“Well you’re not me.” Gavin’s eyes are blazing. “And I’m here, and she’s going home. You got a bondsman you can recommend?”
The woman shakes her head as if Gavin is too stupid to waste any more time on. “Here,” she says, handing him a business card with plain black print on it. “Good luck, kid.”
“Gav?” I tilt my head indicating I need a quick sidebar. “A moment, please?”
We step over to a plain gray seating area and Gavin turns his phone over and over in his hand while waiting for me to make my case. I’m rooting for the wrong team this time and I don’t know how he’s going to react.
“Look, it’s none of my business, but I mean, it’s three more nights. I think she’ll be okay.”
His eyes harden against my imploring gaze, turning to granite and effectively shutting me out. “You’re right. It’s none of your business.”
His anger thumps me hard in the chest. Okay then. I take a deep breath and speak as calmly as I can. I’ve watched enough courtroom dramas on television to know he’s risking an awful lot for someone who doesn’t deserve it.
“Fine. But just so you know, if you do get a bondsman to post bail and then she doesn’t show in court, you’ll be the one paying that money back. Good luck with that.”
I turn on my heel intending to leave the stubborn jackass on his own to deal with his mama drama but he stops me in my tracks. Not by grabbing me—or even reaching for me—but with his words.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Especially not after you rode all this way with me.”
And after what we did mere hours ago, I think to myself. Turning back to him, I take a deep breath and ask him a question I’ve wondered about for half my life.
“Why do you do this to yourself? No, wait. Why do you let her do this to you?”
She’s never made him a priority. At least not in the years I’ve known him. And yet, he would move hell and earth to help her.
“It’s complicated.” He gives me a halfhearted shrug. “She had a rough childhood—one that makes mine look like a trip to Disney World. Closed-in spaces . . . they just . . . They really upset her. And I . . . I owe her this. Okay?”
I swallow the emotions threatening to cut this conversation short. “Okay . . . Well, maybe she should see someone about that. Like a therapist. But Gavin, none of that is your fault and she’s not your responsibility. You don’t owe her shit.”
His eyes darken and I worry I’ve gone too far, or that I seem coldhearted because I’m not accepting the excuses he’s making for her.
“There’s more. Events that transpired while you were gone that I don’t have the time or energy to explain right now. I’m not just going to leave her here. Period. You didn’t have to come, you know. And if you rode all this way just to talk me out of it, that was a huge waste of fucking time.”
“That’s not why I came and you know it.” My eyes narrow on his back while he walks over to the small lobby area that contains two vending machines and a few chairs and makes a call.
I sit while he tells someone on the other end that his mother has been picked up for solicitation and needs someone to post bail.
“Yes, ma’am,” I hear him say while I watch his jaw clench. I wish he’d put it on speakerphone so I could hear both ends of the conversation. “No, ma’am, I don’t.” He’s leaning forward and facing the floor so I can’t read his face. “Yes, ma’am, she has.”
Between every response is a long pause and the adrenaline rush from our mini-argument is still coursing through me. This is frustrating the hell out of me. I stand up and stretch my legs.
“I’m going to find the restroom,” I tell him quietly. Gavin nods and I make my way to a water fountain and some elevators. Beside them is a sign for the bathrooms and I glance back before stepping into the ladies’ room. Gavin is already dialing another number on his phone so I assume that one turned him down.