The curiosity angle worked. My legs started moving.
“I hope you don’t mind if we have company.” He’d lost the light tone.
I reached the door and peered in. “Oh. Hi.”
A woman was in the back. She was blond, like Flynn, but her hair was chopped at chin length. One hand curled into her abdomen and she canted to the side as she sat.
“Lynne,” Flynn called over my shoulder, “this is Tilly, the girl I told you about.”
“I— You—” Tilly shook her head. “Hi, Lynne.”
I hadn’t expected Flynn to see his sister. Ensure she was in a good home, maybe visit once to ease his guilty conscience, but Lynne was here, in his truck.
Lynne made a soft noise and raised her functioning hand a few inches from her lap.
“She says hi,” Flynn said.
“Hello.” I waved in return and climbed inside. I turned to his sister. “Now you need to tell me why you’re out joyriding with your brother.”
The door shut behind Tilly. The corner of Lynne’s mouth lifted in a smile, her gaze tracking her brother around the truck. She gestured to the driver’s side.
“Flynn’s idea, huh? I have to admit, my curiosity is killing me.”
Flynn hopped in and shot me a grin. He twisted back to give Lynne a wink before he threw the pickup into drive.
What was he up to? This Flynn reminded me of the guy at the lake. The one who’d let down most of his guard and watched movies and even eaten some carbs. This Flynn looked like he only had a six-pack instead of an eight-pack and like he got home at a decent time many nights of the week.
When we got back on the road, I peeked at him, but it was like looking into the sun. I was back in his truck, surrounded by hints of his cologne. Memories jarred me. Laughter, love, sex. He’d taught me how to fish.
“I can’t do this, I’m sorry.” I even reached for the door handle while we were moving. “You can just drop me off here.”
“Tilly, please. This is about more than you and me.”
That stopped me. My moment of panic passed, and I drew in a deep breath. “Okay. Why don’t you fill me in on what’s going on in your life?”
“As you can see, I tracked down Lynne. My lawyer worked with my mom.” He spoke under his breath, “Bought her out.” He switched back to regular volume. “And I found a private group home for her where they even put her to work. Right, Lynne?”
Lynne murmured her agreement.
Flynn nodded. “She’s a greeter at a store close by the home. I’ve hired an organization that’ll take her to work and help her through her shift.”
I shifted in my seat so I could see both Lynne and Flynn. “That’s awesome, Lynne. You’ll have to tell me where and when you work so I can stop by.” And I would, no matter what I had to buy.
Flynn’s voice dropped. “How’ve you been, Tilly?”
I stayed where I was. I wasn’t sure what Lynne could understand, but I didn’t want to exclude her. “I work two jobs and have no life. But I’m not in jail, thanks to you, so things are well.”
“Mara said you had an interview for your old teaching position.”
“It was more of an ‘I’m dying to know what happened’ than an interview.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah.”
We fell quiet. Occasionally Lynne would make a sound that I couldn’t decipher, but Flynn would chatter back to her about buildings they were passing, guessing at what she’d been trying to tell him.
He pulled up to a vacant lot on the edge of town. There were a few surrounding businesses, office spaces mostly, and a gas station on the corner.
“Where are we?”
Reaching behind the front seat, he pulled out a roll of paper. “Lynne, do you mind if I hop outside with Tilly and explain everything?”
Lynne lifted her hand like before.
“Thanks, Sis.” Flynn hopped out and rushed to my side of the vehicle.
I raised a curious brow at Lynne but the girl had already gone back to staring out the window. The door opened, and Flynn offered his hand to help me out. I fortified myself against the strength and warmth of his grip. He didn’t release my hand as he led me around to the front of the pickup. When he let go to spread out the paper, I missed the contact.
I seized the moment of privacy. “May I ask—how was the reunion?”
His gaze flicked to the windshield. Lynne still gazed outside as if fascinated by the scenery. And if she’d been stuck inside for years, she probably was.
“I don’t think she knew me. I…” He clenched his jaw and scowled at the hood of the pickup. “It was hard for me. The last time I’d seen her, she’d almost drowned again in the bathtub. I was bathing her and trying to clean her chair at the same time and left her alone too long.”
I laid a hand on his arm. “That was when you left home?” He’d only been sixteen. The poor kid. No wonder he’d been so traumatized. His mother had probably laid all the blame at his teenage feet. He’d probably felt that Lynne was better off without him and had justified his absence with his guilt. “She’s a survivor and you were a kid.”
He nodded, his throat working as if he didn’t trust himself to speak.
“But she knows you now. That’s obvious.”
A smile lit his handsome face, chasing away the shadows of the past. “She loves to go for rides. I steal her every weekend. Her communication’s limited, but I’m learning.”
“I’m very happy for you.”
“The tour of my office scared her, I think, but now she’s like a celebrity when she visits.”
I gaped at him. He’d gone from not telling anyone about his sister to the red-carpet treatment. My Flynn? “I mean it.
