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“Yeah, but what are we gonna do with my rental?”
“We’ll leave it parked. I’ll drop you off there on the way back from Boston.”
I blew out a shaky breath. “Thank you, Owen.”
“Let’s stay on the phone,” he said.
Relaxing my shoulders, I shut my eyes. I felt like crap for interrupting his day, but I was so damn happy that I wouldn’t have to go to Boston alone.
***
It cost two-thousand dollars to get Vera out of jail until her first court hearing in a month.
My head spun as we exited the courthouse, Owen on one side of me and Vera on the other. We walked back toward the lot where Owen’s car was parked.
It turned out my mother had been arrested because she’d freaking stabbed her boyfriend. While I knew Vera was nuts, I also knew she wasn’t a violent person.
“What the hell really happened?” I asked her.
“Bo came at me with a broken wine bottle, so I grabbed a kitchen knife and swung it to try to protect myself. Didn’t mean to actually stab him. He called the police and told them I’d attacked him unprovoked. But it was self-defense.”
“What condition is he in?”
“He’s fine—in good enough condition to try to take me down and call the cops when he knows damn well why it happened.” She sighed. “I should’ve killed the bastard when I had the chance.”
“There were no witnesses?”
“No. It was just the two of us at his house—besides his German shepherd.”
Owen, who’d looked like he wanted to ream her a new asshole from the moment he saw her, had been holding back, probably for my sake. But he finally lost it. “What the hell have you been doing in Boston while your kids have been fending for themselves?” he spewed.
“Who is this guy, Devyn?” Vera asked, as if he hadn’t been with us the entire time.
“He’s…” I hesitated.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Owen answered matter-of-factly. “I’m also your landlord, although we never formally met.”
Boyfriend. Okay then.
“Ah. I thought you looked familiar. It’s nice to formally meet you.”
“I wish I could say the same, Vera.”
Owen disarmed his car, and the three of us got in. Owen and I sat in the front and my mother in the back.
“So, I suppose we’re not gonna get any logical explanation for your disappearing act?” I said.
“I needed help with the rent. I thought Bo was a good guy for a while. Told me he’d take care of me if I came to live with him up in Somerville for a while.”
“Doesn’t he know you have kids?” I seethed.
“He does.”
“He didn’t care that you left them?” Owen asked, glaring at her through the rearview mirror.
“I thought Heath could fend for himself and his sister for a while. I know maybe that sounds crazy to you, but he’s a responsible kid.”
“He’s fifteen!” I yelled.
