Damn it. I was getting off track. This wasn't about me. This was about Chloe, and the way it sounded, she'd been on her own almost as long as I'd been. And no one – not even me – had been looking out for her.
Chloe shifted in her seat. "It's not like we were abused or anything," she assured me. "Lots of kids have it worse, right?" With an obvious effort, she brightened her tone. "And at least Grandma lives next door. So Josh spends a lot of time at her place."
The positive spin, as brave as it was, was enough to break my heart, and I felt a growing darkness settle over my soul. Trying not to show it, I asked, "How much time is that?"
"Well, pretty much all of it actually, except for when he's sleeping, or when Grandma's out of town."
"On that Easter," I said, "was your grandma there, too?"
"No. She's my mom's mom, which puts her way down on Loretta's guest list."
"But they're neighbors?"
"Sort of. Grandma rents Loretta's guest cottage."
"So renting the cottage is okay, but coming to dinner isn't?"
"It's complicated," Chloe said. "The cottage is nice, but it's not a real rental. It's got no driveway of its own, and besides, their neighborhood isn't zoned for that sort of thing."
"So it's all done on the sly? That's what you're saying?"
"Yeah. Grandma can't drive anyway, so there's no car. And since she's a relative, the neighbors think she's just a guest."
"But she's paying?"
"Yeah. All cash, so there's no zoning trouble."
"You ever think of renting the cottage for yourself?" I asked.
"I tried. But Loretta wouldn't let me. She still won't let me stay overnight there, even as Grandma's guest."
"Why not?"
"Because," Chloe said in a mocking tone, "I need to learn real responsibility." She let out a long sigh. "Just as well. I work most nights anyway. But Grandma, she works from home, so–"
"Are we talking about that job that isn't real?"
Obviously, Chloe had forgotten. She wasn't talking to some stranger here. I recalled her words from a few weeks earlier."I've got a grandma who gets all her rent money from this fake job I had to make up."
Chloe paused. "Oh. Yeah. I guess I did mention that huh?" She nodded. "Yup. That's the one."
We were turning onto her dad's street. Chloe reached out, putting a hand on my arm. "Lawton," she said, "no matter what she does, don't set her off, alright? She'll probably be pissy about what you're wearing. But that's okay, because it'll keep the focus off Josh."
She looked scared to death. It hurt to see. Didn't she know? I'd let Loretta beat me senseless with a gravy bowl before I'd let anything bad happen to Chloe or her little brother. I was trying to put that into words when Chloe spoke again. "I'm sorry." She hesitated. "You don't mind, do you?"
Mind? Hell no. I was looking forward to it. "Nope," I said. "This'll be fun."
"I'm serious." Chloe gave me a worried look. "She's a total psycho."
"Yeah?" For her sake, I smiled. "Haven't you heard? I am too."
Chapter 55
Less than a minute later, we squealed into the driveway of a nice two-story brick house. Actually, it was more than nice, with a manicured lawn, a four-car garage, and a partial view of the cottage out back.
It wasn't the hood, that was for damn sure.
In fact, the place was just as nice as the house where Chloe had been house-sitting. I eyed the whole setup with disgust. I knew the prices of homes in my neighborhood. They didn't come cheap. And neither had this one, obviously.
