Page 63 of Salvation
I glare up at him, annoyed because he slips so easily beneath my skin. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
His smirk stretches, and I glare harder. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that secrets don’t make friends?”
“Pretty sure they used to make us best friends,” I mutter under my breath so he can’t hear, but when I meet his eyes again, a spark ignites in them, making me wonder if maybe I said it louder than I intended.
He sticks out his hand, offering me a hand up. I’m tempted to ignore it out of self-preservation, but in the end, I stick my hand in his, gritting my teeth against the electric shock running up my arm.
“What are you doing here, Campbell?”
He takes his time with his answer, sweeping his eyes up and down my body as if searching for something before finally landing on my eyes and staying there. A shiver runs down my spine.
“It’s a public street, sunshine.” His smirk grows wider, but just as quick as it’s there, it disappears again—almost like I imagined it in the first place. “Plus, I wanted to check on you after the other night.”
I stick my tongue in my cheek and look away. “I’m fine.”
After Brecks left, I went back inside to tell Willow goodbye. Campbell watched me the entire time, assessing me like he is now. He didn’t ask about Brecks, and I didn’t offer him any reasons as to why he left. But suspicion still gleamed in his eyes anyway.
Campbell’s jaw hardens—anxious energy pulses beneath my skin with the need to run.
“I—um—I need to walk Mason back. Why don’t you spend some time with Willow while I’m gone?”
He blinks as if only just now realizing Mason is standing beside him, and I hurriedly grab the little boy’s hand before Campbell convinces me to stay.
“Come on, buddy,” I say, walking toward the coffee shop. “Let’s get you back to your mom before she sends a search party.”
Mason sighs dramatically, hanging his head as if I just asked him to face a dragon, but thankfully, he doesn’t argue.
“Fine, but a search party probably would have been cool,” he grumbles.
I turn my face away so he doesn’t see me laughing, and we march past Campbell. I unintentionally take a deep breath as we walk by, filling my lungs with the smell of citrus and cedar.
It burns in the best way, and I hold it in my lungs until I’m well past him.
When I step into the coffee shop with Mason by my side, Zoey rushes us, going straight to her son.
“Mason, where have you been? You’ve got to stop running off like that,” she says, taking his face in her hands and looking him over.
“Momma,” he whines, trying to shove her hands away, but she holds on tighter. “I’m fine.”
“Buddy, you’ve got to stop disappearing. You scared me to death.”
His sigh seems to come from the depths of his little soul. “I know. I was just bored. You always have to work, and Maci is boring. All she likes to do is read.”
Guilt floods Zoey’s eyes, a look I know all too well, but she covers it up with a stern arch of her brow. “First off, don’t call your sister boring. She likes different things than you, and that’s okay.” Mason rolls his eyes, but Zoey continues. “And second, I know I work a lot, but if you promise to stop running off, we’ll take a day and do something fun soon. Okay?”
Mason’s eyes light up, and he stops trying to shove Zoey away. “Promise?”
Zoey swallows, but the movement takes effort. “I promise, buddy, but can you please go upstairs with your sister for now?”
Huffing, he steps out of her hold. “I guess so.”
He makes it a couple of steps before Zoey calls his name. “I love you, Mason.” But he keeps on going, not turning around.
Zoey rubs her hand over her brow and finally looks at me. “This is the second time I haven’t known where my kid is in front of you. You must think I’m a terrible mother.”
Glancing out the window and down the street to where Campbell and Willow are now talking, I shake my head. “Believe me. I don’t think that at all.”
She looks at me skeptically, but lets it drop. “Anyway, let me at least get you a coffee for bringing him back. It’s the least I can do.”
