He titled his head studying me. “Perhaps, you’re right. I’ll refrain making undesirables more desirable in the future.”
I grinned at him glad he’d caught on. It wasn’t that I actually considered choosing Clavin. I just didn’t want to see anyone hit by a car ever again.
Getting serious again, I said, “Time for you to go. There’s no way I can bring you into the house with everyone home.” Without a word, he left.
Clavin blinked at me with confused eyes. He no longer held his bag.
“Come on, you. You’re way too tired.”
I opened my door wondering what he noticed. That he didn’t have his bag, that my gloves were now on or maybe the cooler temperature in a car he thought he just turned off? He didn’t say anything. Just followed me as he’d done the day before.
My mom had the door open before we reached it. She eyed Clavin’s cast for a moment before flicking a questioning gaze to me. I ignored the look and motioned for Clavin to come inside.
She shut the door behind us as I started to take off my jacket feeling the eyes of the whole family on us. Gran stood in the kitchen, checking an apple pie in the oven. Desert was rare, but welcome in our house. Aunt Grace sat on the couch knitting.
They waited for me to say something. I turned to Clavin who again looked close to tears. He wasn’t oblivious to the tension.
“Everyone, this is Clavin. I invited him over for a few hours. We’ll be in my bedroom.” Clavin grunted in surprise next to me and I hid my grin. Probably the first house he’d been to where the girl announced she was taking a boy back to her bedroom unsupervised. “Mom, can you take Clavin’s coat while I get us a snack?” I didn’t want to touch him again so soon.
Mom hesitated, but then smiled tentatively at Clavin to take his things. He looked at me helplessly as I walked away. They’d figure it out. Being nice shouldn’t be hard so for people.
I opened cupboards with no luck before whispering to Gran to see if she had an idea. She offered to bring in pie when it finished baking, but I shook my head. No interruptions. Her eyes widened for a moment, but she nodded. I’d just given Gran the impression we’d be getting busy back there. I wanted to groan and hide my face. Instead, cherry red, I led Clavin back to my room without a snack.
As soon as I closed the door, I motioned for him to take my bed.
“Are you sure this is okay?” he whispered. “They know who I am. Your mom didn’t look too happy.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from them while you sleep.”
I changed my socks to the heavy wool ones I kept for at home and threw on a sweater. Mom kept the house set to fifty-five in winter to reduce the heating bill. It made working at the Coffee Shop and going to school that much more enjoyable.
Clavin, shoes already off, crawled into my bed pulling the black and white, paisley-patterned quilt over himself. His breathing slowed to a steady cadence in seconds. I moved to my desk and pulled out my homework looking for something to do.
Bored after twenty minutes, I tried playing solitaire with the dog-eared deck of cards I had buried in a desk drawer. Clavin started to snore.
I looked at my bedroom door wistfully. If I walked out, they would pounce on me, asking me questions I couldn’t answer. They would want to know why I chose him, which I hadn’t. And when I told them that, they’d want to know why I brought him here. They wouldn’t buy it was because of bad dreams. They would want to know why he thought I could do about them. Sure, I could go into the whole guilty mind and needing forgiveness thing, but I hated lying. The more lying I did, the worse it would be when I came clean. And I knew I eventually would tell them everything. I just didn’t want to yet. I needed to figure more out. I needed to decide on my own if I could trust Morik.
After a while, I had to fight to keep my eyes open. Despite my good night’s sleep, all the running around at work, or maybe just listening to Clavin relaxed soft snores, made me tired. Clavin had rolled toward the wall leaving enough room for me to lie next to him, but I hesitated. I slept too much the way it was. If I fell asleep now, that would set me up for a headache tomorrow morning.
Rubbing my hands over my face, I went back to my cards. The suites gradually started to swim before my eyes and I tossed them down. Giving in, I lay on top the covers next to Clavin, my back toward him. The chilly room would ensure I didn’t sleep too deep or for too long.
Heat enveloped me. I snuggled in with a sigh before my eyes popped open from the wrongness of it. I lay on my side facing Clavin, his face inches from mine. Blankets covered me. He studied me. But it wasn’t Clavin.
“How long have you been here?” I asked staring into his eyes. He wasn’t touching me, just watching me intently.