Page 13 of Reading Between the Lines
The uproar had shaken us both, and we were in no mood to stick around for Ivory’s scheduled breakfast.
In fact, Diem’s urgency to flee had been so great he had barely given me time to shower and dress. We’d gone through a Starbucks drive-through instead, and since Diem’s nerves were frayed, I didn’t argue, even when they made my coffee wrong.
“What’s the kid’s name?” I asked as he pulled off the highway less than ten minutes later, entering the small town of Cobourg.
“Weston? Westley? Shit. I don’t know. Something like that.”
“Your attention to detail is astounding. How old is he?”
“A teenager.”
“Fourteen?”
“I don’t know.”
“Eighteen?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sixteen.”
“For fuck’s sake, Tallus. I didn’t ask.”
“Did you sleep last night?”
No answer, but the death grip on the steering wheel and tension in his iron jaw said no.
Diem pulled into a quickly-filling parking lot attached to the main building and chose the first available spot.
“Is there a reason we’re meeting this woman at the hospital? It’s… gloomy.”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. She’s paying a shit ton of money for us to listen to her speak. If she wants to meet in a goddamn funeral home, I don’t give a shit.”
“You’re cranky.”
“I know.”
“Was it the clocks? That was kind of a shock to the system. What was up with that?”
“I don’t know. I’m tired, okay.”
“Because you didn’t sleep.”
“No, I didn’t.”
We got out and aimed for the hospital’s front doors. Winter had blown into Ontario with a vengeance much earlier than usual. Our first snowfall occurred in early November, and the temperature had barely ventured above freezing since. Although we hadn’t seen more snow in the interim, the blustery north wind and crisp air warned of a nasty season ahead.
I huddled in my unsuitable jacket, shoulders close to my ears as I tried to keep pace with Diem’s long strides. Once inside and basking in the glorious heat pumping from a ceiling vent, I snagged Diem’s arm, stopping his momentum.
“My rodeo, right?”
He grumbled and nodded.
I patted his chest. “Blend into the background and try to bite your tongue.”
The resonating growl in his chest and snarled lip only made me chuckle. “No growling. Neutral expression if you can manage it.”
He deadpanned.
