Page 20 of The Wrong Track

“I did the same thing with popcorn except I put the burning pan under a pine tree. On the ground covered in dry needles.” He grinned. “Maybe both of us should stay away from cooking.”

“No, I got a lot better,” I defended myself. “I made dinner every night for—” For Kilian, but I didn’t want to say his name here in this nice, normal house. “I cooked every night,” I said. “It wasn’t bad.” Because he’d wanted things the way he’d wanted them, so I’d tried to be perfect.

“Does your family know where you are now? Your mom and your sister?”

“Are you done with your plate?” I asked. “Do you want more?”

Tobin paused for a beat and then shook his head. “Let me show you your room,” he said, and I knew that he did still want me to stay here. First, I cleared the table and said that no, I would do the dishes and he didn’t need to help. Then I followed as he walked slowly to the room I’d peeked into before.

“It’s not very big,” he noted, but it was very warm and there was a bed, not just a chair to sleep on, so it was a huge step up from my condo. I passed my hand over the red and white quilt that covered it.

“My grandma Ella made that,” he explained. “She made them for everybody. She sewed stuff all the time.”

“It’s nice.” The whole room was; the whole house was.

“You didn’t really explain on the phone why you changed your mind about staying here,” he said and I knew it was a question.

“Don’t worry,” I answered. “When you get sick of me, I’ll leave.” I knew that I was annoying, that I set people off. “And I’ll leave anyway when the botanical gardens close.”

“I won’t get sick of you.” Tobin smiled, an expression that came so easily to his face. “You might get sick of me wanting to hear you read.”

“No, let’s do that now.”

We did, sitting on the couch together in that nice, normal living room. After a while, I heard my words slur with sleep.

“I’m a little tired,” I said.

“Me, too.” He stretched his arms and then faked a yawn. “It feels later than it is.”

Right, because my new phone did tell the time, and it reported that it was only eleven minutes after eight.

“I can keep going,” I said, but Tobin told me that he really, really wanted to go to bed. I checked all the doors to make sure that they were locked, and all the windows in the kitchen and living room as he watched me, then we walked slowly toward the bedrooms.

“Goodnight,” he said. “I hope you sleep well.”

I did, too. “Do you need anything else?” I asked, but he shook his head. “Goodnight.”

“Remy?”

I turned to look at him.

“I’m really glad you came. Thanks for helping me out when I needed it.”

I brushed my teeth and listened to faint clunking sounds coming from Tobin’s room, listened to hear if he would call for me. That cast looked so uncomfortable and heavy, even though he told me that it was fine. I lay under the red and white quilt on the mattress and hoped that good sleep would come.

It was quiet now in the house but as usual, I still listened hard, now for any signs of trouble: a car driving by more slowly than it should have, stealthy footsteps in the hall, the creak of a door that couldn’t have moved on its own. But gradually, my body and my mind relaxed and I recognized the feeling that came over me. It wasn’t fear or loneliness, it wasn’t dread or despair that I’d have to get up in the morning and start the day again.

I felt safe. In this normal room in this secure house, under the pretty quilt and with a soft pillow beneath my head, I felt safe. And it felt wonderful.

Chapter 5

The woman blinked at me. “Who are you?”

I’d opened the door to her by mistake. I had to leave for the botanical gardens and she was so small, I hadn’t seen her head through the window at the top of the door before I’d pulled it open. That was on me. I would have to be much more careful in the future.

“Well?” she demanded. She stamped her foot like a child.

I shut the door. I’d have to wait until she left, and that would make me late for work. I wasn’t overly excited about going, anyway, because this was the last day before the gardens closed for the two month break and there was going to be an employee party after we locked the doors for the final time of the season. I wasn’t much for parties.