by Jae
Yeah, and I now know the reason for it. Del gently cleared her throat. "It's all right, Kade. I don't mind the questions. My life is an open book – but I'm afraid it's not very interesting," she told Mrs. Matheson with a friendly smile. "I spend most of my time at work."
Mrs. Matheson sighed. She looked from Del to Kade. "I always tell Kadence she's working too much. I appreciate her ambition, but it leaves her no time to go out and meet someone. Building a relationship takes time, but how can you do that if you're always working?" Her gaze ranged over her husband's portrait, and for a moment, Del could see sadness and regret in her eyes – the first true emotions she had seen on Kade's mother since they arrived.
"If I met the right person, I'd make time for a relationship," Del said, trying very hard not to look at Kade while she said it. "But until that happens, putting my energy into a job I love and can make a difference with is not a bad alternative, is it?"
Sophie Matheson looked startled to be put on the spot like this. They both knew Del wasn't only talking about herself. She was talking about Kade too. "Well, no, I suppose it's not a bad alternative," Mrs. Matheson finally had to admit. She picked up her spoon again, effectively ending the conversation.
Kade still wasn't eating, though. She looked from Del to her mother with an expression of amazement on her normally controlled face. She probably didn't have a lot of success trying to get her mother to concede to the exact same thing she had said right now.
Del gave her a smile before she quickly bent her head to eat her soup.
CHAPTER 27
AIDEN BOUNCED ON the balls of her feet. She could hear footsteps in the house, but it took forever until the door was opened, making Aiden even more nervous than she already was. She had hoped it would be Evan who opened the door, but now she came face-to-face with Roger LeCroix.
He didn't smile when he saw her.
Aiden grimaced internally. Shit. It just had to be the stricter parent opening the door. "Hi," she said, trying to figure out if Evan's foster father was looking so surly because Evan had told them about her near brush with the law or if something else had annoyed him. In case Evan hadn't said anything, she didn't want to get her in trouble by saying the wrong thing now. "Is... is Evan home?"
"Yes," he answered shortly.
This is usually easier if I have my badge and can force them to be a little more forthcoming with information, Aiden thought grimly. "Is it okay if I take her out for another driving lesson?" she asked. The two other times she had picked Evan up for driving lessons, Jill LeCroix had been the one to open the door, and she had always greeted Aiden with enthusiasm.
"No," Roger LeCroix growled. "Evan is grounded for the rest of the month. No driving lessons for her." He started to close the door.
"Wait!" Aiden quickly put her foot in the door, preventing it from closing. "She told you?" To be honest, despite her promise, Aiden hadn't been sure if Evan would tell her foster parents.
LeCroix nodded grimly. "She did."
"And?" Aiden asked carefully.
Evan's foster father snorted. "What do you think? Drugs are not tolerated in this house! Neither are drug addicts."
Oh, oh. This didn't sound encouraging. "You're not going to make her leave and put her back into the system just because of this, are you?" Aiden had to know.
"We haven't made a final decision yet, but..." Roger LeCroix shook his head. "I have to admit that our patience was already stretched to the max before this happened. And now she comes and tells us over dinner that she was almost arrested buying drugs."
"But at least she did tell you. That took a lot of courage," Aiden said. She was finally beginning to see Evan in a more positive light, and she wished Evan's foster parents would do it too. "She's taking responsibility for her behavior, and she promised me she's giving up drugs. What more can we expect of her right now?"
Roger LeCroix had no answer for that.
"Can I come in and see her for a minute?" Aiden asked when he kept silent.
He hesitated, still blocking the door, but after a few seconds, he stepped back and grudgingly allowed Aiden to enter. "She's upstairs. Her room is the first one on the right," he said.
Aiden slowly took one step after another, trying to think about what she would say when she reached the top of the stairs. A part of her felt guilty to have forced Evan into this tense situation with her foster parents even though she knew she couldn't just let Evan off the hook. Evan had to learn that actions had consequences before it was too late. Dawn had wholeheartedly agreed and told Aiden she had done the right thing. Still, it was hard to face Evan for the first time since her near arrest.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door to Evan's room. She listened but heard only loud music coming from the other side of the door. She knocked again, just in case Evan hadn't heard her, and then slowly opened the door. "Evan?"
"What?" was the gruff response.
Aiden opened the door wider and entered the room. "Hey, it's me," she said unnecessarily.
Evan was lounging on her bed, doing nothing but staring at the wall. "Come to visit me in my cell?" she asked sarcastically.
"Cell?" Evan's room wasn't exactly luxurious, but it wasn't Spartan either. "This room is too messy to be a cell," Aiden said with a grin. A creased T-shirt was lying on the floor next to the bed; a stack of folded clothes balanced precariously on the desk, and a few CD casings next to it left no room to do any schoolwork.
"They're holding me prisoner here," Evan complained. "No phone, no TV, no access to the computer or the Internet for two weeks, thanks to you!"
Oh, no, I won't let you blame this on me! Aiden stepped closer to Evan, looking down at her through narrowed eyes. "Thanks to me? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you were the one who was trying to buy drugs. If you got into trouble, it's because of that, not because of me."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Evan said, but she lowered her gaze and guiltily looked down. "So, did you get into trouble over busting me out, or did they believe your story about me being an informant?" she asked after a while.
Aiden suppressed a smile. What do you know... she does care about me. "A few of my colleagues suspect there's more to the story than I told them, but they trust me enough not to ask about it." Aiden hoped Evan would learn to open up to friendship and trust like that someday. "Can I sit down for a moment?"
"Sure." Evan gestured to her desk chair. A stack of magazines and books was piled on it.
Instead of removing the items from the chair, Aiden sat down on the bed next to Evan. No more keeping each other at a distance.
Evan looked at her in surprise. She clearly wasn't used to people who didn't keep a physical distance to her. She didn't protest, though, so Aiden stayed where she was.
"How did your foster parents react when you told them what happened?" Aiden finally asked.
"Hello? I'm here in my room, with no TV, no phone, and no computer – that should tell you they weren't exactly pleased about it," Evan answered sarcastically. "I think they're down there, having a family powwow to discuss my future. I wouldn't be surprised if they sent me away."
Aiden resolutely shook her head. "I won't let that happen. You stood up for your mistakes, and now you're trying to do better. That should be enough to make them give you another chance."
Evan eyed her suspiciously. She seemed to mistrust Aiden's support and the positive words about her, but when Aiden just looked at her with a serious expression, she shrugged. "Yeah. Tell it to them."
"I already did," Aiden answered. She could only hope Roger LeCroix had listened to her.
"You did?" Mistrust, surprise, and hope warred in Evan's voice.
Aiden nodded. "I encouraged you to tell them, and I appreciate that you kept your word and did it. That takes a lot of guts." She gave Evan a nod of admiration.
"I knew you'd tell them if I didn't, so it's not like I had a choice," Evan grumbled, immediately shrugging off Aiden's praise, but not before Aiden had seen the blush on h
er cheeks.
"But you were the one who told them – and in the end, I'm sure it will make all the difference," Aiden said, willing it to be so. She would do everything she could to make sure Evan wasn't punished for taking responsibility for her mistakes. Being grounded for trying to buy drugs was fine with her, but getting Evan thrown out of her foster family was not her goal.
Evan didn't answer, so Aiden chose to change the subject.
"Now that you're under house arrest and are not allowed to use the phone, is there anyone you want me to call for you?" Aiden asked, trying to make it a little easier for Evan.
Evan shrugged. Aiden had noticed before that she always acted as if there were no one in the world she cared about even a little. "You can tell the doc I need to give her a rain check for our skating lesson," Evan finally answered.
She cares about Dawn, Aiden realized and tried not to smile. Like sister, like sister. Aiden nodded. "I'll tell her that. She's sending her best wishes, by the way."
"Oh, yeah. I bet that's what she said when you told her about that drug bust, huh?" Evan snorted. "You did tell her, right?"
"Yes, I did. I try not to have any secrets from Dawn," Aiden said.
Evan pressed her lips together. It was clear to Aiden that Dawn's opinion was important to her. "So what did the doc say about my little adventure?" she asked, acting casually.
Dawn hadn't been surprised, but Aiden didn't want to tell Evan that. She didn't want Evan to believe that Dawn had lost faith in her. Dawn hadn't. She was just realistic and knew that Evan's problems wouldn't stop all of a sudden just because she now had a big sister who cared about her. "She was worried about you," Aiden answered truthfully.
Evan hung her head for a moment. When she became aware of Aiden watching her, she quickly looked up again and jutted her chin forward. "Nothing to worry about," she grumbled. "I'm not an addict or anything!"
"Dawn knows that, but it doesn't mean you don't have a problem. She... we worry about you," Aiden emphasized.
Evan didn't answer. Her long fingers plucked at a hole in the knee of her faded jeans.
"So," Aiden cleared her throat, "is there anyone else I should call for you?"
"Like who?" Evan raised a lazy brow.
Aiden hesitated for a second, but when Evan just looked at her, she answered, "Like Laurie Matheson, for example. Won't she get worried and wonder what's going on if you don't visit or call her?"
Evan just shrugged.
"What does that mean? You haven't seen her since Del's birthday party?" After Dawn's niece Jamie had come running into the house, telling everyone that Evan and Laurie had been kissing under the tree in the Kinsleys' front yard, Aiden had assumed Evan was now dating Kade's niece.
"Oh, yes, I did," Evan purred with a provocative stance. "I even had the ovaries to visit her at her house." She relaxed her tightly folded arms when Aiden just chuckled instead of rebuking her for seeing Laurie or for her choice of words.
Aiden gave her a smile of encouragement. "How did her parents take that?" she asked.
Evan rolled her eyes. "Her father wasn't there, but her mother acted like some chaperone from the Middle Ages who had to protect a fair maiden's virtue. She even told Laurie to leave the door open when we went to her room!"
"At least she's letting you see Laurie. That's progress, right?" Aiden tried to cheer her up.
"I guess," Evan reluctantly agreed. Suddenly, she chuckled. "Laurie's aunt set them straight – no pun intended. Having an aunt who's a lesbian too really made things easier for Laurie."
Aiden grabbed a handful of bedclothes as she stared at Evan in surprise. "What makes you think Laurie's aunt is a lesbian?" She knew Kade was finally beginning to admit an attraction to women in general and Del in particular, but, as much as Del probably wished for it, they were not a couple yet, and Kade was bisexual at best. Kade's behavior and her facial expressions were too controlled for Evan to be able to just pick up on Kade's interest in women.
"Laurie told me," Evan answered. She didn't seem to have any doubts about it.
Aiden couldn't believe Kade would be so casual about it and come out so easily to her family after years of letting everyone think she was completely straight. "And how would Laurie know?" she wondered.
"Her aunt encouraged Laurie to come out to her parents and tell them I didn't force her to sleep with me. When Laurie chickened out, her aunt told her she's a lesbian too." A superior smirk appeared on Evan's face as she studied Aiden. "You didn't know? Never tried your luck with her?" She flashed Aiden a wolfish grin.
A harsh answer lingered on the tip of Aiden's tongue. She wanted to tell Evan to mind her own business. No. Don't shut her out just because her questions make you uncomfortable. If you do, she'll never trust you. "We're friends," she said neutrally.
"Because you're involved with the doc?" Evan asked. In contrast to her usual pretense of disinterest, her eyes were now bright with curiosity.
It would be so easy to just say yes and leave it at that. Still, Aiden didn't want to burden the fragile relationship with her half sister with a lie. "No. I was working with Kade long before I ever met Dawn."
"But you never...?" Evan made a few lewd gestures.
Again, Aiden had to hold back sharp words of reprimand. She knew Evan was only trying to provoke her, but this time, she was determined to have an adult conversation with her. "No, never. I always believed Kade to be straight."
"She's good at playing the part," Evan agreed.
Aiden looked at her in surprise. She hadn't thought Evan would be a good judge of character. Evan always seemed to concentrate on herself too much to have any insight into other people. She knows a lot about playing roles and wearing masks to protect herself, Aiden realized.
"Evan!" Roger LeCroix's voice drifted up the stairs. "Come downstairs. We want to talk to you."
Evan stood with a sigh. "The jury's in," she said, grimacing.
And she's expecting to be found guilty and be given the maximum sentence, Aiden realized. "Do you want me to stay?" she asked.
"No. If they throw me out, I'll just turn up on your doorstep," Evan threatened with a brave grin.
"Evan!" Roger LeCroix shouted again.
Aiden stood quickly, not wanting to annoy Evan's foster parents any further, and walked down the stairs while Evan lagged behind a few steps.
Roger LeCroix leaned in the doorway of the living room. He looked at her with an impenetrable gaze.
"She deserves another chance," Aiden said in a low voice when she walked past him.
Evan's foster father didn't answer.
Aiden reached the front door and turned back around. She made eye contact with Evan, who was trying to hide her nervousness. Her tense shoulders and the hands that were clenched into fists in the pockets of her baggy jeans betrayed her. "I'll come back to visit you tomorrow," Aiden promised, sending a silent message to Jill and Roger LeCroix. Evan better still be here!
One last glance, then the door closed behind Aiden.
CHAPTER 28
"NICE PARTY," a male voice said from behind her.
Kade turned her head, looking away from Del, who was on the other side of the room, talking to someone. She saw Mathew Haygood sidle up to her and nodded noncommittally, accepting the glass of champagne he held out for her.
A few years ago, she would have agreed with more enthusiasm. It was a nice party. Her mother had invited all of her old friends from high school who still lived in the area, along with every eligible bachelor in her circle of acquaintances. Sophie had spared neither effort nor expense to make this the most talked-about dinner party of the month.
There was good music, expensive food, and decent conversation. The lawyer jokes Mathew had told her all evening were even halfway amusing. A few years ago, she would have enjoyed the evening, but now it seemed like a waste of time to her.
I think Del is partly to blame for that, she thought, again glancing at her friend at the other side of the room. Lately, she had spen
t the majority of her free time in Del's company. She had grown used to Del's honesty, to her sincere interest in her. With Del, there was no polite small talk and no pressure to act in a certain way. Del challenged her, and she made her laugh. She could relax and be herself, not the carefully cultivated public image of Kadence Matheson.
"Who's that?" Mathew asked, having followed Kade's gaze.
It wasn't difficult to guess that Del was not an offspring of one of the wealthy families with whom the Mathesons usually socialized. Del stuck out of the crowd of guests like a sore thumb. She was probably the only woman in the room who didn't wear a dress.
It had earned her a few questioning gazes from Sophie, but Kade secretly admired Del for not bending to her mother's unspoken wishes or other people's expectations. She liked that Del was still herself and not willing to act as if she were one of the Mathesons' very sophisticated, very feminine, very well-dressed friends.