James was quiet the entire drive to Greasy, his mouth set in a thin line. I didn’t bother making small talk. Out of all the members, he was probably the one I had spoken to the least – probably because of what Dante did to Malfoy. Talking to the prospects had earned me nothing but trouble so far. I had more or less avoided the other two.
Not that it would have done any use talking to him. Small talk seemed stupid after what we had just witnessed, and I didn’t know him well enough to ask him anything more in depth. It made for a tense car journey, both of us lost in thought.
He pulled the car into the space in front of Greasy, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed my own car next to us.
Jenna and Bee!
I raced inside, pushing open the door with more force than was needed, my eyes scanning the room. I ignored the shocked, almost panicked looks from the other innocent people who had just stopped off here because they were hungry, and looked for my daughter.
“Rachel!” Jenna called from one of the booths at the back, turning her head backwards as she was facing away from the door. I paused a moment, until a small head with raven black hair poked her head around Jenna’s waist, leaning over her legs and gave me a toothy grin.
I ran over, scooping Bee up into a tight hug, revelling in the feeling of her small arms wrapping around my neck.
“Hey, sweetie,” I breathed into her hair. “Are you okay? Let me see you,” I said, sitting her on the table so I could scan her. “Two arms, ten fingers, two legs… yep, everything looks in order,” I grinned, giving her a small tickle to her sides.
“Do you want something to eat?” Jenna asked, getting to her feet.
“No, thank you.”
“I’m getting you a burger,” she said, walking over to the counter. My eyes followed her, and I jolted back with shock when I saw Beth behind the tills. Somehow, in all the chaos of the past few weeks, I had completely forgotten about Beth’s existence.
“Have you eaten?” I asked Bee, sliding into the seat Jenna had just vacated and pulling her next to me.
She nodded, curling up against my side. “I’m a bit sore,” Bee whispered. I snapped my gaze down to hers and away from Beth.
“Sore where?”
“My back.”
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry. I left your medicine behind. Can I have a look?” She nodded again and allowed me to lift her top up so I could see the burns on her back. I pulled the bandage off one of them and gently placed the back of my hand on one of them, noticing that it wasn’t warm. “If you wait here a minute, I’ll go ask James if he can find somewhere that sells some medicine. Is that okay?”
“I can help,” Beth said softly, approaching the table with Jenna at her side. “We have plenty of Calpol in the back to take away the sting. She’s okay with Calpol, isn’t she?”
“I… yes. That would be amazing. Thank you.”
“Rachel… I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I asked, genuinely meaning that. She had nothing to be sorry for.
“For everything. For the way my sister acted towards you. For refusing to serve Dante and Vienna that time they turned up here. For almost… well… you know. With Dante. When you first arrived.”
I waved her worries away. “Honestly, Beth, you have nothing to be sorry about. That is water under the bridge. What happened, happened. There’s no reason we can’t be friends.”
“I’d like that,” she smiled softly.
“So when all… when everything is calm, you should come back around. I’m sure the club misses you.”
“I’d like that, too. I’ll go get the Calpol for you.”
“Thanks.”
She nodded and went away, leaving Jenna standing awkwardly. “I told her not to come over.”
“No, it’s fine. She hasn’t done anything wrong. I don’t have any bad feelings towards her.”
“That’s a lie,” Jenna grinned, sliding into the booth to sit opposite me. “You have bad feelings towards everyone.”
“Ha, okay, well I don’t have any more towards her than I do anyone else.”
