Page 19 of Little Bird
But I guess I should have known that if anyone would tear my walls down, it would be her.
“So, you’re back,” I say, spooning more stew into my bowl.
Taryn watches me with that single lifted brow, which must be new.
“You didn’t used to be able to lift one eyebrow,” I observe.
She lifts the other as well and glares at me. “And you used to be blond. But I guess things have changed.”
I shrug. “My hair changed color right after you left. Must have been something to do with the sudden abandonment.”
Her glare grows even colder. “That wasn’t my choice, and you know it.”
I do. I knew it at the time, too. That didn’t stop the way it made me feel. And it doesn’t stop my frustration about her suddenly being back, after four years of no communication.
“So why did you come back, then?” I ask. “That seems to have been your choice. Get tired of your cushy life in the city?”
She looks down at her plate and cuts her bread more roughly than she needs to. “The city life isn’t that great, actually.”
I watch her for a moment. She’s sitting close enough that I can almost feel her on my skin, like my nerves are picking up the vibrations of her body, and Christ, it’s everything I can do to keep myself from reaching out and running a finger down the back of her neck. Winding one of those curls around my finger and stretching it out.
Brushing my thumb across her cupid’s bow.
She looks up and catches me looking at her mouth, and I can feel the flush moving quickly over my cheeks.
“You don’t like it in the city, then? Not enough there to keep you busy?” I ask, looking down at my meal.
“Plenty to keep me busy. I’m in college, actually. About to graduate.”
That doesn’t surprise me. She’s always been brilliant. “If you’re about to graduate, what the fuck are you doing up here?”
“And how did you end up in jail?” my father adds.
I glance at him, surprised, because I didn’t realize she’d been in jail. He just said she was in trouble. “Jail?” I ask, not bothering to keep the shock out of my voice.
Taryn divides a glance between the two of us, her lip caught between her teeth. “I appreciate the two of you letting me stay, and I won’t be a bother,” she says. “I’ll cook and clean and do anything else you need me to do. And I’ll be out of your hair the moment I have another plan.”
“You up here to study or something?” I ask. “Won’t you miss your friends?”
She just shrugs and takes a mouthful of stew, her eyes on the table.
“What about school? Don’t you have to go to class?”
“Christmas break,” she answers seriously. “I won’t be missing anything.”
“You going to go home after the holiday?”
I know I’m being aggressive and asking questions she’s already bypassed, but I can’t seem to stop myself. This is the girl I thought I’d get to keep forever.
The girl who ran out on me the moment I realized how badly I needed her to stay.
She meets my eyes and shrugs again, and I know it doesn’t matter how many times I ask. She’s not going to answer. I recognize the look of stubborn refusal in her eyes.
She’s got secrets about what happened in the city, and she’s not going to share them. Even with me.
Maybe especially with me.
“I’d like to go into town, though,” she says, neatly changing the subject. “I have some film I need to get developed. Can I borrow the truck?”
