“How long do you think they’ll be gone?” I ask her quietly.
“With the weather outside and those bum tires on the truck, who knows,” she answers with a shrug. “Are you hungry, though? I made breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry,” I reply quietly.
“You have to eat something,” Casey pipes up as he walks over to stand next to Xoe. “Fix her a plate and I’ll see if I can get her to eat before we start moving things around.”
I arch an eyebrow curiously at Xoe, though my thoughts are toward what Casey said. Move what around? And why can’t he wait until Richter gets back?
Questions asked out of place is what got Grandma thrown into the oubliette. Not doing as you’re told to do is why Mom went down there eventually, too.
But there are no oubliettes on this property, so I know I can hold my ground against eating if I want to.
That is until Cleo walks into the kitchen and wraps her arms around me, resting her chin on my shoulder. She’s fresh from the shower too and her round belly presses hard into my side.
“Hey, Cleo,” I say to her softly.
“Hi, Skylar,” she replies in a shaky voice.
I gently wrestle an arm out of her embrace and wrap it around her swollen waist, holding her close as I sigh.
“Are you hungry?” I ask, and she nods.
“Two plates, please,” I tell Xoe as I lead Cleo to the table and sit down with her. My little sister never did like to eat alone. She was always afraid that it meant she was taking more of her share than she should and with the fear of Luke Greene always hanging over our heads even now, I understand her plight.
“Mind if I join you?” Xoe asks politely.
I shrug and pull Cleo’s chair a little closer to mine, push her hair out of her face, and smile at her when she gives me a timid look.
“It’s going to be okay; I promise. Once Richter gets back, we’re going home,” I tell her softly.
Cleo perks up slightly and I clear my throat to keep from crying. I don’t know what Richter told her when they talked, but she finally understands that this isn’t her home and isn’t fighting the prospect of leaving with us.
Why the sudden change in her stance doesn’t bother me more is something I choose to ignore.
Cleo won’t be going back to the Greene Family Hellhole—not if I can help it.
Xoe comes over to the table a few minutes later and sets a plate down in front of my sister, then one for me, before she retrieves her own.
I hear the front door open and close a few times while we’re sitting, eating our meals in silence. Other people are waking up in the house, moving around, I can hear water running in the pipes, and so I don’t look to see who it is. Because even though I don’t know a lot about how the outside world works, I know that Richter and Bryden couldn’t have returned already.
I watched him change the tires on his beloved truck once and it took him at least half an hour to get one of them done, let alone having to drive into town to replace four.
Twenty minutes later, we’re done with our breakfast and Xoe is busy making more plates for the others that have drifted in. We both thank her for the meals even though I want to smash my plate into her face.
Something about her irks me.
Maybe it’s the way she trots around the house like a trollop, or maybe it’s the way she turns up the dial on the meter when Richter is around, I’m not entirely sure.
Either way, I know she’s not my friend. No matter how many different faces she can wear in one day.
“Okay, are we ready?” Casey asks as he enters the kitchen and rubs his hands together.
“For what?” I inquire, finally looking at him.
“I’m going to take you and Cleo home,” he reveals with a big smile. “I figure why wait until they get back, you know? We can bring Sierra along so the girls are happy, and this way Cleo can start getting used to your place again as soon as possible.”
My brow furrows in confusion and Casey laughs lightly.
“I’m just trying to help, Skylar, but if you’d rather wait until Dad and Richter get back, we can do that too.”
I get to my feet and help Cleo get to hers. Wrapping an arm protectively around my little sister’s shoulders, I shake my head.
“We’d like to go home now.”
Casey’s grin widens and even Xoe lets out a chuckle by the stove where she’s still busy.
“Then let’s go,” Casey says happily. “Once we get on the road, you can tell me how to get home.”
Twenty-Nine
Bryden
“What the fuck is going on, Bryden? We’ve been gone for hours already.” Richter paces across the small waiting room of the repair shop once more, rubbing a hand over his hair as he glances out the small window in the door for the hundredth time.
“Bill has the right tires now and he’s putting them on. We’ll be back on the road in no time,” I answer, smiling at him as I sip another cup of coffee. It’s bitter, nowhere near as good as the way Xoe makes it, but I keep drinking it to stay sharp.
“You said this wouldn’t take long,” he grumbles, pacing across the room again.
“My family lives in the middle of nowhere, Richter. Just getting to town took an hour, and Bill opened early for us when I called him. Honestly, this is going pretty quickly.” I check the clock on the wall, unable to suppress my grin because I’m well aware of what’s happening back home. “It’s not even eleven yet. You should sit down, have some coffee, or water.”
“This is bullshit,” Richter mutters,
