“You can blame me,” Quinn whispered back. Ty grinned and began to eat.
Although he wasn’t hungry, Quinn started to pick at his food also. The apples were on the verge of going bad, their flesh sandy on his tongue, but he ate them anyway. When they were almost finished with their plates, Alice returned, her hair wet and combed straight back from her forehead that now had a wide Band-Aid across it. The blood was gone, and her face was fresh and smooth. Quinn caught himself staring, and it was his turn to look away, heat rising in his cheeks.
“Chips for breakfast? I don’t think so little man!” Alice play-wrestled with Ty as he tried to bring the last chip to his mouth and finally succeeded, chewing purposely with his mouth open. “You little brat,” Alice teased, tickling his neck. She took up her own plate and popped an apple into her mouth. “Thank you,” she said after swallowing.
“It’s not much.”
“It’ll make a turd.”
Quinn paused with his hand partway to his face and glanced at her. Ty giggled and clapped a hand to his mouth. Alice shook her head as Quinn let out a small laugh.
“I’m sorry. Old saying of my dad’s. It slips out sometimes. And don’t repeat that, young man,” She said, nudging the still-smiling boy. He nodded once but the grin didn’t fade.
When they were all finished with their makeshift breakfast, Quinn took the plates to the kitchen and Alice followed him while Ty pulled on his socks and shoes.
“I hate to ask you, but you wouldn’t have a vehicle to spare, would you?” Alice said. “I noticed the other homes on the way in and didn’t know if they had cars.”
“You’re leaving this morning?”
“We should. I spoke to my mom right after this all started. She was having a good day, knew who I was and where she was, but that might’ve changed by the afternoon. I would’ve went sooner, but it all happened so fast.”
“It was like a wildfire,” Quinn said, gazing at the floor. One of the brothers’ boot prints was still there, faded and ghostly.
“Exactly. I have to know if she’s okay or not.”
Quinn glanced at her, the set to her jaw and the way her eyes lanced the room with their brightness.
“Graham has a car, but it’s really small and sporty. Mallory has a minivan, since she nearly always made the runs into town for groceries.” Quinn looked at his hands and then out the window. “But if you’re set on leaving today, you should take the Tahoe in the garage. It’s the newest and has four-wheel-drive.”
“But that’s your car. We can’t take yours.”
“I’ve got the other two. You guys need the Tahoe.”
“Quinn, no—”
“Look, you have people to worry about and I don’t.”
Alice opened her mouth to say something and stopped. He turned and shuffled the dishes around on the counter into a pile, keeping his back to her.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
“What?”
“Helping us?”
He faced her, not able to hold her gaze for more than a second. “Because it’s the right thing to do.” When she merely studied him, he motioned to the rear of the house. “I’ll try to get the generator running so you can take some water with you, have a shower or a bath too if you’d like.” He didn’t wait for a reply. Grabbing the manual from the counter and dislodging the ice chisel from beneath the kitchen doorknob, he walked outside.