“Well we need to speak to whoever her guardian is.”
The man stared for a long time, and then he shoved his hands into his tattered jeans and thrust out his chest. “She ain’t any kin to me. She and her mama were living here with me, but her mama done took off again. No telling when or if she’ll be back. Girl’s following in her footsteps. Been gone for a week.”
Marlene closed her eyes against sudden tears. A week. A week on her own with no food, scared out of her mind and no place to go back to. Rusty hadn’t lied about that.
She reached for Frank’s hand and squeezed urgently. He caught her fingers and gave a tug in return.
“So you aren’t her legal guardian.”
“Hell no. That would be her no-good mama. I’ve washed my hands of both of them. Good riddance, I say.”
“Thank you,” Frank said. He turned and gestured for Marlene to get back in the truck.
“Who’d you say you were again?” the man called. “And what’s happened to Rusty?”
Frank walked back around to his side and paused at his door to look at the man. “I didn’t say. Thank you for your time.”
He got in and started the engine. They were two miles from the trailer before he said a word. And then he only spoke to swear a blue streak.
“Man ought to be shot,” Frank growled.
Marlene battled to keep the smile from her lips. She knew Frank well. He may have put up a good front, his bark was always worse than his bite, but deep down, he had a heart as soft, if not softer than, her own.
“So I guess you won’t mind if she stays.”
“She’ll need some decent clothes. Maybe you could take her shopping over in Clarksville. Can’t have her running around in Rachel’s castoffs forever.”
Marlene reached over and tucked her hand into his.
RUSTY was sitting on the same bar stool she’d been perched on when Marlene and Frank left an hour earlier. Her posture was tense, her expression ill at ease. She glanced up when they walked in, but ducked her head, refusing to meet their gaze.
Marlene wanted desperately to hug her. The child probably hadn’t had too many of those, but she wasn’t sure Rusty would tolerate it. Her body language screamed back off, don’t touch.
Instead she walked around the bar and set her purse down on the counter. Frank hovered in the background as if he wanted to say something, but then he blew out his breath and walked away, leaving the two women alone.
As if she couldn’t take the silence any longer, Rusty clenched her fists and looked up at Marlene, her eyes screaming defiance. She wore her best I don’t give a shit snarl.
“Well, did you talk to Carl?”
Marlene nodded. “We did.”
Rusty shrugged. “Then I guess he told you that Sheila ran off and that he doesn’t give a damn about me.”
“First rule. Watch your mouth. I don’t take that kind of language from my boys, and I won’t tolerate it from you.”
Her lips curled into a sneer, but she didn’t say anything further.
“I won’t lie to you, Rusty. Carl said exactly what you expected him to say, but I needed to hear it with my own ears. I had to make sure that we weren’t getting into a legal mess by offering you a place to stay.”
“Yeah, well, only way Carl would say he cared was if there was something in it for him. If he thought you had money, he’d use me to get it.”
Marlene sighed. “You don’t have to worry about Carl any longer. I promise you that. There’s still the issue of your mother, but we’ll cross that bridge when and if we come to it. For now, you’re staying here. First thing we’re going to do is go shopping for some decent clothes.”
Rusty looked suspiciously at her, but Marlene ignored her and went on.
“There’s also the matter of school. I’ll expect you to attend and finish your education when it starts in August.”
“School’s boring,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“For a smart girl like you, I don’t doubt it, but it doesn’t make it any less necessary. You’ll never get into college if you don’t finish high school.”
“College?” She laughed, and it sounded bitter and derisive. “What’s a girl like me going to do at college? I can’t afford it and I’d never