AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I said I don’t count.”
“But does this time seem longer than the others to you?”
Hannah stopped walking. “You don’t have to stay, if you don’t want to. Heath has a job now, so we have money for food.”
I shook my head. “Oh no, that’s not what I meant, Hannah.”
“Then what do you really want to ask? Because it sure sounds like you’re itching to get the heck out of here, with so many questions about when Mom’s coming back.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry if I came off that way. I’m not trying to ditch you. I promise.”
“Then what’s with all the Vera questions?”
I supposed we were all in this together. “How about if me, you, and your brother talk when we get home? All together?”
“Fine.”
I couldn’t get more than a shrug or a one-word answer the rest of the walk.
As expected, Heath was already at the apartment when we arrived. I was going to have to deal with him skipping school, but that was a separate conversation. Right now, the priority was finding Vera.
Hannah tossed her backpack on a kitchen chair and spoke to her brother. “Do you make enough money for food and stuff? Devyn said she wants to leave.”
“No, that’snotwhat I said at all, Hannah.” I shook my head. “Can you two please sit down at the table so we can talk?”
Heath pulled a chair out and flipped it around, straddling it backwards. “I make enough for food. I can ask for more hours to try to pay the rent.”
I looked over at Hannah, who was still standing. “Can you please sit?”
She rolled her eyes but took a seat at the table.
I sat between them. Beating around the bush with these two only caused them to fill in the blanks with the idea that no one wanted them, so I figured I should shoot straight this time.
“CPS came to the apartment this morning. They wanted to speak to Vera. I was able to buy us some time, but they aren’t going to go away. We need to find your mother—our mother. They’re coming back in a few days.”
“What happens if we can’t find her?” Hannah asked.
I didn’t want to scare the kids and mention myfourstints in foster care. “Let’s take this one step at a time. Right now we just need to focus on finding her.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Heath asked.
“I don’t know. What can you tell me about the new guy she’s dating? The one she left with?”
“Bo? He’s got a bad accent,” Heath said.
“What kind of accent?”
“He sounds like that dude in theTedmovies. The one with the stuffed animal that talks.”
“Mark Wahlberg?”
“Yeah, I think that’s his name. He doesn’t say car. He sayska.”
I nodded. “Boston.”
Hannah pointed to her brother. “I think he said something about moving there. He fixes trucks, like big eighteen-wheelers. His hands are all cracked, and they always look dirty, but he says they’re not. Mom said she wanted to help him decorate his new apartment.”
“Do you know Bo’s last name?”
