tell if Carter was acting as part of their plan or if he was being real. It felt real—like he was really embarrassed by his mom’s emotional response and didn’t want Ruth to be freaked out.
She wasn’t freaked out. By anything but her own feelings.
This was feeling too real. If she didn’t put this whole thing in perspective soon, she would be in danger of being hurt by her own neediness again.
And she knew better.
RUTH LEFT THE WILSONS’ house a couple of hours later. It was late, and she was tired—emotionally as well as physically—but she’d had a really good evening. She was on her way home when a text came in from Kayla, asking if she was coming over to visit anytime soon.
Ruth didn’t stop by every day, and Kayla didn’t expect her to. The texted question was brief and matter-of-fact. But Kayla wouldn’t have asked something like that unless she really wanted Ruth to come over, so Ruth turned her car away from her own apartment and headed over to her stepfamily’s place.
There weren’t any of the four normal pickup trucks in the driveway or on the grass. The porch lights weren’t on. Ruth was immediately worried as she parked and hurried up to the front door, unlocked it, and let herself in.
The house smelled like stale beer and trash. It was sickening. Ruth hated it. The living room was trashed out with cans and pizza boxes and a lot of other stuff that Ruth didn’t want to investigate. The garbage can in the kitchen was overflowing.
A surge of resentment rose inside her. What the hell was wrong with Brent and his selfish, lazy sons? “Kayla?” she called.
“I’m here.” The voice came from the closed door of Kayla’s bedroom. “Ruth? You didn’t have to come.”
Ruth opened the door and found Kayla curled up on her bed, on top of the covers, wearing earbuds and hugging an old floppy stuffed animal. “Where is everyone?”
Kayla sat up and pulled down her earbuds. “The cable went out. They were all mad that they couldn’t watch the game, so they all just left.”
“Did you have any dinner?”
“I had some crackers. Everything’s old in the fridge, and it’s just so gross in there I didn’t want to try to make anything.”
Ruth had had a really good evening. Fun and warm and comfortable and freeing. And poor Kayla had been over here in a mess, hungry and alone. The guilt burned in Ruth’s eyes and ached in her throat. “Come on, honey. You can spend the night with me. We’ll get something to eat on the way there.”
“Really?” Kayla was sitting on the edge of her bed, her blue eyes big and hopeful.
“Yeah. I’ll leave a note for your dad.”
Kayla was obviously thrilled by that decision. She stuffed a few things in a bag that she’d need for the night, and they were out of the messy house in less than five minutes. They stopped at a drive-through and got Kayla some chicken tenders and fries. When they got to Ruth’s place, Kayla took a long bath and then went to bed on the couch, which Ruth had made up with sheets, pillows, and blankets.
It didn’t take long for Kayla to fall asleep afterward.
Ruth sat in a chair and watched her stepsister for a long time in the dark, trying to decide what to do. It wasn’t like she could report Brent for neglect. Kayla wasn’t abused—either verbally or physically. Brent did provide food for Kayla and ensure she went to school and was generally safe from harm.
He just didn’t think about her—about how his lifestyle affected her. He had no idea how hard it would be for a sensitive sixteen-year-old girl to live in that pigsty.
It wasn’t like Kayla would be allowed to move in with Ruth. Ruth didn’t have a room for her in her tiny apartment, and she was barely scraping by as it was. The new clients Carter had rounded up for her had helped a lot, but there wasn’t a wide margin of profit in interior design. Ruth couldn’t afford a house or even a bigger apartment. Not yet. And Brent probably wouldn’t let his daughter go live with someone else anyway.
Ruth hated it. Not knowing what to do. Not really being able to do much of anything. Of feeling responsible but not capable.
She was eventually so upset that she had to do something. Her first instinct was to call Carter. To tell him about it and see what