Page 6 of Ford
Gunnar slipped his hand out of hers and walked away. Craig chased him in big strides.
Scarlett turned to the preacher. “Thanks.”
He had kind eyes, set off by his smooth arc of head. She placed him in his mid-seventies, especially by the polyester suit, the wide tie.
“Would you and Gunnar like to come over for lemonade, maybe some cake?” The preacher’s wife, with her graying, fluffy hair, joined him.
It felt comical—a little party after you bury the one person who might help you make sense of the tangles of your life. Except maybe itwasa celebration.
Gunnar wouldn’t have to grow up wondering where his next meal might come from. Or if one day, one of his mother’s boyfriends would suddenly turn his attentions on him. Although, in his case, Axel was his father, so probably Gunnar was safe. However, it was hard to know with a man like Axel. So yeah, maybe this was a celebration, as harsh as that sounded.
“No. Gunnar and I need to get on the road.”
“Oh?” Ellen had joined them. “Where are you going?”
Ellen was pretty, trim, and young. She wore her blonde hair in a ponytail and the kind of idealism in her hazel eyes suggested she’d moved to Rockland to save it.
Aw, Scarlett was being too hard on her. Ellen had been kind. She’d shown up at the house with a tator tot casserole and offers to help.
Yeah, Scarlett had turned cynical in the Navy. Or maybe that was from her childhood.
It just felt too easy to suspect ulterior motives when you were used to no one caring.
“Back to San Diego. Gunnar probably needs to get registered for school…” Although, even as Scarlett said it, she realized she hadn’t exactly thought out anything beyond, well…
Beyond the desperate ache to rescue Gunnar. She’d already been struggling with the snarl of indecision over leaving her mother with Axel. Especially since she’d been the one footing the bill for their decrepit lifestyle.
Now at least Gunnar would be safe.
She’d just have to figure out how to juggle training and deployments and…
The indecision must have shown on her face because Ellen frowned. “But aren’t you in the Navy? How are you going to—?”
“I’ll figure it out, thanks.”
Scarlett didn’t mean to snap, but she’d spent her entire life untangling the messes her mother made. Surviving.
“We could take Gunnar—”
“We don’t need any help.”
That shut Ellen up, and now Scarlett felt like a jerk. “Thank you, though,” she added.
Ellen’s mouth tightened, but she nodded, glancing over at the preacher and his wife.
Scarlett left them there, catching up to Gunnar. He stood by her car, Craig’s hand on his shoulder.
Gunnar glanced at her, and Craig stepped away. “We have practice tomorrow, for the summer league.”
“We’ll be gone. Sorry,” she said and opened the door.
Gunnar slid into the front seat.
“Are you sure he should be sitting in front? Airbags—”
She shut the door and ignored Craig, getting into the driver’s seat.
Craig folded his arms over his chest, and Ellen came up next to him.