Page 61 of Dangerous December
Reva thought he and Beth were still a perfect match. Maura thought they were anything but.
And each of them thought they were always right.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The mid-November sun was bright and cold as Beth walked out of church on Sunday morning, the wind brisk enough to kick up last night’s dusting of snow into icy swirls that bit at her ankles.
The usual clusters of folks chatting outside the church dispersed in a flurry of farewells as everyone hurried to their vehicles.
Ahead, halfway across the parking lot, Beth saw Elana walking slowly, accommodating Cody’s weak leg. She hurried to catch up.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
Elana’s eyes filled with uncertainty. She turned to shoo Cody into the car and shut his door, then moved to the back bumper. “Is—is it about this car? If it isn’t okay for me to use it, I understand. I will bring it back right away.”
“Goodness—of course it’s all right. It was just sitting at Sloane House, anyway. On a day like this, you wouldn’t want to hike a long way to church.”
Through the back window, she could see Cody putting on headphones attached to a video screen. “It’s about what you said about planning to move out.”
Elana nervously fingered the keys in her hand. “I...we can make it. It’s okay.”
“Is this about Roberto? Have you heard from him?”
Elana hunched into her thin coat. “No.”
“Someone else?”
“I should be independent. A good example for my son, who will need to stand on his own two feet someday and not be afraid.”
“If someone is facing a threat, there’s no shame in being afraid. It’swiseto take every precaution. If not just for yourself,then for Cody. What would it do to him if he saw you being hurt? Or if he was hurt, and you couldn’t protect him?”
Elana bowed her head.
“Promise me that you’ll stay at least until your classes start. By then you’ll have some savings, plus money for the security payment and first month’s rent on an apartment. You’ll know about your financial aid, and not have to worry.”
“I-I think we should go.”
Beth took a deep breath. “Stay for Cody’s sake, if not your own. At Sloane House, you have a found family around you. People who care.”
Long seconds ticked by before Elana finally lifted her head. “We’ll stay.”
Checking in on Frank had become the pivotal point in his days, Dev realized as he stepped off the elevator and sauntered down the corridor to the familiar hospital room.
A man who’d started out as a stranger, an unwanted responsibility, had firmly settled in Dev’s heart, like the father he’d always wanted.
Nonjudgmental, undemanding, with his wry wit and piercing assessments, Frank was the kind of guy Dev hoped he would be if he reached a grandfatherly age.
He certainly didn’t want to end up like his temperamental old man.
At Frank’s open door, Dev knocked lightly before stepping inside and setting a copy of theWall Street Journalon the bedside table. “How are you doing? Ready to take on the world?”
“Better.”
Though he must have been up for a shower, shave, and breakfast earlier, Frank was lying back against the elevated head of the bed with the covers pulled up to his shoulders, and hisusual tangle of IV lines snaking up to the fat, clear bags of fluid hanging by his bed.
He looked exhausted, his skin pale and sagging in folds on his face and neck.
Dev settled a hip on the broad windowsill and unzipped his jacket. “So what’s happening? Did they make you run a marathon this morning?”
