Page 43 of The Young & the Sinner

It was a sound plan. I thought about it more on the short drive to work.

* * *

By the endof my shift, I had a headache the size of a boulder pressing in on the back of my head. It could have been stress from my fight with Lorenzo, I didn’t know. But when Joe came out and told me to start on my closing duties, I had to stop myself from jumping up and down with joy.

Joe was in his mid-fifties, with salt and pepper hair neatly trimmed close to his scalp, wrinkles, tan leathery skin from his many excursions outdoors, and a world of kindness in his bright green eyes.

Two years ago, he gave me a job and trusted me with many responsibilities around the store when I had only just turned sixteen, with no work experience whatsoever. And he did it simply because my mom was working there. If there was one thing Joe was known for, it was his considerate treatment of his employees.

My mom left him high and dry and short staffed for a few weeks when she left without notice. Yet, he had been nothing but nice to me. The fact that Lorenzo was making fun of his grocery store, of his life’s work, his pride and joy, grated on my nerves more than he would ever know.

I was sweeping the canned goods aisle when Joe came over to me with a strange look on his face. “Hey, Olivia. There’s a boy here to see you.”

“A boy?” Only one boy would come and see me, and I thought for sure he would ignore me for the next two days or so.

“Yeah. Is he your boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

He made a tsk, tsk noise with his lips. “You’re too young to have a boyfriend.”

I laughed. “Oh, come on. Seventeen is not that young.”

His eyes widened comically. “Not that young? Why, you’re practically a baby! I remember when I first met you. You were the smallest six-year-old I had ever met in my entire life.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve grown a lot taller since then,” I replied drily.

He exaggerated his frown, and my smiled widened a fraction. “Not by much.”

Joe patted my head, and with a playful wink he walked away, a slight limp to his gait. I stared at his retreating back. His bad hip must be acting up again.

So focused on my boss, I completely missed the fact that someone was standing right beside me, until a large shadow fell over me.

I moved back in surprise, and looked up to meet devastating blue eyes, crinkling a little in the corners from amusement. “Mason? What are you doing here?”

“Sorry. I called your name, but you didn’t answer. You daydream a lot, don’t you?”

I bit my lip. “Maybe.”

He chuckled. “Well, I’m here to pick you up. Max is holed up at home because something came up at work and he couldn’t come and get you.”

Oh, he was the boyJoe was referring to. Old age must be affecting Joe’s eyesight, because Mason wasn’t a boy. He was all man. “You didn’t have to come all the over here to pick me up. I could have taken the bus home.”

“Not at this hour. Are you almost finished here?” He pointed to the broomstick I was still holding.

“Oh, yeah. I just need to clock out. Give me a few minutes?”

“Of course. Take your time.” I smiled and walked to the backroom, feeling his gaze on me. My walk turned awkward, and I hated how my limbs felt just knowing Mason was looking at me.

“Can I leave, Joe?” I asked, when I found him talking to Sandy, another employee.

“Of, course, sweetie. You don’t need a ride home, do you?”

I shook my head, smiling. Joe sometimes drove me home, but that hadn’t happened since I came to live with Max. “I’m good. Mason’s taking me home.”

“Oh, is he your boyfriend?”

Ha. I wished. “No, Mason is Max’s brother.”

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