The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne

Author:Melissa Payne [Payne, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542041942
Published: 2019-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

STAR

For the third morning in a row, Star awoke buried in the folds of a thick comforter, in a room with a door that closed and locked.

Yesterday with Jess had been nice. Jess was a private person, and at times she seemed wound pretty tight, but she was also kind in a guarded way. Star tried to resent her for constantly looking for a reason to make her leave, but in her heart she really couldn’t blame her. Besides, Star sensed that Jess hid something painful. Her life had made her an expert on recognizing that in others.

And yesterday when Jess collapsed in the kitchen, her cry had been horrible—empty and so sad. Star recognized that sound too.

She pulled the covers under her chin, letting her feet search for pockets of coolness in the warmth of the bed. If this were a foster home, she would’ve already been looking for a way out. She wiggled deeper into the bed and pulled the comforter up until it covered her head. The truth was that she liked it here, and the feeling scared her. The air beneath the covers grew thick and hot, and she flung the comforter away, taking in sips of cool air.

A quick knock rattled her bedroom door. “Star?” called Jess.

“I’m getting up,” she said, and reached for the bag of clothes from their consignment shop trip. She rifled through the bag, settling on a pair of acid-washed jeans and the dancing bears tie-dye shirt from Ebee.

“Can I come in?”

Star gripped the doorknob and hesitated. Jess had been open about her desire to call social services. Was today the day she’d win that battle with Lucy?

The door rattled with another knock. “Star?”

She opened the door. “Yeah?”

Jess knelt in the doorway, tying up the laces of a pair of athletic shoes. She wore loose black yoga pants and a long-sleeved apple-green top, her hair pulled back in her normally too-tight ponytail. She looked up at Star, frowning. “We went shopping yesterday so you wouldn’t have to wear the same thing every day.”

With the mention of their shopping trip, Star breathed out. Jess hadn’t come here to send her away. At least not yet. She looked down at her shirt. “Well, Aunt Jess, it’s a hard habit to break, I suppose. Besides, I like these little bears—they’re so cute.”

Jess rose to her feet and crossed her arms. “Just Jess works fine.”

“Got it. Just Jess it is!”

Jess’s mouth twisted into a bemused expression. “You are such a smart-ass.”

She grinned. “I’m a teenager. It’s our natural state.”

Jess stepped away from the door and leaned over to touch her toes, stretching her hamstrings. “So, listen. I want to go for a walk around the lake. Now that this crappy mountain winter is finally coming to an end, I thought it’d be a good time to go.” She gestured toward Star. “And with you here, I feel okay leaving Lucy for a bit.”

“You trust me with Lucy?”

“Well, as Lucy says, we hardly know one another.

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