Part 39 (1/2)
”Come on, girl. Get moving, why don't you.”
When he grabbed her, the look that had been on her face got far-away, like she was lost in her thoughts. The minute he spoke, her face turned darker, frustrated. But she turned away.
A part of him wanted to try to get any anger smoothed over. Another, bigger part wanted to get her out of his life. The way she'd decided to follow him up spoke to an att.i.tude like she was part of his life. Like he was part of hers.
But that wasn't the case, and it shouldn't be. The way she stared at that pistol told him everything that needed to be known. She was from a world where you didn't need to carry one, probably not ever. Chris hadn't been that lucky, and they weren't going to get over that gap. It was better to scare her off now, rather than having to accept it once he'd let himself be fooled.
She wasn't at the top of the steps when he followed Marie through the door a minute later. He blinked in surprise, but stepped forward. She'd probably gone down ahead, mad at him. He didn't, though, expect to see her walking across the street, in the exact wrong direction of the schoolhouse.
He followed the line she was walking and saw where she was headed, and immediately knew why. Chris swore softly under his breath and started moving to follow her. n.o.body needed to ask why the Sheriff had a boy walking in tow.
He was nearly caught up when the schoolteacher called out.
”Jamie?”
The kid's head shot up and turned. The look in his eyes. .h.i.t Chris hard. He looked scared and confused, and without a single doubt he looked exactly the way that Chris had looked the day his own parents hadn't come home.
”Miss Bainbridge? What's goin' on?”
”Do you know where Sheriff Roberts is taking you?”
His face screwed up a little more. She was pus.h.i.+ng him toward panic. She ought to have known better, but she's trying to be gentle. It's understandable, but Chris knows from his own experience, it's not going to help one bit. He needs something to hold onto, something tough, or he's going to have a bad time.
”Mr. Roberts says somethin' happened to-”
Chris spoke up as the kid's voice broke. ”You ain't gonna let a girl see you cry, are you?”
The look from Marie stung a little, but the kid's lips pressed together and he straightened himself out. Chris let a smile spread across his face.
”Good man. You go with Mr. Roberts, and Miss Bainbridge will be waiting for you right outside, a'ight?”
The kid nodded and turned. Marie kept on staring at him in a way that he had no special desire to pay attention to. This was outside his area of expertise, he knew, but it wasn't as if he was just going to watch the kid get screwed up the way he had. That was how kids got mixed up in things they had absolutely no business getting mixed up in.
When he'd finally disappeared inside the office, Marie's silence broke.
”What was that supposed to be?”
He shrugged. ”I thought I ought to straighten him out.”
”You couldn't have been gentler about it?”
He put his lips together and didn't open them again.
She rolled her eyes. ”You men, I swear to G.o.d.”
Chris smiled, and she promptly turned away in a huff.
Thirteen.
Marie Bainbridge sat and tried not to act like she was mad, which she knew wasn't working. If anything, she was making it worse, because every time she tried to play it cool, it meant that she had to think about it again.
She was dealing with these kids-with Jamie Pearson in particular-every single day. She knew how he thought, how he felt. She knew his problems. She knew where he was strong and where he needed more work.
Where did a bartender who might have spoken two words to the boy since she'd been in Applewood Junction think he had any place to override what she thought was best?
She closed her eyes. No need to get angry. No need to get angry at all. He was who he was, and she had to admit, the confident way that he'd handled a tough situation had a certain charm to it. She could almost feel the Sheriff's relief as Jamie had calmed down.
They waited together for a long time. Chris had been so ready to go work, before, yet now he seemed to be dawdling here with her, as if there was some reason he needed to stay. She couldn't figure out what it was, yet the fact that he was most certainly waiting for something was unavoidable and undeniable.
The thought, when it finally occurred to her, ripped itself right out of her mouth, in spite of not necessarily wanting to speak with him. It would serve him right if she were to remain silent. Her reflexive speaking didn't much care what would serve him right.
”What are they going to do with him?”
His silence might have implied that he wasn't listening and didn't think much of the question. The way that his face pinched, on the other hand, told a very different story.
”If you don't know, then-”
”I know exactly what they're going to do with him,” Chris said finally. ”It's not a topic I enjoy discussing.”
”If I offended you, then-”
”No,” he cuts her off shortly. ”I can't just ignore it, I guess. I shouldn't ignore it.”
”Ignore what?”
”If they've got family to take them in, then that's how it goes. Jamie don't.”
”And if they haven't got any family?”
”Then things get p.r.i.c.kly. n.o.body'll take in some strange kid, will they? Hard enough feeding the mouths you got.” Chris leans his head back. The brim of his hat touches the wall behind and lifts a little off his brow. ”So they go along to an orphanage. He's an only child, yeah?”
Marie nods. Jamie had been letting on little hints, when she hadn't had him working too hard to talk much, that his mother was expecting. If she was, then when she'd-she hadn't been far enough along to show much.
”That's good, then. No siblings is the best way. You have brothers or sisters, they might keep you together-they might as well not, too.”
”So these orphanages. Not the sort of place you want to be, then, from the way you make them sound.”
”Then I made them sound right,” he agrees. He's got his eyes closed, so whatever his feelings, or his history, Marie can only guess.
”So is there anything we can do?”
”Sure is,” Chris says. ”All that happens if n.o.body claims him.”
”So... all we have to do is take him in, then.”