Damaged Goods

  “You, too. It looks like you’re busy.” There hadn’t been a night I hadn’t seen Will out in the shop, working on some car from nine o’clock to who knows how late.

  “Good to know I’ve got someone fooled.” He waved at me with a socket wrench before disappearing beneath the hood again.

  I didn’t know much about cars other than how to check the oil, change a tire, and keep the tank full of gas, but the Chevelle was easy to identify. Not because I knew what an “old Chevelle” looked like—I didn’t have a clue—but because it was the only car of the handful around the driveway that fit Will. I know, I know. It was crazy to think a car could be matched to its owner and vice versa, but people swore that could be said of dogs and their owners. I supposed cars weren’t that far off. The Chevelle was steel gray, had beefy-looking tires with chrome wheels, and I half expected it to roar when I turned the engine over.

  I slid inside and found out I’d been right. That thing did roar when I turned the key in the ignition. The interior had a distinctive smell: a mixture of leather and earth and man. I wasn’t sure what Will smelled like—I hadn’t been close enough to him to notice—but I imagined if he did have a distinctive scent, that combination would probably be it.

  It took me a few seconds to figure out how to put the Chevelle into gear and get the lights turned on, but once I did, I punched the gas. First lesson when driving a muscle car? Don’t punch the gas unless you want to have your heart jump into your throat. I eased off the gas a bit before heading down the Goods’s driveway. I glanced in the rearview mirror just long enough to notice Will standing at the edge of the shop, watching the Chevelle drive away.

  Another point for the local boy, minus another point for me and my theory about him. He’d just let me borrow his sweet car—I didn’t need to be a car buff to realize this one put other cars to shame—without so much as a second thought. He hadn’t asked if I had a driver’s license or if I was insured or where I was going. I’d asked, and he agreed. No questions asked.

  Damn. I didn’t know what had me reeling more right then: Will Goods or what was waiting for me at the Gas n’ Grocery. The farther I got from one and the closer I drew toward the other helped make up my mind. When I pulled into the parking lot of the Gas n’ Grocery to find an older, round man peeking out the window, clearly waiting for someone, I pretty much forgot all about Will Goods and how he made me reel like no man before him.

  After struggling to get the Chevelle in park, I turned it off and made sure to lock the door before hurrying toward the Gas n’ Grocery’s sliding glass doors. I didn’t realize what I was wearing until a couple of guys in camo whistled as they passed me on the way to their equally camo’ed-out truck. I glanced down and grimaced. I was in my pajamas, which consisted of a tiny tank top and a pair of just-as-tiny cotton shorts. At least I had on shoes . . . because a pair of fancy flip-flops gave my outfit an edge of class and distinction. Yeah, right.

  “Miss Bennett?” the man I’d seen looking through the windows asked.

  That he didn’t run his eyes all over me like the other guys had or raise his eyebrows in disapproval gave me a sliver of hope that the guy wasn’t a total slug. It was always a good thing if the person you were having a serious conversation with wasn’t a slug.

  “Yes, I’m Miss Bennett,” I said. That I didn’t know him, nor he me, meant he was fairly new to these parts.

  “Are you Reese’s mother?” That he’d asked that without flinching meant he might have been new, but not that new.

  “No, I’m her older sister. Our mom is out of town, so I’m watching her and my other sister.”

  The store was close to empty except for Mrs. Westmore. She might have been pretending to be all interested in which brand of pork and beans she wanted from the end cap, but her town-gossip reputation preceded her. She was devouring every word.

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  The man tipped his head behind him. “Right over here.” I followed him toward an office door in the front corner of the store, and he said, “I’m Hal, by the way. The night manager. I forgot to mention that on the phone.”

  Even if he had mentioned it, I doubted I would have remembered it. “Nice to meet you, Hal. If you don’t mind, could you please tell me what happened? Why did you want me to come down here to pick Reese up? What did she do?”

  “In short?” Hal paused just outside the ajar office door.

  Nothing good could come of that qualifier. I nodded.

  Hal sighed. “She shoplifted.”

  My mouth fell open a bit. “Reese? You caught Reese Bennett shoplifting?” That was like accusing Paige of trying out for the cheerleading team or me of falling for a local guy. Reese rarely, if ever, did anything to get into trouble. And shoplifting? This had to be a mistake.

  “I caught her myself. And if you don’t believe me, I can show you the surveillance tape.” Hal was clearly uncomfortable.

  That made two of us. “Reese Bennett was shoplifting.” What alternate universe had I just landed in?

  “I’m afraid so.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. “I need to speak with her.” More like I needed to scream at her.

  Hal shoved the door open and motioned me inside. Reese was tucked into an old plastic chair, her knees curled up to her chin and her arms cinched around her legs. She looked as upset and confused as I felt. Seeing her so childlike dimmed my anger.

  “What the hell, Reese?” But only just a little bit.

  “Don’t yell, Liv. I’m sorry. I’ve already said it close to a thousand times.” Reese’s lower lip quivered, but no tears fell.

  “Good, you’ve been practicing, because you’re going to say it a million more times before we leave this office.” I marched toward her and threw my hands on my hips. “What were you thinking? Shoplifting? You do realize that’s a crime, right? A mark that goes on your record?”

  Her lower lip wasn’t quivering anymore—it was all-out wobbling. “Don’t yell, Liv.”

  “Tell you what, Reese. I won’t yell, if you don’t shoplift.” My voice was rising and it wasn’t really because I was that angry at Reese directly. I was mostly mad at the whole situation—from the day she was born to the day her mom walked out and abandoned two underage daughters and everything that had happened in between. “What are we going to do when the store files a report and someone tries to get a hold of Kitty and can’t? What then, Reese? Did you stop to think about what would happen to you and Paige then?”

  Something that looked like recognition flashed across Reese’s face, and then the first tears fell. She hadn’t thought what I immediately had—that police sniffing around for a guardian wouldn’t find one because said guardian was MIA. I didn’t need to know their standard protocol to guess the next phone call in their investigation would be to C.P.S.

  From behind me, Hal cleared his throat. “If I could jump in for a minute . . .”

  I glanced over my shoulder and waited.

  “I’m not, I mean, the store’s not pressing charges. I’ve seen Reese in here plenty of times, and this is the first time we’ve ever had a problem.” Hal studied Reese as silent tears trailed down her face. “She’s agreed to work here for a couple hours once a week after school for the next month as a form of community service. Before we settled on it though, I wanted to run it by her mother . . . or guardian.”

  I turned to look at Hal full on, just to make sure he wasn’t bullshitting me. “You’re not pressing charges?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “You’re not going to call the cops or . . . anyone else to report this?” I swallowed, almost biting back my own tears. I was rarely shocked by anything, but this kind man who seemed full of forgiveness and second chances was shocking the hell out of me.

  “I don’t see the reason to do that when we can work this out on our own. Of course, if this becomes a pattern, I might have to change my mind—”

  “It won’t,” Reese and I said in choru
s.

  “Then it looks like we’re good here. Besides, it’s about closing time.” Hal shrugged and moved toward the door.

  “Reese, could you wait outside please?”

  Reese glanced between me and Hal, but when I opened my mouth to ask again, minus the please, she bolted out of her chair and headed for the door.

  “Wait for me in the car.” I tossed the keys to her.

  “The car?” Reese’s eyebrows came together.

  “The Chevelle out in the parking lot.”

  “What’s a Chevelle?” Really, the girl’s eyebrows could have been considered a unibrow if they’d pulled together any tighter.

  “It’s the vintage, steel-gray car covered in chrome outside,” I said, letting out a long breath. When Reese opened her mouth, that confused expression still on her face, I shook my head. “It’s probably the only car out there. And if it’s not, just try the key until it opens one of the car’s doors.”

  “Okay,” she said under her breath. “Thanks for going easy on me, Hal. I’m really, really—”

  Hal raised his hand. “I know you are. Life’s full of second chances. Use yours well.”

  I saw the wheels turning in Reese’s head as she worked that out.

  “Thanks for the second chance.” Wiping her eyes, she smiled and slipped out of the office.

  “Reese?” Hal waited for her to look back before continuing. “Make sure you don’t come back here looking for a third chance. I don’t give those out quite so readily.”

  Reese’s head whipped from side to side. “I won’t. I promise.”

  “I promise you that too, Hal,” I said, watching Reese exit the store. “She’s a good kid. Things have just been a bit . . . difficult.” Well, more difficult than normal because, let’s face it, a kid didn’t grow up in a shitty trailer with a junkie mom without living in a steady state of difficult.

  “I know she is. I can tell.”

  “Oh, yeah? How so? Intuition? That innocent look on her face?” I wasn’t looking to discount Hal’s impression of Reese. I just didn’t know what to say next, and it seemed rude to slip out of the office two seconds after he’d let Reese off the hook.

  “Last summer, she’d almost made it all the way home when she realized the cashier had given her ten cents too much change. She walked back here and handed that dime to me like it wasn’t just what a decent person would do but what any person would do.” Hal crossed his arms and studied the ground. “That’s not the kind of person who shoplifts one year later unless she’s got a hell of a reason for doing so.”

  “What did she try to take?” I just couldn’t imagine what could be so important that Reese would commit a crime to get her hands on it.

  Hal shifted, looking every shade of uncomfortable, before shuffling toward his desk. He slid open the bottom drawer and pulled out a couple of things before dropping them on the desk.

  My eyes widened right before my stomach twisted. “Tampons. And deodorant.”

  Oh my God. My little sister had come into the Gas n’ Grocery to steal a box of tampons and a trial-sized deodorant. If I weren’t already there, I might have just hit rock bottom.

  “Yeah, now you understand my predicament a little better, right? I mean, most kids try to rip off a case of beer or a box of condoms, but Reese . . .” Hal scratched the back of his head as he examined the items on his desk. “Well, she must have been pretty desperate to steal these things.”

  My stomach twisted again, so I forced my eyes away from the desk and dug around in my purse. Once I’d scrounged up every last coin that was left of my sisters and my life savings, I counted it out. “How much?”

  Hal gave me a curious look.

  “For the tampons and deodorant? How much?” I finished counting the change. I had just about three dollars.

  “Let’s see . . .” Hal inspected the items, tallying up the amounts on the price tags. “That would be, with tax, three dollars and seventy-two cents.”

  My eyes closed. Of course it was. “Okay, how about just the tampons. How much for those?”

  “Two eighty-five with tax.”

  “Perfect.” I handed Hal the change, leaving nothing but a nickel and a few pennies in my possession. I’d share my deodorant with Reese until I figured out what to do next. “Thanks again, Hal. You don’t know what kind of situation you just saved us from.”

  Hal smiled and handed me the box of tampons. “You’re welcome.”

  Once I’d stuffed the box in my purse, I headed for the door. The cashier counting out her till caught my attention.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have any job openings, would you?” I knew how desperate I sounded, but given I’d just had to weigh what was more essential—tampons or deodorant—I knew I already looked desperate. I might as well fill in the rest of the image.

  Hal’s smile dimmed. “I wish I did because I think I know a certain person who’d be happy to have the job.”

  “Well, I had to check. Thanks again.” I’d only made it halfway to the sliding glass doors when Hal jogged out of the office.

  “Here.” He placed the stick of deodorant in my hands. “It’s not a job, but it’s something. And something’s always better than nothing.”

  I didn’t know what caught me more by surprise—Hal’s little gift or what he’d just said. Right then, standing in the middle of the Gas n’ Grocery feeling overwhelmed for a dozen different reasons, I felt equally surprised by both.

  I clutched the deodorant. “You’re a good man, Hal. Thank you.”

  “And you’re a good guardian, Liv.” He shot me a wink before making his way back to his office. “Good luck.”

  “I think I’ll need a lot more than luck.”

  His smile even touched the corners of his eyes. “We always do, but it’s a start. Fill in the rest as you go.”

  When I made it outside the glass doors, I waved before making my way to the Chevelle. Reese had her head bowed and was focused on her hands in her lap. She looked as though she’d just gone through the wringer, which, for Reese, she had.

  “Are you going to yell some more?” Her voice was so quiet that I had to lean in to hear her.

  “No. I think I got it all out of my system back there.”

  Reese sniffled. “Are you going to ground me?”

  “No. Hal’s Gas n’ Grocery community service is enough of a grounding for you.”

  She peered at me from the corner of her eyes. “Are you mad at me?”

  “Yes,” I answered, starting the Chevelle. “And no.”

  Reese didn’t have another question for me, so she was either waiting for me to expound upon my answer or she was fresh out of questions. The latter was highly unlikely.

  “I’m mad at you because you know better than to steal, especially since Kitty’s gone and the school’s already suspicious. I’m mad because you lied to me about staying after school to study when you were committing a misdemeanor instead.”

  “I was studying after school,” she interjected. “Up until a couple of hours ago.”

  I shot her a glare. “I’m mad at you because Paige looks up to you, and if she sees you paving your way toward juvie, that’ll only accelerate her road to getting there.”

  A tear slipped from Reese’s eye. I hated seeing either of my sisters cry. We’d all had enough to cry about our entire lives—Reese sure didn’t need me and my anger adding to that list.

  I exhaled and rubbed my temples. “But I’m not mad because I understand why you did it. I know that resorting to stealing means you’ve got no other options. I know that you felt backed into a corner with no possible way of getting out.”

  Reese went from crying silently to choking back sobs.

  I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be all right.”

  I kissed the top of her head then drove out of the parking lot and toward the trailer. I pushed the speed limit. I might have even run a just-red light. I was a woman on a mission bec
ause I knew what I needed to do. I’d finally accepted that I didn’t have to play the part of the victim, subjecting my sisters to the same role. I held the power to turn our lives around.

  It had taken me a while to figure it out, but my kid sister ripping off tampons from the local ma-and-pop grocery store had been the tipping point. Whatever I had been doing these past few weeks, I was about to change it all up, because what I’d been doing wasn’t working. Only an idiot would keep doing the same thing and hope for a different result.

  And I’d never been an idiot.

  The few miles to the trailer went quickly. Reese stayed silent between her sniffles, and I stayed just as quiet in my contemplation.

  When we were just past the driveway, I stopped the Chevelle. “Go inside, check on Paige, and you girls get to bed, okay? I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  Reese’s eyebrows came together.

  “It’s going to be okay. Trust me.”

  After a few more moments of studying me, Reese slid across the seat and out the door.

  “Reese . . .” I dug the items out of my purse and tossed them at her. “I thought you might need these, so I picked them up at the store.”

  We shared a small smile, then Reese trudged up the driveway to the trailer.

  One crisis averted. One crisis to go get buried in.

  I made my way to the highway and headed south. I might have torn the card into shreds, but I remembered it was on the highway. I didn’t need the exact address to find it. All I needed to do was find the bright, flashing sign on the side of the road. I didn’t even need to read the words on the giant sign. The string of semis parked off to the side, along with the fancy cars with tinted windows, told me I’d found the right place.

  I inhaled slowly then pulled the Chevelle into the parking lot. It was only a Thursday night, but the parking lot was packed. The highway saw a lot of tourist traffic, especially once the weather turned nice, because it was literally the only highway that connected dozens of cities in the valley to the coast. That probably had something to do with why the club was so busy and why Jake could afford a thousand-dollar watch.