AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Warning her? I look at her in confusion.
“It looks like I don’t have work tonight. I guess my landlord went into the diner looking for me.” The embarrassment that crosses her features twists my heart. “Now my boss knows I’ve been evicted, and she’s giving me a few days off to figure things out. We don’t have much, so I don’t think it will take too long to pack, but I have no idea where we’re going to go and...”
She’s panicking again, and instinctively I reach for her again.
“Zoe—”
She shakes her head. “You don’t get it. I have a...” she falters and swallows. She still doesn’t trust me completely. “A meeting. It has to be done at home. I can’t do it at some hotel.”
“You can stay with me,” I offer without admitting I know all about the meeting. Not yet, anyway. “I have plenty of space.” And I can’t picture her going anywhere else, much less some roach-infested motel. They should be with me.
“No, I can’t. That’s putting way too much on you,” she hides her face in my chest. I didn’t even realize I was holding her again. That just reconfirms how right of a fit we are for one another. I just need Zoe to see it too.
“I can handle a lot of weight. Look at the size of me.”
It’s enough to earn a watery smile, but she’s still on the defense.
“You can put some on my shoulders.”
“You're only saying that because you don’t know all of what’s going on, how heavy it can be. It’s not just the eviction.”
I take a slow breath, not knowing how she’ll react if I confess to reading her mail.
“So why don’t you tell me?”
She looks so vulnerable, and I can see in her eyes that she’s contemplating if she should finally let go and share her burdens.
“It’s okay to ask for help, Zoe.”
She sniffles. “Not me. Zander relies on me for everything. I have to provide for him. What would happen to him if I can’t do that on my own?”
“What would happen to you?”
She doesn’t answer because I know she isn’t thinking about herself at all.
“Zoe, if you're Zander’s support, and you crumble, so will he. Taking care of yourself is taking care of Zander, and you can’t keep going like this. It’s not good for either of you.”
I gently slide my fingers into her curly hair and tip her head back to look up at me. Her eyes shine with unshed tears just like they did inside the bathtub, and my stomach twists at the sight.
“I can share the load. But you have to tell me first. You don’t have to carry it all on your own anymore. Let me carry some for you. I promise I’m strong enough.”
Minutes pass and I think she’s going to remain stubborn. But then, as her lip trembles, the cracks she’s been trying so hard to hide begin to slip through, and then she shatters right in my arms.
Through deep breaths, she lets it all out.
Losing their mother and taking custody of Zander at just twenty.
Having to move to Moonshine Creek a year ago because the town was cheaper than the touristy village near the lakeshore where she grew up. Then, she finally admits that their move wasn’t solely based on the rental prices.
Through hiccups, she tells me that Zander’s guardianship case was taking a turn for the worst. At his last school, she’d consistently picked him up thirty minutes late, as that’s when her shift ended. Her boss wouldn’t budge on reworking the schedule, and she needed the job.
That triggered a series of home visits that pointed out all of Zoe’s shortcomings, like there not being enough fruit and vegetables in the fridge because they mainly lived off of the fast food at her old job. Then, at least once a week, Zander would fall asleep in class because he was up late the previous night at her job with her since she couldn’t afford to hire a babysitter.
“I’m trying so hard,” she sobs. “But it’s not enough. It’s not enough to try. It’s not enough to love Zander. He has needs.”
“Needs I can help with,” I say gently. “Like a home for that visit.”
She looks at me incredulously. “I’d have to register the new address with their department. Unless you’re my landlord it’s not easy to just say that I live there. Especially if I’m inside of the unit with you as an unvetted person. They don’t even know you.”
