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“How about we sit down on the porch swing and chat for a little while. Maybe whoever it was needs help?”
Kristin was always surprised at how insightful Luke could be sometimes. She also knew he absolutely adored Becky and wanted to believe the best of her. She could just see his brain working to tell him that Becky was only going out to help someone. Or because someone needed her.
Kristin hoped he was right.
They settled on the swing, with Becky under the blanket between them.
“I’d really like a promise from you that you won’t do it again. I want that almost as badly as I want to know where you were.”
Luke was being as honest as he could be, and Kristin appreciated his realness. Letting Becky know that they were worried and that she wasn’t in trouble, he just wanted to know. So he could help her and protect her.
“I have a friend. He helped me when I didn’t have a home. After I ran away. He helped me get a job.”
Kristin almost made an audible sound, but she bit it back just in time. There had been a boy with Becky when she had gotten hired at Davis and Kim’s boarding stable. Back when their baby was born and in the NICU for such a long time.
Of course that was probably the boy she was seeing.
“How old is he?” Luke asked right away.
“That’s just it. That’s why I can’t tell you. He’s afraid he’ll get in trouble. Because he’s old.”
“An adult?”
“He’s a senior in high school this year.”
That was a good bit older. And no wonder he didn’t want people to know about them. If there had been anything inappropriate going on, that kid could be in a lot of trouble.
“If he’s not doing anything wrong, he won’t be in trouble,” Luke said, and there was an edge to his voice that wasn’t there before. Kristin figured he was upset with this boy who was taking advantage of his little girl.
“He hasn’t been doing anything inappropriate at all. But he understands that people might not believe him. Or me. People don’t usually believe me,” Becky said, sounding a little put out by the whole idea that she could say things and people didn’t understand.
“Can you tell us? And if he hasn’t done anything wrong, then you won’t be in trouble.”
Said like that, it seemed like the most reasonable thing to do was for Becky to tell them.
Kristin didn’t know how Luke did it, but she appreciated it, because Becky started talking.
“He caught me when I was outside his house, hoping to get in so I could steal some food. He let me in, fed me, and after that, he left the door in his room unlocked so I could get in and out whenever I wanted to. I didn’t have a place to sleep at night, so I’d go to his house and sleep.”
“With him?” Luke said low, and it sounded a little threatening.
“I slept on top of the covers, he slept under them. But he’d leave a blanket on the chair so that I would be warm. He... He was like a big brother to me.”
“A big brother?” Luke said, and there was hope in his voice.
“He always wanted to make sure he took care of me. And I would get out before the sun came up so that no one ever caught us, because he’d been so nice to me and I didn’t want him to get in trouble.”
“So what’s the problem now?” Kristin asked.
“I never told him that I wasn’t going to come anymore. After Luke caught me the first time coming back, I had told him that I might be adopted or that I might have found a place for Rita and I to be together. But I told him I’d come back and let him know. I couldn’t just not keep my word. But I didn’t want to leave again, because I knew that it would upset you and Luke if I left without asking. But I couldn’t ask because I knew you would say no.”
“Yeah. That’s probably true.” Luke sighed. “But we could have driven you to his house.”
“His parents don’t know, and that’s part of the problem. He found out his dad was cheating on his mom, and he’s been going downhill ever since. I see him sometimes at school, but he won’t talk to me. So I thought I would try to catch him at his house and see what was going on, but he didn’t want to talk.”
“But he walked you home?” Luke asked.
“Yeah. He didn’t want me to be stranded in the snow.”
