill the corners of the full, fluttery feeling in his chest.

The gray edges of the world were vivid again, blinding him.

He sighed and tapped his fingers giddily on his steering wheel.

And it all centered on Becca—just like always.

“You’re starting to freak me out.”

Mal’s voice rattled him, and it took him a moment to remember that she sat right next to him in the car.Shehadn’t forgotten, though, and her arms crossed over her chest as she raised a confused eyebrow.

“What?” He tried to play it cool, but the smile on his face gave him away. He didn’t really care.

“You’re smiling.”

“What? I can’t smile?”

“You haven’t smiled in months.” She looked him over with a weird expression. “Especially not like that.”

He shrugged. He was high on the addictive feeling of being in love and knowing that it wasn’t entirely one way.

She’d reciprocated his kiss—Becca had wanted him to some extent. He’d take that. He’d take anything at this point.

“What happened? Did you and Becca suddenly make up?” she asked, and the high-pitched taunt in her voice told him she was kidding. Trying to get a rise out of him, like she loved to do. But she wasn’t expecting him to look at her, allowing the smile on his face to grow as he bit his lip.

Mal’s back straightened and her eyes grew into saucers. Her face lightened cautiously. “No way. You did.”

He neither confirmed nor denied, but he might as well have screamed yes out the window with the way his head fell back against the headrest, as he chuckled.

“Thankgod.I thought I was going to go crazy with your moping, on top of Mark’s intensity. I swear he’s getting worse.”

If she was trying to kill his mood, she succeeded. His bright grin dimmed slightly at the reminder of his father. Mark was the last thing in the world he wanted to think about whensomethingwas starting to go right for him.

It made it even worse that Mal was right. Mark’s intensitywasbecoming unbearable. They could feel it in the air in the house. It was like breathing in a flammable gas every second he was around.

Derek didn’t want to think about this. He didn’t want to deal with him even when he was out and away from the toxic cloud that was his father. One word about the visit from CPS would be like lighting a match in a gas canister—so they did as they’d agreed and kept silent.

“Just avoid him,” he said.

“I already do.”

He took a deep breath and turned onto the street to the sheriff’s house where Mal would have a sleepover with her friend Jane. He’d been happy enough to say yes when she asked without a fight or attitude today.

“Thanks for the ride.” Mal slid out of his car, pausing just long enough to give him a suggestive smile. “Give Becca my best.” She puckered her lips and mockingly kissed the air before slamming the door and running away so he couldn’t yell at her.

He flicked his middle finger up, but she missed it as she ran to the house.

The moment she reached the front porch, the door opened, and Sheriff Winston Wade let her in.

He would have driven down and out of the driveway immediately upon seeing the sheriff, but Wade raised his hand in greeting, and Derek hesitated with his hand on the gear and foot on the brake. He could easily leave, but he’d already got enough attention from the man lately. And clearly, Sheriff Wade was heading right toward him, walking down the dirt drive past his beaten-up truck toward Derek’s car.

Instead of running, Derek rolled down his window and nodded politely at the older man as he approached his side of the Monte Carlo. They hadn’t interacted much, and the few run-ins they’d had weren’t anything to write home about—aside from Derek’s brief runaway.

“How’s it going, Derek?” The sheriff tilted his hat to shadow his face from the bright afternoon sun.

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