The Deal & a Secret by Jessica Sorensen

Author:Jessica Sorensen [Sorensen, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jessica Sorensen

Chapter Four

I remain fairly stuck in my own head for most of the remaining drive home, my mind crammed with questions. Questions about my dad. About what he was doing at the gas station with yet another duffel bag. Questions about Blaise. Like, how much he knows about my dad and about Blaise himself. The biggest question: what led him to seek guardianship of his brothers? What line was crossed that he finally decided they were better off without him?

How am I supposed to ask him any of this? I barely know him. He barely knows me. Why would he share his personal story with me? He may very well not, but at this point, I’m becoming desperate enough to ask.

I take a sip of my coffee then flick a quick glance to make sure Alex is still passed out before turning in the seat toward Blaise. He’s hardly said more than a handful of words since we left the gas station, either stuck in his own head, too, or tired of chatting with me.

“I have to ask you a question.”

Breaking the silence makes him jolt.

His gaze skates to me, his expression guarded. “Okay …?”

I finish off my coffee then set the empty cup in the cupholder. “You saw him at the gas station, didn’t you?”

He reluctantly nods. “I saw him drive away.”

“Do you know why he was there?”

“No.”

I can’t read him; can’t tell if he’s lying. “Was he there for his job?”

He shakes his head, sweeping strands of his blond hair out of his eyes. “Probably not.”

“How do you know for sure? I mean, what does he even do for your dad?”

“All sorts of things. And I know for sure he wasn’t working earlier because he only works nights.”

“Nights? But sometimes I see him around the house at night.”

“Late at night,” he clarifies. “I think it’s the eleven o’clock to five o’clock shift.”

None of this makes sense, and with how much Blaise is squirming in his seat, I wonder if he knows more than he’s letting on. But why? Because my dad told him not to tell me? Again, why?

Why? Why? Why?

“But he acts as if he’s going to work during the day,” I point out, observing his reaction closely. “He even packs a lunch.”

Blaise thrums his fingers against the wheel, contemplating something. “Maybe he has two jobs?”

I snort a laugh. “Yeah, and unicorns are real.”

He gives me a curious glance. “I’m guessing he’s not the sort of guy who would have two jobs?”

“Hell no. He’s not the type to even have one job. Honestly, until you said he was working for your dad, I thought he was just going to the bar with his”—I make air quotes—“ ‘lunchbox.’ ”

He nods understandingly. “I had one of those parents, too. Or, well, I should say stepparent.” He downshifts as we near the turn off to our neighborhood. “Rhyland and Alex’s mom … she’s a real piece of work. And that’s putting it mildly.”

I seize the opportunity to ask, “Was she the reason you got guardianship of your brothers?”

“Partly.

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