Page 6 of Secret Obession
I snorted. “A few days? Where are you planning to go after that?”
He shrugged.
No plan. Just crossing his fingers and hoping.“Cole agreed to let you stay with him until you find your own place.” Actually, Cole offered. I hadn’t wanted to make our youngest brother take on the burden, but the kid had been adamant.
“When’d Cole get his own place?”
“Last year.” I’d visited Hunter several times since then. So had Cole. Had we forgotten to mention it? Shame clawed at my throat, quickly shoved down.
I’d tried to convince Cole to live with me another few years and save up enough for a house, but he’d decided he’d rather live on his own.
“So, what’s your plan now?” I asked, maybe to torture myself. In all his life, Hunter had never had a plan beyond the next evening’s fun.
“Start looking for a job.”
“That’s going to be pretty difficult with a felony on your record.”
“It’s going to be even more difficult if I sit on my ass and wait for a job to fall into my lap.”
Gut churning, I waited for him to ask me to hire him at my shop. I’d have to say no. I couldn’t hire a thief, even if he was my brother.
He turned back to the window.
Refusing to help my own brother get a job would have been awful, but necessary after the way he’d acted.
Somehow, his not even asking felt worse.
We made the rest of the drive to Cole’s place in silence.
“Thanks, Jackson.” Hunter got out of the car, then paused for a long moment. “I know you don’t believe me, and you don’thaveto believe me, but I’m sorry. About everything.”
He shut the door before I could respond to that statement. Not that I knew what the hell to say.
I checked the time, then pulled out, hoping to leave my uncomfortable feelings in the parking lot.
I should go by the shop. Cole was holding down the fort with just him and one other guy, and Saturdays were always busy, but I couldn’t stop myself from driving to the motel Iris had pointed Sue toward last night.
A quick cruise through the parking lot didn’t turn up any familiar cars, but then again, I didn’t expect to recognize whatever beater Sue rode into town on. It was around eleven, so I parked in a far corner and waited, hoping to catch her before she went to Iris’s and stirred up a whole mess of trouble.
Iris wouldn’t thank me for it if she ever found out, but what was one more secret added to the pile? Besides, this was for her own good.
Thirty minutes later, I rubbed gritty eyes and called it quits. I’d not seen a single familiar face. Maybe Sue had figured out that Iris didn’t have much money to give her and crawled backto whatever rock she’d been hiding under for the past year and a half.
Only, it was unlike her to leave of her own accord. Not when she knew she could shake me down first.
With a sigh, I headed back to my shop, promising myself I’d check on Iris after work. She’d probably be upset her mom had skipped town. Iris still clung to the hope that one day Sue would get clean, but damned if I’d let that witch drag Iris through her ups and downs ever again.
Work was no less peaceful. Cole was up my ass the second I arrived.
“Did you even check if Hunter needed anything before you dumped him at my place?” He was a little shorter than me, a little thicker through the chest, but generally had the same Hayes family looks as me and Hunter. At work, he kept his long dark hair in a bun and out of the way of any machinery.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “He’s got a roof over his head, and you’ve got food in the fridge, don’t you?”
“He had to borrow my car so he could job hunt.”
I thumbed through the list of repairs we had today. “What’s he need a car for? Don’t they do that shit online?” The last time I’d had to hire someone, not a single person had shown up looking for a paper application, which was good, because I didn’t have one to give them.
“He wanted to drive around and see who was hiring.”
