Page 7 of Healer’s Betrayal

Kayla

I face one of the only two friends I have. “Okay, here’s the five-minute version. My mom died after Noah was born, complications of the c-section. My dad couldn’t handle it and turned to drugs. After he died, we were given to my uncle; I didn’t even know we had an uncle.” I don’t let myself feel anything as I tell her our story. “My uncle took us in, but he was a bad man, a really bad man. Whatever you can think of, it was worse.” Her face fills with pain, but I ignore it or I won’t get through with my story. “Things got worse the longer we stayed there, and I knew we needed to escape. I worked a job as soon as someone would hire me. I saved every penny I could get my hands on. My plan was to leave the eve of my eighteenth birthday because then I could legally be on my own and nobody could do anything about it. But the week before my eighteenth birthday, he found my stash and took every penny.” I look away from the expression on Jessie’s face. “I had to start over, so I started saving once again. But one night, he—” I pause for the first time in my story.

“Kayla, you don’t have to tell me,” Jessie says softly.

For some reason, that just makes me want to tell her even more. “He came after Noah that night; he’d never gone after Noah before. I was always the target.” There’s no emotion behind my words. “When he hurt Noah,” my voice cracks a moment. “After that, there was no more waiting. I grabbed what we could fit in a backpack and took my uncle’s car and escaped that night. That was four months ago.” It’s silent, and I shift. “We were on the run for a while. We eventually ditched my uncle’s car, hitchhiked a few rides, endured bus trips and homeless shelters along the way, until we couldn’t go any further. This seemed like as good a place as any to settle.” I shrug. “When I landed the job here, we decided to stay.”

Jessie stares at me and takes a deep breath. “Where did you live?” But before I can answer, she puts her hand up. “No, wait. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to inadvertently put you in any danger. I don’t even want to know because then I can’t tell the wrong person.” She stares at me a moment, and I will her not to pity me. That always makes it worse. “You ever need to go on the run again, you take me with you.”

My breath whooshes out of me. “Jessie.”

“And take my car. Heaven knows yours will die on the second mile out of town.” I can’t help my laugh, and she joins in. “What? You know it’s true; your car is a piece of junk.”

“Yeah, I can’t argue with you there. But it’s at the shop, so maybe they’ll be able to fix it this time. Or rather, maybe they can fix it enough to keep it from falling apart.”

“Is Cole working on your car?” she asks, blinking her eyes rapidly.

“Please stop before your eyelids get stuck or something.”

She grins and stops. “Okay, but is he?”

“I don’t know. They picked it up and told me they’d call when it’s ready.”

Jessie smiles slyly. “I’ll bet Cole is the one that calls.”

I just shake my head. “You’re a hopeless romantic.”

Her eyes widen. “No, I’m not. He’s totally into you. I saw that the last time he ate lunch here.”

I shake my head. “He is not.”

She gives me a look and stands. “Agree to disagree. Let’s go before we get in trouble.” I follow her out of Mama May’s office and back out front. As soon as we open, we’re slammed. Nobody does breakfast like Mama May’s. I’m so busy I almost don’t get a chance to think about the two guys from last night. Almost. I’m about an hour from getting off when Butch appears beside me suddenly.

“Back door. Go.” It takes me a moment to understand his words. When they hit, my head jerks up; but he’s blocking my view of the dining room. “Go,” he urges again. This time, I don’t wait. I move right to the back door, dropping my apron on the counter as I go. Hopefully, someone will put it away for me. I push open the back door and walk away from the building on shaky legs. Thankfully, there are no windows back here. The door opens behind me a moment later, and I whirl around.

“It’s just me,” Jessie says as she hurries towards me. “Come on.” I don’t like the worried look on her face but know there’s nothing I can do about it in this moment. We both climb into her car, and she pulls out a moment later. I scan the parking lot and what I can see of the café through the windows, but I don’t see anybody that looks like the two guys in the picture.

“I’m sorry you had to leave early,” I finally manage to say once my breathing slows down somewhat.

Jessie scoffs. “First of all, I love leaving early; so, thank you. Second, it was only like fifteen minutes early.”

“Well, thank you anyway. Thanks for being my getaway driver.”

She looks over at me and then snorts out a laugh. Her laughter makes me laugh, and I feel a lightness that wasn’t there earlier. I suddenly remember I left without getting any food. I have a leftover pancake from my meal that I saved for Noah, but there’s not enough for Renee too. “Do you mind stopping somewhere so I can grab food for Renee and Noah?”

“Sure,” Jessie says easily. “Where do you want to stop?”

“McDonalds?”

She nods and gets into the left lane. I force myself not to think about the money when I pay for two cheeseburgers and fries for Renee and Noah. I know Noah will be happy. We never get McDonalds. Once we’re back on the road again, Jessie glances over at me. “I’ll keep an ear out and let you know if I learn anything more than you do.”

“Thanks, Jessie.”

She pulls into what she thinks is my neighborhood a few minutes later and looks over at me. “Just be safe, okay?”

“I will; you too. See you tomorrow,” I tell her as I climb out.

“Nope, tomorrow’s Wednesday,” she reminds me.