“I need—” She stops and clears her throat. “I need a new laptop for school this year. Mom’s been trying to find the extra money to buy me one, but—”
I don’t make her finish. “Done. I’ll give you my email address. Send me the link to whichever one you want, and I’ll have it delivered to your house.”
She looks relieved. I see more of her mom in her as she softens and gives me a little smile. “Thank you.”
Chapter Twelve
Gemma
I was twelve years old when I broke the nasty habit of nail biting, but as I wait outside the interrogation room at the police station, I’m tempted to start up again.
After what feels like an eternity, the door finally opens.
Hayden holds the door for Parker, and she brushes past him to return to my side.
I eye her up, searching for any visible sign of distress. “Are you all right?”
Arms crossed, she nods.
It strikes me as a self-protective gesture, though, so I’m not so sure. I look back at Hayden, my eyes narrowed. “What did you need to discuss with my daughter by herself?”
“It’s fine, Mom,” she says before he can say anything. “He wasn’t mean to me or anything. We just talked, and he apologized.” She glances over her shoulder at Landon, who is still watching her like a little creep.
I grab her shoulders and pull her in front of me. “We need to go.”
Parker nods her head but says she needs to talk to the police officer about one more thing she forgot on her report before we leave. I offer to go with her, but she doesn’t want me to.
I don’t like her even approaching the officer since Landon is sitting right there, but the officer seems to understand they need to be separated, so he directs her to follow him into a nearby office.
Now that my daughter is out of the room, my attention returns to Landon.
He must feel my gaze on him because while he was still looking at the door Parker walked through, now he looks back at me and looks me directly in the eye.
I glare at him so he feels bad, but he doesn’t.
He smiles and gives me a little wave.
Ugh, he’s such a jerk.
Looking back at Hayden, I cross my arms and say, “Now do you see the problem?”
He nods, and I can see that he does. “I didn’t realize how serious it was.”
“I tried to tell you.”
“I know you did.”
Since he’s not arguing with me, I don’t know what else to say.
I look down, noticing the granules of sand stuck to my feet since I put my shoes back on in such a hurry.
The memory surfaces of my arms wrapped around him, his lips on mine. How much I wanted him…
The waves lapped at the shore too soon. Our picture got erased before we could even finish drawing it.
Without anger and fear, I just feel a little sad.
I really did like him, it just doesn’t matter.