Page 56 of Coffee Shop Girl
His scowl deepened.
I let out an exasperated breath. “They’regirls, Jim!” I cried.
A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye, near the hall. I sensed Maverick’s presence as he slipped out of the office. Jim didn’t appear to notice.
Jim’s jaw twitched. “Are they here or not?”
“You know we weren’t all that close. If they didrun away, they sure didn’t come to me.”
He glanced at the stack of romances on the floor. “Those aren’t Lizbeth’s, then?”
“Mine.”
“Sure.” He scoffed. “Your daddy struck me as the real romantic type when he kicked your mama out after his deployment.”
My nostrils flared. “That’s not how it happened, and you know it.”
“Give me the girls.”
“They aren’t here,” I hissed.
“Yet,” he added softly, his intent gaze still boring into mine.
“If they die out there, that’s on you.”
He stepped forward. “I never did like you.”
“The feeling was mutual, I assure you.”
“Kat talked about you way too much.” Disgust filled his eyes. “All the time. Bethany, Bethany, Bethany. Lizbeth hated you, too, you know. Fought with a ghost for her mama’s love.”
His vinegary breath turned my stomach sour. Some of what he said was true. Mama had a hard time controlling her moods. She acted totally enamored with someone, or something, one moment. The next? They were forgotten. Sometimes, that happened to her daughters.
The bells on the door rang behind him, admitting a familiar flash of sandy hair.
“Hey, Miss Bethany,” Devin called, “is—”
“Everything is upstairs that you’ll need to get started, Dev,” I called loudly without taking my eyes off Jim. “Please go upstairs and get started right away.”
Devin paused, assessed the situation, and immediately headed down the hall. His feet banged up the stairs. Seconds later, the upper door opened and closed.
“I know you have them,” Jim muttered. “Those are books that Lizbeth loves, and Ellie would know enough to get them here.”
“If I had them, I would never give them back to you.”
“Never is a long time.”
“Especially in prison.”
He hesitated, studying me. He questioned whether I’d do it—I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t believe I’d take them or rat him out. My careful distance from them over the years certainly gave him reason to doubt. I’d never truly fit in at that house. With my lipstick, my attachment to my dad, and my plans to break intorealmoney one day.
“Then let’s make this easy on everyone,” he said. “Keep them, but get them back before school starts, or we’re going to have problems. I’ll tell the neighbors they’re visiting their sister for the summer, the way I suspected.”
He knew.
Maybe we’d gotten careless, or maybe it was clear they had no one else that Lizbeth would trust, and Ellie would tolerate. Either way, there was no secret now. He knew the girls were here.
Still, I retorted, “How do I know I shouldn’t call the cops and report them dead?”
