Page 59 of The Library of Borrowed Hearts

With that, Trixie flounced out of the room. Jasper had no idea where she was going—his house was a small one, so their voices would reach her no matter what—but he didn’t bother trying to find out. He was starting to realize that this family had no idea whatnot taking up much spacemeant. They were like a meteor crashing into the earth: fast and thundering, unable to land without leaving a huge scar behind.

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said as she sank to one of Jasper’s stools. She accepted the cup of coffee but only sat aimlessly stirring it. “I figured this would be hard on Trixie, but…”

As her voice trailed off, she caught sight of the book Jasper had brought inside with him—the book that had, just yesterday, been in her own possession. Well aware where to lay the blame, her eyes narrowed and her head swiveled to face Theo’s.

“Theo,” she said warningly. “Did you go through my things?”

He shoveled a spoon of cereal into his mouth. “Yep.”

“And did you take that book without permission?”

“Technically, Trixie was the one who did it. I only supervised.”

Jasper intervened before their squabble could descend any further. “In their defense, itismy book. All they did was return it to its rightful owner.” He paused. “I was right about it? Lonnie had it the whole time?”

Chloe turned to look at him, once again with that uncanny light in her eyes. “Yes. We had a nice long chat about you. And about Catherine.”

He didn’t wince at the sound of her name, but he did feel a sharp pang in the region of his heart. He pushed on. “Interesting. How’s old Lonnie doing these days?”

“Dying,” Chloe stated baldly.

This time, he really did wince. Despite the connection they’d once shared in the form of Catherine Martin, he and Lonnie Pakootas had never been close. He’d always felt as though Lonnie blamed him for what had happened to Catherine. Itwashis fault, obviously, but Lonnie didn’thave to be so judgmental about it. He’d tried loving Catherine. Hehadloved Catherine.

Unfortunately, love wasn’t always enough.

“You should visit her,” Chloe said. “She might appreciate seeing a friend from her girlhood.”

Jasper’s only response to this was a nod. He wasn’t sure what Chloe was driving at—or what Lonnie had said to put her on her guard—but it wasn’t his priority right now. He could only handle one crisis at a time, and even that was a strain.

“How long are they staying?” he asked instead. “Ravenna and…Todd?”

Theo stopped in the act of bringing the spoon to his mouth, his eyes bright as he awaited the answer.

“I don’t know.” Chloe gave up on stirring her coffee, her shoulders slumped. “A few days? A few weeks?Forever?Even though she has no legal authority over the kids, the house is technically in her name, so she can stay as long as she wants.”

“And she hasn’t said anything?” Jasper persisted. It went against his nature to prod at an open wound not of his making, but he couldn’t resist. “About leaving the way she did? About walking out and abandoning three underage children?”

Theo’s mouth tamped down in a straight line. So did Chloe’s.

“I think the decision of how long she stays is going to be up to Noodle,” Chloe said, but not before first reaching over and gently ruffling Theo’s hair. “He’s the one who called her. He’s the one who needs her.”

“He doesn’t need her,” Theo said. He pushed his half-eaten bowl of cereal away. “Not when he has us.”

Instead of reprimanding him for waste, Chloe sighed and propped her chin on her hand. “I’m sorry, Theo. I don’t like it, either. Unfortunately, I can’t just pack everything up and move in with Jasper like you and Trixie. Someone has to be there to keep an eye on Noodle.”

Jasper didn’t mention that since he’d issued no invitation, she was in no position to live with him in the first place. What was the use? At some point in the past month, the Sampson children had decided he was one of them: a friend, a protector, agrandfather, even. He hadn’t gotten so caught up in a whirlwind of other people’s emotions since, well, Catherine.

Chloe grimaced. “At the very least, Mom might be able to get Noodle to tell her what’s going on with all this school and running away stuff. I can’t get anything useful out of him.”

“Don’t look at me.” Theo shrugged. “All he says is that he’s sorry and he didn’t mean to make trouble.”

Chloe turned toward Jasper, a not-unhopeful gleam in her eye. He knew what was coming, so he flung up a hand to stop her. “I haven’t pried into the boy’s affairs, and I have no intention of doing so. If he wanted you to know what was going on, he’d have told you. You need to trust him to work through it on his own.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. He’s achild.”

“Yeah,” Theo chimed in. “Children aren’t to be trusted. All we do is eat and make messes.”

“Thank you,” Jasper drawled with an obvious look around his disaster of a kitchen. “I’ve been able to piece that much together on my own.”