Page 38 of All In Good Time

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you come in and wait for him. Do you like meatloaf? We’d love to have you stay for dinner.”

Becca blinked, taken aback by the sudden offer. Truth be told, she loved meatloaf. Second truth be told, she didn’t want to sit in the cold to wait for Derek, and she wasn’t going to leave until she saw him. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You’re not imposing if I’m inviting. Please, come in.”

Becca didn’t object and gave the woman a smile as she stepped through the open door and into the small entryway.

“I’m Jennifer, Derek’s stepmother.”

Becca smiled. She wasn’t sure what she had expected to find in this house. When Derek showed up on her doorway all beat up, she’d assumed she would find something terrible inside the house he lived in. Instead, she was met by a sweet lady and a tidy home that smelled faintly like the smoke she had come to associate with Derek.

“I’m Rebecca. Derek and I go to school together.”

Jennifer motioned her in, leading her into the living room. “I’ve never met any of Derek’s friends before. He prefers to spend time with them outside.” She pointed to a couch off to the side. “Please, take a seat. I’ll be in the kitchen finishing up. Derek should be home soon.”

“Thank you.” Becca followed Jennifer’s direction and sat on the floral couch, taking a moment to examine decorations in the room.

Her own mother loved to put pictures of them throughout their place. She always said it made it feel more like a home when you could see the lives that were spent there.

But in the Stokes’ living room, there were no pictures. Only a fewCar Craftmagazines set out on a heavy coffee table and an ashtray half filled with ash and stubs of cigarettes.

A door opened from the hallway, and Becca stood, expecting it to be Derek walking into the house. Instead, Mal entered the living room and stopped in her tracks when she saw Becca next to the couch.

“Becca?” She looked even more shocked than her mother had. But unlike her mother, she looked far less thrilled to have a guest in the home. “What are you doing here?”

Becca’s hands came together in front of each other, sensing Mal’s uneasiness. “I was looking for Derek. He isn’t here, so your mom invited me in for dinner to wait.”

“Oh.” She leaned against the back of an equally floral lounge chair. “Okay.”

Becca looked to the spot where Jennifer had disappeared, and stepped closer to Mal. With her voice low, she did her best to keep her next words out of Jennifer’s earshot. “Is Derek okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“He came to my place last night—”

“Last night?” There was a tone of understanding in her voice, mixed with shock that Becca would know anything about it. Mal also looked toward the kitchen and leaned in closer, keeping her voice barely above a whisper. “He left last night and hasn’t been back since. Sometimes he doesn’t come back for a while after…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence.

Becca’s heart dropped. “What if he doesn’t come home tonight?”

Mal shook her head. “He will. Mark told him he had to. If not…” She drifted off again.

“Mark?”

“My stepdad.”

Their house was nice and tidy, Jennifer was sweet. Then Becca remembered why there were no pictures on the wall. Could it really be a home when Derek left it with bruises and marks on him? And Mark was the one who did it to him. The one who put the marks on his face last night, who made Derek show up at her house in the first place.

And that meant this was Mark’s home too. And he would be there for dinner.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Walking in the front door, still in his work uniform, Mark appeared. He didn’t look how Becca had expected. His hair was close-cropped, unlike Derek’s long, well-maintained curls. Across his lip was a solid graying mustache.

His eyes went immediately to her when he entered the living room, widening slightly. “I didn’t know we were expecting guests.”

Jennifer, having heard her husband’s arrival, came back in the room. “Welcome home, dear. This is Rebecca. One of Derek’s friends.” Jennifer was focused solely on her husband, checking his reaction with eager-to-please written all over her face.

---