Harlequin Romantic Suspense March 2017 Box Set: an Anthology by Carla Cassidy

Author:Carla Cassidy
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488016356
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 3

“His name is Dylan,” Emily said. “Dylan Oakley.”

“What makes you think he’s in trouble?” Quinn asked.

“He’s been very different lately. I mean, he has reason, but…”

When she stopped, swallowing tightly, Ria knew why and stepped in. “His mother was killed in March, in a hiking accident.”

It was a moment before anyone spoke.

“You know him? Is he a student of yours, as well?” Quinn asked Ria.

She nodded. “I’ve had him in classes for two years. And the difference in him is…marked.”

“And it’s been getting worse lately, not better,” Emily said.

“Sometimes it happens that way,” Hayley said, her tone gentle with understanding. “Grief has its own path, and it’s different for everyone.”

Emily’s gaze shifted to Quinn. He nodded. “She knows, too.”

Even the dog sat up from his spot near Emily and plopped his chin on the girl’s knee, making her smile as she reached out to stroke his fur.

Ria felt oddly out of place. As if she’d stumbled into a club she gratefully lacked the qualifications for. She’d never lost anyone really close to her. Even both sets of her grandparents were still kicking, a couple of them off playing in a seniors tennis tournament in California. Her parents were still running the family hardware stores and her two older brothers were busy with their lives—one producing the much-desired grandkids for the parents while he managed the accounting for the stores, the other following his dream of being an airline pilot. She had aunts and uncles scattered all over the country, and cousins abounded.

She knew she was lucky, but nothing had brought it home like this moment, sitting here among people who had dealt with the kind of loss she’d never had to face. Yet.

Ria toyed with one of her earrings, the tiny silver crossed saw and hammer that was the logo for her family’s stores. She glanced at Liam, wondering. But it was there, too, that look. That understanding. It changed his open, innocent appearance, and suddenly he didn’t seem quite so young. But his expression was also tinged with something else. In fact, for a moment she thought she saw guilt before he lowered his gaze.

And belatedly she realized that when she had looked at him, he’d already been looking at her. She gave herself an inward shake and focused on the matter at hand.

“But Dylan used to talk to me,” Emily was saying. “Because I got it. I knew how it felt, losing his mom. But he stopped. And he doesn’t even talk to his best friends anymore.”

“He’s a smart kid and used to be well prepared. But his grades have dropped dramatically in the last couple of months,” Ria said. “He’s even missed some classes, which he never did even right after she died. In fact, he seemed to dive into his studies even more.”

“It’s a good way to avoid thinking about it,” Quinn said. His voice held the self-knowledge they all seemed to share but her.

“I read tons of books,” Emily said.

“So did I, after my mother died,” Hayley said.

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