Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,36
then son, but weirder things happened.
“Mom, I don’t want to go yet!”
“You have fifteen minutes. I’ll throw your bike in the back of the truck.” She glanced at Mia. “He’ll move in if you let him. I don’t want him overstaying his welcome.”
Mia shook her head. “He’s been fine. A big help, really.” She had mixed feelings about his leaving. She and Raleigh would be alone. That was good. But…she and Raleigh would be alone. That was bad. Mia gestured toward one of the chairs at the table. “Please, sit. Cody ate with us. He assured us that you didn’t have anything special planned, that it was all right.”
“I was just gonna make one of those boxed kits—you know, where you just add ground beef. He’s not a big fan.”
Mia didn’t know, but she nodded anyway. “Good. This will save you the trouble. There’s half a sub here, if you’d like.”
Rose’s eyes widened hungrily as Mia fished out the loosely wrapped package and handed it to her, the scent of Italian dressing and salami filling the air. “If you’re sure.”
“Absolutely, please. It’d be soggy if I tried to eat it tomorrow. I’d hate for it to go to waste.”
Rose unwrapped it like a present, picked off the tomato slices, and took a bite. “Mmm.”
Mia set the bags of chips nearby. “Help yourself. Would you like a water or soda?”
“Coke, if you got it. Been drinking water all day.”
Mia went in and grabbed a bottle from the fridge. Rose was already finished by the time she returned, a sheepish look on her face as she folded the empty wrapper. “Guess I was pretty hungry. I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch, other than a bag of pretzels.”
Mia wished she had more to offer. “I know the feeling. We were famished after working all day. What do you do?”
“Lawn maintenance. Got my own company.” That explained her wiry build and leathery skin. She was a pretty woman who’d obviously had a hard life.
“Good for you, being an entrepreneur.”
“No benefits,” she mumbled around a mouthful of chips. “But no boss, either.”
Mia couldn’t imagine struggling financially the way this woman must. Especially being a single mom with no father in the picture. Mia both admired and pitied her. “You’re doing a great job with Cody. He’s a good kid.”
“Thanks. I’m lucky. Lucky to have Raleigh in his life, too. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” Rose’s gaze met Mia’s, and did she imagine a message in their soulful depths? Don’t take him away from us.
“You are lucky,” Mia said. “He’s a good man.”
Rose was watching the two now, and Mia definitely heard the sigh in her voice when she said, “Yeah, he is.” She seemed to willfully pull her gaze back to Mia. “He helped me start my business when I lost my job at the maintenance company I was working for. My boss figured I should be very grateful for the job, if you know what I mean. He thought starting the day with a blowjob was a great idea, how it would put him in a really good mood.” She uttered a sound of disgust that mirrored Mia’s. “When I told Raleigh about it, he had a talk with the guy. That backfired, unfortunately, and he fired me.”
“At least you were out of a bad situation.”
Rose’s mouth tightened into a frown, and she stared hard at nothing for a few moments. “Yeah, but sometimes removing the bad situation makes things a lot worse.”
Once again, Mia sensed more beneath her words. “But you’re better off now.”
She blinked, coming back. “Much. Raleigh scrounged up some used lawn equipment and spread the word. A couple of my ex-boss’s customers came over. So far, so good.” Spoken like someone who expected the worst. A bit like Raleigh, with his reluctance to hope.
“I said that a lot when I had cancer,” Mia confided. Something she didn’t do very often.
“You had cancer? But you’re so young. And healthy.”
Mia almost wanted to chuckle at the shock on Rose’s face. “I was diagnosed when I was eight. After every surgery and the chemo, I was afraid to hope that it was over. But I still did. And it kept coming back.” There’d been times, yes, when she had given up. When weariness had become as much to bear as the side effects. “Sometimes I had to dig deep to find that hope. Then, finally, we had a clear test. Then another. Whenever anyone asked how I was