Hayden (A Next Generation Carter Brother #4) - Lisa Helen Gray Page 0,48
kind to do this, Hay,” Charlotte comments as I follow the directions on the sat nav.
“I know. I love to give,” I murmur, my thoughts on the tea hamper I put together. I’m hoping it isn’t too much. It didn’t feel right turning up empty handed though. And the residents at Nightingale care home swear by the tea.
“Tell me again how you found out she witnessed a break-in and was shaken up. You didn’t answer earlier.”
For good reason. I hate lying. Sure, sometimes it’s fun to mess with people by overemphasizing or stretching out the truth, but outright lying to Charlotte seemed wrong. But sometimes, it was a necessity, like now. It’s not because she could find out what I do for a living but because I know she would worry, and when Charlotte worries, she bakes and gets chatty. It never ends well. For anyone. Especially if she’s really stressed and screams at you to try her cake. You eat that cake because, although it’s rare she ever loses her temper, when she does she’s a completely different person. But then they do say redheads have a hot temper.
Knowing it’s the only way to save my stomach from being pumped again, I answer, “Her dad is a resident at the care home. I went to take him lunch and he asked me to check in on her, said he knew she was lying about being okay over the phone.”
“You should show the others this side of you. They wouldn’t call you a witch. You’re so kind and always helping others.”
“They just hate that they aren’t me,” I tell her, knowing it was Aiden and Mark who called me a witch. They’re still sore that I got out of paying for our tab when I caused a fight between them and another group of lads.
“You’re right. I’ve always wished I was more like you,” she tells me, glancing down at her phone.
We come to a stop at a red light, so I turn to her, waiting until she meets my gaze to answer. “Don’t ever be anything but you. You are special in a way other people wish they were. Never Change.”
Her eyes dilate, filling with tears. “I won’t,” she promises, before I go back to paying attention to the road.
“We’re here,” I tell her a few minutes later. I slow down to read the house numbers.
When Rita’s, the witness’s house, comes into view, I pull into the nearest parking space.
I pull out my phone, scrolling through my emails. “I just need to double check something.”
I want to make sure I have everything right, so I don’t go up there and fuck up. After all, I’m going to pretend to be the granddaughter of the woman who was hurt when she had her house broken into.
According to the information I have, she never moved back in, which gives me a chance to pass this off.
“Are we going in?” Charlotte asks.
Or not.
“Um, Charlotte, would you mind if I just make sure it’s okay for us to be here first? I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
Or have my cover blown.
“Of course, just wave me over when you’re ready,” she tells me absently, typing away on her phone.
I go to ask her if it’s Scott but think better of it. If she gets upset when we’ve run him off, I don’t want her to think it was because I didn’t like him.
The guys can take the fall.
“Okay.”
I leave her texting and head over to the house, one door away from where we’ve parked, and up a small path.
I rap on the door with my knuckles before standing back and waiting for someone to answer.
I hear movement before a loud crash echoes through the house. Seconds later, the door opens and a woman in her mid-twenties stands on the threshold. Her cheeks are flushed with a pink tinge, and although there aren’t any tears in her sparkling blue eyes, I can simply tell she’s been crying by how swollen and bloodshot they are.
“I’m sorry, I can see this isn’t a good time. I can come back,” I tell her, sensing a deep, grieving loss. It’s the same look many of us wore when our grandparents died.
Dread fills my stomach and I want to reach out and hold her, tell her everything will be okay. She folds her arms across her stomach, vulnerability pouring from her.
“It’s okay,” she rushes out when I step away to leave. “What can I help you with?”