“I don’t want to take you away from anything important,” she tried.
His expression sobered. “If you don’t want me to come.”
“It’s not that,” she lied.
His lips thinned and his eyes turned guarded. “I guess I misinterpreted-”
“Oh, hell,” she spat out. Beating around the bush was getting her into even more trouble. “It’s not you, okay? It’s that I’m not going to be able to afford anything nice.”
He looked relieved. “Then we’ll find you something ugly.”
She headed inside the house, muttering under her breath. “While you book the Emperor Suite at the Castle on the Hill.”
“You might as well see how the other half lives,” he told her easily, following behind. “Maybe it’ll inspire you to work harder.”
“I’m a writer,” she countered. “We’re supposed to be starving in some damp, little garret in Paris.”
“Is that what we’re looking for?” he asked. “A garret? I don’t know if we have any garrets in Charlotte.”
BY THREE O’CLOCK, THEY HADN’T found a damp garret or anything else that was suitable. Crystal didn’t mind small, and she didn’t mind worn; she did mind dirty, and she couldn’t tolerate dangerous. It was also tough to find any place that would take Rufus.
“Had enough?” asked Larry as he slammed the driver’s door and wrapped his hands around the steering wheel, staring in disgust at the plain, cinderblock building with bars on the ground-floor windows and graffiti across the service entrance.
Crystal clenched her fists around her hair, shaking her head and making a sound of disgust deep in her throat. “I just want something plain and simple and clean. Is that too much to ask?”
He turned to look at her, expression serious. “You might have to think about using Simon’s money.”
She immediately shook her head.
“You’d starve on the streets over a principle?”
“I’m not going to starve in the streets.” She was going to find an apartment and a job, and she was going to live like a normal person.
“You can always rent a room from me.”
“No, I can’t.”
“It’d be cheap.”
She shot him a stare. “You know I can’t do that.”
He gave a nod to the group of teenage boys lounging on the front steps of the building. “Well, you can’t stay here.”
She didn’t disagree with that. But there was a lot of real estate between social housing and Larry’s place. “We don’t even know where our relationship is going,” she elaborated.
His grip tightened, so did his voice. “You’re right. We don’t.”
She’d offended him, now. She never should have brought him along. “Can you take me back to my car?”
He turned his head. “You’re giving up?”
“There’s something else I want to do this afternoon.”
He waited, but didn’t ask for an explanation.
“It’s for the kids,” she admitted.
He waited some more, silently, patiently, while she remembered she could trust him and count on him. He’d proved as much the night at Myrtle Pond.
“Sunday night was unsettling,” she told him. “Amber’s drinking too much, and she’s got stars in her eyes over Zane. She might even tell him about the money. I want to pick up a cell phone for Jennifer. You know, program my number into it, just in case.”
“Auntie Crystal, on call, day or night?”
“Something like that.”
Larry reached for the ignition. “It’s a good idea. Can we pick up the kids?”
“Why?”
“You’ll want to show her how to use it, charge it. She might even want to pick it out. If it’s a cool phone, she’s more likely to keep it with her.”
Crystal nodded. That was definitely a good idea. “How do you think of these things?”
Larry smiled. “I raised a son, remember?”
Of course he had. She’d never been introduced to Steve, but she knew him by reputation. By all accounts, he was a fine man.
She dialed her sister and caught her on a coffee break.
“Are the kids going to day care after school today?” she asked Amber.
“Of course,” said Amber, her tone telling Crystal she was still upset about the night before.
Crystal tried not to sigh in frustration. “I was thinking about picking them up and, I don’t know, maybe going out for ice cream or doing a little shopping.”
“You are?” Amber’s voice perked up. “Would you mind keeping them for dinner?”
A date with Zane, no doubt.
“I don’t mind at all,” said Crystal. “What time do you want me to drop them off tonight?”
“Can I call you later?”
“Sure.” Good thing the kids had spare pajamas at Crystal’s place.
“Thanks, Crystal. You’re the best.”
Yeah, yeah. She was the best for the next twelve hours anyway.
“Talk to you tonight then. Don’t forget to call the day care.”
“I won’t. Bye.”
“Bye.” Crystal pushed the off button. “I’m keeping them over dinner.”
Larry flipped on his turn signal and turned onto the main road. “Zane again?”
“I’m sure.” She slipped the phone back into her purse. “The day care’s on Governor Road, just past the plaza.” She stared out the window for a minute, letting the stately oaks flash by her vision. “I can’t decide if I’m being a good aunt or simply being an enabler.”
“You’re being a good aunt.”
She turned back to Larry. “You’re biased.”
“Because I’m sleeping with you?”
“Exactly.”
“Think about it,” he said. “Would Amber stop seeing Zane if you weren’t babysitting?”
“No,” Crystal admitted.
“There you go. There’s nothing you can do to alter her behavior. From what you’ve said, there’s a pattern to these reunions, and you simply have to let it run its course.”
“And keep the fallout from hurting the kids.”
“That’s right. And that’s exactly what you’re doing.” He reached across the seat to cover her hand with his. “You’re a good aunt, Crystal. And you’re a good person.”
His sweet intentions warmed her heart.
“You’re still biased,” she reminded him.
“You forget. I’m a scientist. We’re trained to be impartial.”
“I remember. You’re a man. You’re anthropologically selected to think with your hormones.”
His gaze warmed. “I’m thinking with them now.”
So was she. “See what I mean?”
He nodded toward two blocks up the busy street. “That the parking lot?”
“Take a left at the light, and you can pull right in.”
Larry stopped his car in the pickup lane while Crystal jumped out. She spoke to the entry attendant, who confirmed that Amber had given her permission for Crystal to take the kids.
The kids were thrilled to see her, doubly thrilled when they learned Larry was along as well.
“I’m going to be a fighter jet pilot,” David called, swinging his backpack into Larry’s compact backseat and clambering in.
“It’s a tough job. The F-15 Eagle, for example, has a top speed of Mach 2.5,” said Larry. “That’s 1694 miles an hour at thirty thousand feet. A whopping 1902 miles an hour at sea level.”
“Whoa!”
“You sure you want to go that fast?”
“Yes!” David shouted, with a bounce on the seat.
Jennifer paused before getting in the car, looking up at Crystal. “Is Mommy okay?” she asked in a quiet voice.
An ache flashing across her chest, Crystal smoothed Jennifer’s hair back from her forehead and forced out a cheery smile. “Of course, she’s okay. She’s at work right now, but she said you could come to my place for dinner if you wanted.”
Jennifer smiled and her narrow shoulders seemed to relax. Crystal realized she needed to have another talk with Amber. It looked like waiting out Zane might be too hard on Jennifer.
“Fighter pilots always wear their safety harness,” said Larry, and David immediately searched for the two ends of his seat belt.