Page 62 of To Believe In You
Already, his next student sat in the waiting area, kicking his feet. Still three minutes until the scheduled start time, though.
Matt peered toward the back hall. What would he encounter if he approached her? Upset, she might send him away. Worse, she might turn to him and find he had nothing helpful to say. “Have you checked on her?”
“She’s in the building and I assume Shane isn’t, so she’s fine.”
“It ever occur to you there’s more than one way to hurt a person?”
Tim muttered a reply, but Matt was already on his way to the back, praying as he went that God would give him the right words for whatever he found.
Lina sat on the stairs, slumped against the wall. Her hand drooped between her knees, her phone in what looked like a precarious grip. Her closed eyes didn’t even flutter.
Matt sat beside her in the dim space, slid his hand across her back, and guided her to lean on him instead of the wall. She came easily, her cheek fitting the curve of his collarbone, her forehead against his neck. So gentle as she settled against him, she deserved protection, not heartache.
“Who do I need to go pick a fight with?”
“My dad.” A quiet, rueful laugh puffed across his skin. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Not at all.” He wanted to kiss the top of her head but settled for rubbing her shoulder. “I take it Shane was his surprise?”
Her body seemed to rest against him more heavily. “Yeah.”
Footsteps neared. Heavy ones. Tim poked his head around the corner.
With a jerk of his head, Matt ordered him away. Whatever Lina needed, he would make sure she got, even if he had to cancel his next lesson and call in to the pizza place.
Tim rolled his eyes, but he went.
If only taking care of his next student would be so easy. He heard Carrie saying goodbye to a student. Was she done for the night? He hadn’t seen anyone but his lesson in the waiting room. He gave Lina’s shoulders a gentle squeeze. “I’ll be right back.”
She straightened. Her bottom lip pushed her mouth into a frown, but she appeared to be dry-eyed. More composed than he had expected.
He caught up with Carrie in the office, bribed her to cover his lesson by promising to deliver pizzas for her family on Friday, and returned to the hall.
Lina opened her mouth, then tilted her head, sighed, and stayed silent, her vision trained somewhere near his feet.
“You want to talk about it?”
The corners of her lips dug downward.
“Let’s get you home and make you a cup of tea or something.”
The frown remained, but her irises lifted. “A cup of tea?”
He’d happened upon Krissy crying into a mug as she discussed her problems with Mom more than once, but he was out of his depth. “Hot chocolate?”
She gave a sad laugh and used the railing to hoist herself to her feet. “Tim’s waiting for me.”
“Nah, he’s gone already.”
“Oh.” She checked her phone screen, then her mouth scrunched with her next objection. “You have a lesson. You’re late.”
“Carrie’s covering.”
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“In the name of honesty, I’ll admit I’m tempted to say yes.”
She slanted a long look at him. “Promise me something?”
