with four sons, I know that better than anyone.”
I was familiar with the saying, but I rarely spoke the secret cant of the Travelers and had to search my memory for its meaning. It came to me after a second.
“Youth likes to wander,” I said back in English. “I’m not entirely sure what you mean, sir.” This seemed too easy. He wasn’t angry enough, and I wondered if Rosie had lied for me or for herself.
“I suppose that’d be my way of saying young people will sometimes stray from their path, but it’s not the end of the world.” He chuckled. “Youth likes to wander, Shay. Sometimes it can lead to drinking a little too much at a party and picking a fight. Sometimes it can lead to a small indiscretion behind a trailer.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. My mind raced with all the explanations I’d made up during the restless period between last night and this morning, but none of them seemed right now.
The old man barked with laughter. “You look like a fresh-caught fish,” he said.
“Sir, I’m not sure what—” I stopped. What did he know? What had Rosie and Judd told him?
“If you have something to say,
I felt like my stomach was full of stones. If I were caught in a lie, it would only make things worse. “I know I shouldn’t have left the pavilion with Rosie last night, sir,” I said to my knees. “I guess I just got caught up in the celebration and all. Prince had every right to try and whoop me for it, but I swear it’ll never happen again.”
To my surprise, Pop Sheedy laughed again, so hard tears welled in the corner of his eyes.
“Shay, are you so naive as to believe I didn’t notice the two of you sneaking off? We protect our children in this clan, even when all they need protection from is their own hormones.” He erupted into another round of rasping laughter, slapping his palm onto his desk with a loud thwack. “Believe me when I say, I wouldn’t have let either of you get into too much trouble.”
I shifted uncomfortably in the rigid chair, wondering how closely he’d been watching. “So I’m not in trouble?” I asked when Pop Sheedy had finally stopped guffawing at his own cleverness.
“You’re not in trouble, and that son of mine was awfully sorry to hear it. But there’s one reason you haven’t been dragged for this and one reason only.”
I stiffened. Dragging was what I’d been most afraid of—more than getting my ass kicked by all four Sheedy boys. Dragging meant rumors, open hostility, and shunning. It would ruin any chance I had of improving my position in the clan. It would ruin my entire family. “What reason?”
“The reason is this: I think you could be a great asset. I’ve watched you since you were a tiny thing, and it’s clear to me you’ve got…” He paused as if searching for the right word, “…potential. Tomorrow, you’re getting an opportunity to prove I’m right in keeping your little slip-up quiet. An arrangement was made to sell a trailer to a fella down in Terrebonne Parish.”
I frowned. “Don’t trailer sales usually take a while to set up?”
“Wedding plans weren’t the only thing happening this week. We put an ad in the papers a few days ago hoping a gull would bite while everyone was back home for the celebration, and it looks like we had a bit of luck. You’ll be headed down there first thing tomorrow morning with Jimmy Boy.”
“Yes, sir,” I said. This was exactly the opportunity I’d been waiting for. Jimmy Boy and I had run our fair share of driveway paving scams and pigeon drops, but we’d never had the means to get into trailer sales. My excitement threatened to overwhelm me, but I tried to keep my body still and voice steady. “Pop, I want you to know how grateful I am for this chance. I don’t think I can tell you how much it means to me.”
Pop Sheedy nodded. “Well, if this works out the way I think it will, you’ll be bringing in your fair share in no time. Jimmy Boy may not be the best con there is, but I’m confident you’ve learned what you need to from him.”
“I won’t disappoint you, Pop.” I sprang to my feet. “I promise.
Pop Sheedy waved a hand, shooing me away. “G’on, get out of here.”
I bolted for the door before the old man could change his mind. I practically sprinted through the foyer and out the front door, slowing only once I’d made it down the porch steps and back to the macadam.
This was it—and only the beginning. First one trailer sale for Pop, then who knows what next? As I walked back to the trailer, I imagined taking Maggie to dinner every night and the new truck I’d buy for Jimmy Boy. He’d warned me about my ambition, but even he couldn’t be sour about this opportunity.
I still wasn’t quite sure why Pop was being so kind to me or what “potential” he saw, but questioning it wouldn’t do me much good. One thing was certain, though. I was being given the opportunity I’d been waiting for, and there was no way in hell I was going to screw it up.
CHAPTER SIX
JIMMY BOY JOGGED down the gull’s driveway back toward where I sat on the edge of the truck’s bench seat. The door was open just enough for my leg to poke through, and I kept it from swinging wider by bracing it with one hand as if it were a shield between me and potential disaster. I tried to relax. Being tense or seeming nervous would be a sure sign something about this deal was off, and it could tank the whole thing. All I needed to do was relax, talk fast, and keep him from looking too closely at the trailer.
“Okay,” Jimmy Boy said, gripping the door through the open window. “He’s coming down to have a look. All you need to do is give him a good story about why we’re selling this thing in such a hurry and at such a good price. Got it?”
I nodded. “So what’s the story?”
“I don’t know, but you better think of one quick,” Jimmy Boy said, wrenching the door open and pulling me along with it. “Because he’s coming.”
Panic began to well up in my throat, and I fought to keep my breath even. Don’t fuck this up, I reminded myself. This is your shot.
“You’ll be fine. Tell him you knocked up your girlfriend and need the money to help her with the baby.” Jimmy Boy chuckled when I scowled at him. “Whatever you tell him is fine as long as you make it sound good and convincing.”
I moved away from the truck and shut the door, then turned to see a heavy-set man plodding down the driveway. He had thin black hair that hung over his forehead in greasy strings. He reached us and ran a hand through it, extending the same hand to me. I hesitated a moment, then took it and gave it a quick shake, afterward surreptitiously wiping my palm on the leg of my jeans.
“So you’re the one selling the trailer, that right?”
“Yes, sir,” I said, though the words came out louder than I’d intended. I glanced at my brother who relaxed against the front of the truck with his arms crossed. He urged me on with a jerk of his head. “It’s a real wrench to give her up, especially for so much less than she’s worth, but it’s the only thing I have that I can get any money for. You know how the economy is. No one’s buying trailers these days.”
The man leaned back to have a better look at the travel trailer still hitched to the old truck. He narrowed his eyes and shifted his head from side to side. “Looks brand-new. Why you in such a hurry to sell it?”
I thought quickly. “My wife and I,” I said, slipping my empty left hand into the pocket of my jeans. “We’re expecting our first baby this winter, and you know how it goes. Kid’s costing me a fortune, and it ain’t even been born yet.”
The lie rolled off my tongue as easily as the thick twang I used to speak it. I glanced at Jimmy Boy, who flashed an amused grin before putting up a hand to hide it, pretending to scratch at the scruff on his jawline.
Feeling bolder, I pressed on. “You wouldn’t believe what doctors charge just to keep us waiting for an hour, and that’s a bargain compared to the price of this fancy baby carriage my wife wants. I’ll be broke in a month if I don’t pull in some more money soon.”
“That’s just awful,” the man said, though nothing in his tone indicated he actually felt sorry for me. He continued his appraisal of the trailer as he spoke. “So if you ain’t got money for the baby, where’d you get a trailer so state-of-the-art?”
From a scrapyard, I thought, though obviously I wouldn’t tell him that. In truth, the trailer was only worth
