The girl from earlier.
Delia was slowly getting a hold of her body’s traitorous reaction. She certainly wasn’t intimidated by this girl. In fact, now that she knew the owner of the voice, she wasn’t scared at all. Her instinct was to be cruel and dismissive, but that wasn’t the smart choice. That was the instinct that always got her into trouble, and the instinct that idiotically thought Caleb was hers.
“No need to apologize. It’s all right. I guess I was lost in thought.” She tried to sound casual, friendly even.
“Summer.”
Delia puzzled over the word for a few moments before she realized the girl was offering her name.
“Dee,” she said in response, her tone only slightly cold. The girl might not pose much of a threat, but Delia didn’t feel it necessary to give her any ammunition. That was a motto that had kept her out of a few sketchy situations.
Too bad you didn’t give Eddie a fake name.
“Caleb told me to pretend you weren’t here, but…” Summer trailed off as if Delia should know what to do with that. She didn’t have a clue.
“Anyway, I live in that little caravan over behind that cluster of trees.” She gestured vaguely behind her, but in the dark Delia had no idea where she was pointing.
It did mean the girl lived on Shaw property. Delia tried to study her face, but the kerosene lamp didn’t give any hints to why she’d seemed familiar earlier. It certainly gave no hints as to who she was to Caleb.
Delia did not have the time to think about Caleb and what his relationship was to this girl. Her thoughts needed to be on how to get Steph out, followed immediately by getting herself out of this situation with the police. Caleb’s relationships were irrelevant in every single way.
“Maybe…you should listen to Caleb.” Her attempt at gentleness was even less successful than her attempt at friendly.
Summer sighed. “There’s always someone I should be listening to,” she muttered, a strange hint of bitterness to her tone. “Well, anyway,” she said, her voice ringing out falsely bright in the quiet evening, “if you need anything, I wanted to let you know you can ask. And I won’t ask any questions about…anything. I know what it’s like to be…” She paused for so long Delia wondered if she’d ever finish. “On your own,” she finally said.
Delia was momentarily stunned. An offer of help that was simply I know what it’s like. Maybe it was foolish on Delia’s part, but she almost wondered if this Summer girl was on the run from something as well.
Thankfully Delia had gotten enough rest that tears didn’t rush to the surface, but she did feel a little wobbly, a little warm in the wake of that. So, she offered her best guess at what would constitute a polite response.
“Thank you.”
She meant that thank-you far more than any words could ever do justice. She might have an ally, and while she wouldn’t trust that easily, it was nice to know she had a possible backup if things got particularly sticky.
“I’ll let you be then. But, really, my door is always open.” The little old-fashioned lamp she held flickered against her smiling face, and Delia would chalk up the fact it looked genuine to the warmth of the flame.
The girl was a stranger at best, yet…when Delia turned to go inside, she did it with a strange warmth in her chest. It almost fought off the cold.