Page 74 of Sugar
“Has Brooks been out there?” Mr. Bennett asks.
Kasey shakes his head. “Not yet, Dad.”
“He’s doing so well though,” Mrs. Bennett adds, eyes on the three young boys who are clearly listening.
“We’re fine,” Kasey insists. “He can take all the time he needs.”
“Maybe I could help with some things,” Mr. Bennett says aloud, studying the corner of his napkin.
“No need.” Kasey slaps a hand on his shoulder. “Promise.”
Our walk home is less eventful, although Kasey does seem a lot less bothered. “Did you enjoy yourself?” he asks quietly, eyes fixed on the path ahead as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. He’d had three or four beers during dinner, and I can see the way the alcohol turns the tips of his ears pink like it used to.
“Yeah, I actually did,” I say. “Your mother is really nice.”
He smiles. “She’s a good woman.”
“It must take a big heart to support such a big family.”
“She’s got it. We’ve all put her through hell over the years and she’s never failed to support us.”
I think about my own mother and how she couldn’t find a single quality reason to stick around, back when I was still trying to impress her with my good behavior. “You’re really lucky,” I say.
I feel him look at me. Eventually, he looks away.
“Was last night the first that you’ve had nightmares like that?”
“No,” he says. “I’ve had them most nights since it happened.”
I try to choose my words carefully. “I was thinking . . . I might be able to get into my dad’s online records to see if anything about that night is on his radar. If any law enforcement office is going to come after you, I’m fairly certain he’ll know about it.” My gut tells me Dad doesn’t know or he would have tried to use that against me too. But it doesn’t mean it won’t still come.
“I can’t ask you to do that, Ava.”
“You’re not.”
“If he found out you accessed his data, you’d be directly implicating yourself.”
“I don’t care.”
“Youshould,” he snaps.
“Well, I don’t.” I smile. “I used to do it all the time.”
The fight loosens in his expression as a smile threatens to break through. “You used to access the sheriff’s database?” I nod. “For what?”
I shrug. “I used to background check guys who asked me out. Sometimes I’d try to dig up dirt on someone’s family if they wronged me.”
“Shit.” He laughs, shaking his head. “Did you ever look me up?”
“No,” I say quickly. “Never.” And it’s the truth. My father always had a strong dislike for the Bennett family, starting back well before I was born. It was one thing to hack into his files for my own personal gain and enjoyment, but it’d felt slimy to use that kind of stolen access against peoplehedespised. Also, I was a little scared of what I might find—I didn’t want Kasey to be a bad guy.
For the first time in my life, I’d chosen to trust someone.
“I don’t want you getting mixed up in any of my shit, Ava. Not now that . . .”
“Now that I’m pregnant?” I throw him a half-hearted grin.
He nods.
