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And now he would get to know his father’s family—afamily he never expected and wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted. Family created ties and bonds, and he didn’t want to burden anybody with his life. He’d already done that to Mom. Every day she was gone was a reminder of that.
The memory of her was swift and painful. He bit back the bitter regret of his life and walked down the aisle of the train. People filled the seats, but after a day of travel from car, to plane to train, he was exhausted and would settle for sitting on someone’s lap at this point.
He continued down the aisle and sighed in relief when he spotted an open seat—other than the suitcase taking up the space. “Excuse me,” he said to the woman who was staring out the window.
She turned, her black makeup smearing down her cheeks in sad lines. Her brown eyes were puffy and red. Her lip quivered, and she sucked in a ragged breath. He understood now why no one attempted to claim this seat as their own.
He offered her a smile, hoping it would bring some light into the gloomy night she was having. “Is this seat taken?”
“Sorry,” she offered through a hiccup. “My bag is too big.”
“That’s no problem.” He tossed his bag on the rack above them and reached for hers. “I can toss it up with mine.”
Her eyes filled with horror as if he suggested tossing her luggage out the back of the train and tying it to the wheel. “You don’t understand; it’s all I have left.” She hugged the luggage to her chest, and he eyed her with curiosity.
“I can promise it’s not going anywhere. I will be its personal security guard to make sure of it.”
Her eyes drifted to the hot pink suitcase, her brown hair falling in her face. With a deep breath, she caught his eyes, and her lips curved into a smile. “If you promise.”
He made an x motion over his heart, and she reluctantly let go of the suitcase. She nodded, and he gently placed the suitcase beside his before dropping into the seat. The LIRR didn’t have the most comfortable seats in the world, but he was so tired that it didn’t matter. A park bench would be a godsend after all his hours of travel.
His seatmate turned to the window, her shoulders shaking as a muffled sob escaped her. Shane hated to see people sad. Life was too short to let sorrow win.
“You okay?” he asked. Maybe the girl just needed someone to talk to, maybe occupy her mind for a little while.
She shifted in her seat, her brown eyes taking him in as a perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched. “You’re not from the city, are you?”
His brows drew together. Even though he was born and raised in California, he didn’t think he had a strong accent. “How’d you guess?”
“You’re getting involved. People from here don’t get in involved. We keep to ourselves.”
Ignoring a stranger wasn’t how he was raised. “That’s a little rude.”
“No, it’s called respecting someone’s privacy.”
He glanced around the train before settling his gaze back on his seat mate. “It’s kind of hard to be private when you’re in the middle of a crowded train car, sobbing your eyes out.”
“Which is why you keep to yourself…” She shook her head. “Never mind. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Because I’m not from around here?”
“Exactly. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to my misery.”
He let out a sigh and slumped down into his seat. “If you want to waste your time on frivolous emotions, be my guest.”
Her gasp was audible through the train, causing a few heads to turn in their direction. “How do you even know what I’m upset about? What if I was crying because someone died? And you’re over here being a jerk.”
He held his hands up. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, but I know that’s not why you’re crying.”
“How can you tell?”
“There’s bitterness to your tone. You’re crying more out of anger than sadness.”
Her lips parted, but she didn’t say anything. Probably because he got that nail right on the head. He’d been through grief; he knew the signs. Regardless if people grieved differently, the sadness was unmistakable.
“But I don’t want to be rude,” he said. “So, I’ll let you get back to it.” He popped earbuds in and didn’t need to look at the woman to feel her penetrating gaze, glaring daggers in his direction. She flopped in the seat and rested into the headrest.
It’d been a long day, and it was just as well she wasn’t the chatty type. He needed some sleep before he met his long-lost family. Especially since he’d be showing up five hours late, thanks to plane delays that were out of his control. One more inconvenience and he’d swear he was in a remake ofPlanes, Trains and Automobiles.
