Page 41 of His to Cherish
At lunch, when Shane didn’t show up, I took my own leftovers of a blueberry scone, double chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting, and a wheat and oats bagel loaded with chive cream cheese outside.
Carbs, sugar, and dairy—the lunch of champions.
I was halfway through my bagel, my cupcake eaten first because life was too short to save dessert, when I saw him.
He walked out from behind the visiting field baseball dugout amid a cloud of smoke. Ahead of him, four more boys slowly sauntered.
Theboys.
The boys every good parent never wanted their sons to end up becoming, but sometimes they did, because sometimes even living in a relatively safe and small area, we still had our issues and our complications, and sometimes life sucked, so they did stupid things and made bad decisions.
And sometimes boys were just born from bad seeds, parents who didn’t care about them, neglected them, or spent their paychecks at the corner bar instead of on groceries, and by the time the boys were young teenagers, they’d seen too much of the darkness and ugliness life had to offer.
Those boys.
And Shane was with them, still walking behind, lingering in the back of the group like he’d been doing with his friends, but this day, one of the boys, Travis Kelly—the bad kid,the one whose name all teachers cringed at when it ended up on their class roster but never admitted out loud—threw his arm around Shane, pulled him to his side, and headed back into the school.
My eyes didn’t leave him until he disappeared and my heart thumped inside my chest, reminding me it hadn’t stopped beating altogether, I was just holding my breath for a really long time.
“Shit,” I muttered. I looked at my bagel, at my scone, decided I was really glad I’d eaten that cupcake first because I’d suddenly lost my appetite, and went back inside.
Today sucked.
I’d woken up in a dreamlike state, swearing I spent the night tucked close to Aidan, only to find cold sheets and a pillow next to me. Now it was only five hours into my workday and defeat and despair were weighing me down.
Shane.
The good boy who I could see tumbling headfirst into the wrong kind of crowd, all because he was harboring some kind of guilt, and a sadness that no one could help him with.
Possibly because they had no idea how to help him.
But I didn’t think I could hold back my concerns for another minute. It was time to step up.
Even if it was going to ruin everything—like warm kisses against my skin in the middle of the night when I was only half aware of them in the first place.
—
“Miss Dwyer.” Beth’s face showed a world of surprise as she opened her front door to find me standing on the other side.
I stopped chewing my bottom lip and said, “I know it’s a surprise for me to be here, but I wanted to talk to you and didn’t think it could wait.”
“Of course.” She stepped back, opening the door farther, and gestured for me to enter. “Please come in.”
I looked back to my car, certain I was doing the correct thing, yet it didn’t make it easier.
“Would you like anything to drink?”
“No, thank you, I’m okay.”
I followed Beth into her kitchen, where she gestured for me to take a seat. Even though I declined a drink, Beth busied herself making coffee in her Keurig coffeemaker.
“I know you said no, but my southern upbringing demands I shove something in front of you.”
“You’re from the South?” She’d always had a faint hint of an accent, but I’d never been able to place it.
“Yes, Savannah.” Her head tilted to the left and she smiled tentatively. I could practically feel her nerves. I’d never randomly showed up at a student’s house before in my life, and I was certain she never had someone from the school do what I was doing.
I caught a slight trembling in her fingers, and the bright white coffee mugs shook a little bit as she joined me at the table.
