Page 88 of Sticks and Stones (Shadow Valley U)
That’s true. I scan her texts again and shrug. Then close out of her thread, which is ninety-nine percent one-sided. Then exit the messaging app entirely. I toss my phone on the table and lean back in my chair, balancing it on the back two legs.
“There’s got to be another way,” I reason.
“Stone.”
“I’ll consider it.”
Evan turns back to his laptop, scanning the records again. Not that it’s going to yield any more information. I think we hit our quota of good luck for the night.
The door bangs open. Evan slams the laptop shut as Wren coasts into the kitchen, dropping her bag on the chair. She looks a bit like a hurricane, all fierce and sharp-eyed. Not spooked or scared like before.
And it’s kind of irritating how much I’ve missed her, while she was just a few blocks away.
She plants her hands on her hips. “I’ve been thinking.”
Taylor comes in behind her and sighs. “They’re not gonna go for it, Wren.”
“I’m going to go see Mary-Lou,” she continues. “And it’s not up for debate. I want to know what was in my file that could harm me.”
Evan and I exchange a glance. I reach for Wren, running my hands down her sides before pulling her into my lap.
My first instinct is to say no. That it’s not necessary, that she shouldn’t put herself through that. That her social worker probably wouldn’t want Wren to see her like that.
But as I bury my face in her hair, inhaling her scent, I consider something else. The possibility that therewassomething damaging in the file.
Something that, if we know about it, could help keep Wren safe.
So, in the end, I suppose she’s right. Especially with what we know now about the appeal. And the possibility of her dad getting out on parole.
Two things I need to tell her—but not yet.
“Okay,” I readily agree. “But I’m going with you.”
CHAPTER31
WREN
Stone’s fingersstay intertwined with mine the entire drive to Camwell, the little town right outside of Maysville. Evan opted to stay in Shadow Valley, knowing if his parents found out we were this close to home, they’d be upset that we didn’t stop by.
If we went to visit, they’d want to know why we made the drive for just an evening. I refuse to tell Rebecca and Stephen what’s going on. They are no longer my foster parents, and they are the last people I want to drag into this mess.
I smile when Stone’s lips brush against the back of my hand. He parks the car and turns it off, but neither of us rush to get out. I peek at the sky, watching the gray clouds disappear.
“What are you thinking?”
His voice is soothing but not enough to ease my dread. I shrug instead of saying anything. Stone tugs on my hand, and somehow, I end up straddling his lap in the driver’s seat. My knee digs into the seatbelt when Stone slowly slides his seat backward.
My hair is a curtain around us, shielding the way he’s looking up at me like he wants to pull every last thought out of my head.
“What’s on your mind, Sticks?”
My lips part, and his eyebrow rises.
There is no point in hiding things from him. Stone recognizes all my defense mechanisms now, and he’s starting to know all my secrets too.
I sigh. “I’m nervous. There, I said it. I’m nervous to see her.”
I fail at my attempt to climb off Stone’s lap. His fingers dig into my hip bones, keeping me hostage. His blue eyes look darker than normal against my shadow, yet I can’t stop falling into them like they’re some sort of trap.