by Maira Dawn
No, he stood there waiting for her to make a move. He was so devoted to Dylan that he’d probably tackle her.
“And just so you know,” Travis said, his voice stern, “I’m on watch out here, so if I see you escaping, I’ll march you right back in.”
Sue Ellen huffed and stomped up the porch stairs just as Bre opened the front door.
“Hi, Sue Ellen!”
Sue Ellen crossed her arms and continued without comment. In the hallway, she turned and watched Travis pass the bag of cookies to Bre.
“These are for Dylan only. No one else,” he said.
Bre eyed him, a twinkle in her eye. “Of course, Travis. No problem.”
Sue Ellen let out an impatient groan.
Travis looked from Sue Ellen to Bre and leaned against the door frame as if he had all the time in the world to talk with the giggling girl.
Idiot boy!
Sue Ellen pulled a face before walking to Dylan’s room.
Twelve
A Mean Streak
Sue Ellen inched her way around the doorway of Dylan’s room. The man was sitting up, but his eyes were closed, and his face still pale.
Her gaze drifted around the room. Bare white walls, a couple of chairs, the bed, and a nightstand with a magazine on it.
No wonder Dylan wanted out of here.
Sue Ellen looked from the magazine to Dylan and back again.
He didn’t look like a magazine type of guy.
Maybe—if it had a truck or a picture of a big buck with a thousand-point antlers—or whatever. But the one sitting beside him had a grinning woman holding up a decorated cake against a pink backdrop.
Sue Ellen almost snorted. No, she didn’t think so.
When her gaze made it back to him, Dylan stared back at her.
She startled but quickly recovered. Sue Ellen frowned at him. “That’s creepy, you know. You’re not going to make any friends like that.”
“I got plenty of friends. You, on the other hand . . .”
Sue Ellen crossed her arms. “I’ve got friends!”
She didn’t really, but she hadn’t tried making any. It’s how she wanted it.
Dylan’s expression softened. “Things have been hard for you, before and after this outbreak. You should talk to Skye more. She’s helped Kelsey.”
Sue Ellen scoffed. “I don’t need shrinked. That’s for idiots that don’t know nothing.”
“Is that what your opinion of your brother is, girl?”
“No. Jesse’s different,” Sue Ellen backtracked. “Dad—Dad was real hard on him. Hurt him. Grandma never hurt me like that, and Dad never laid a hand on me.”
“There’s lots of ways to hurt someone.”
Sue Ellen thought of all those lessons, the mean things grandma called her, and the cupboard. She shrugged. “I ain’t talking about that.”
She turned away but couldn’t shake Dylan’s gaze.
“Sue Ellen.” Dylan waited for her to turn back toward him. “I’ve had it all. And sometimes there are things worse than being hit. Words can hurt more.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She quickly brushed them away.
What was this about? Tears? Like she was a soft little girl again? What would Dylan think of that? He sure wouldn’t want some wimp around. “I ain’t weak!”
“That’s the last thing I’d call you.”
Relieved, she nodded.
“I’m just sayin’ sometimes the way we were brought up gets to us. It’s good to talk things out.”
“Okay. Whatever.”
Dylan sighed. “Well, get over here and help me up.”
“Are you sure we should be doing this?”
“Come on, girl.”
“What if you hurt yourself more?”
Dylan chuckled. “Don’t pretend you care now.”
Sue Ellen looked at the floor. “I do care. You’re the strongest one in this community. If you go down, we all go down.”
“Figures my getting better somehow comes around to you,” Dylan said with a twinkle in his eye. “Can’t really blame you, though.”
He waved her over. “But it’s fine. I gotta get up sometime. And it’s killin’ me to be here when Skye’s somewhere out there. Taken.” His voice broke. “I can’t—I can’t—I need to get better fast.”
Sue Ellen was taken aback by how openly this strong, tough guy showed his feelings for Skye.
So this was what it looked like when someone deeply cared for another person.
“Okay, fine,” she said with a frown. “But if you hurt yourself more, it ain’t gonna be my fault. And then you won’t be able to go after her. That’ll teach you a lesson.”
“Shut up and stand right here.” Dylan pointed to a spot on the floor beside the bed.
Sue Ellen moved closer.
It was clear that every move Dylan made was agony. But that didn’t stop him.
After he made it to the edge of the bed, he used her shoulder and the back of the straight chair to stand.
Well, at least tried to stand.
Sue Ellen critically eyed him. He was still kind of bent. As she watched him, a seldom-used emotion came over her.
Sympathy.
She put her arm around his waist and took more of his weight.
Dylan gave her a quick grin of approval.
The warm sensation of satisfaction spread through her. She was stunned. She’d never felt that over helping someone before. She was getting soft.
That wasn’t allowed—not with the world the way it was.
Dylan swayed, and his fingers dug into her shoulder.
Sure, the guy was in pain and had lost a lot. He may never get Skye back. But she couldn’t let that get to her.
Sue Ellen sighed and said in a cranky voice, “Are we done yet?”
“No.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry I stepped foot into this room.”
Dylan ignored her as he slid one foot forward. “I want to go out there.”
Sue Ellen looked skyward. “Fine.”
This was going to be more trouble than it was worth.
Once they made it to the bedroom doorway, Dylan stopped and leaned against the frame. The sweat poured off him.
“You should stop now,” she said. “You look like you’re gonna throw up.”
“No.”
“I’m just sayin’.”
“I said no.”
Dylan laid an arm over her shoulder instead of merely clutching her.
She rubbed it after he let go. Without a doubt, she’d have a bruise there tomorrow.
“Talk about something,” he demanded.
“Uh?” Sue Ellen sent Dylan a surprised glance. When did he ever want to chit-chat? She searched her mind for something he’d be interested in but came up blank.
“You talk, or I’m gonna.” With his voice gruff from pain, it sounded like a threat.
“Whatever.”
“Why d’you take that ball from the kid?”
Sue Ellen’s head whipped toward him. “How did you know how I got that ball?”
“I have my ways.”
“What? Like you’re a secret agent now?”
Dylan snorted. “Somethin’ like that. Don’t sidetrack. Why?”
Sue Ellen looked at the floor. It was a question she’d asked herself about a number of things she did, but she didn’t have a real answer for why she was so mean. “I don’t know. It’s funny to see people’s shocked faces, I guess.”
“So, this is a regular thing?”
Sue Ellen shrugged.
Dylan took a couple of steps down the hallway. Then smacked the back of Sue Ellen’s head. Not hard, but enough to get her attention.
Sue Ellen frowned and jerked away. “Hey!”
“You’re right. It’s funny.”
Sue Ellen’s scowl deepened.
Dylan continued, “Now every time you do something mean to someone else, you remember how you feel right now.”
Sue Ellen rolled her eye
s, but he ignored her and continued with his warning.
“Every time you do something mean to someone else, I’m going to do something mean to you.”
“Like making me give you a walk?”
“I ain’t kidding.”
Sue Ellen stilled. “Like what?”
“Like putting you in your room and telling you that you can’t leave.”
“Grounding me? That’s what you’re going to do?”
Dylan shrugged. “If that’s what it takes.”
Sue Ellen huffed and tried to turn away.
Dylan may have been weak, but he was still stronger than her. He pulled her back. “If that doesn’t work, I’m going to start taking things away from you.”
“Well, jokes on you because I don’t have anything.”
“You have that music thing.”
Sue Ellen’s mouth dropped. “My iPod? You can’t do that. That’s so—so—”
“Mean? I think we just saw I can be mean too. You don’t be mean—I won’t be mean. Got it?”
Sue Ellen ground her teeth. Well, he couldn’t take her iPod now anyway—she didn’t know where it was. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m your parent now.”
“No, you ain’t.”
“I don’t see anyone else around here claiming you. I’m your family now. Get used to it.”
“And that’s what you think dads do? They ground their children, like, all the time?”
“The good ones do it—if necessary.”
Sue Ellen crossed her arms. “Wade wouldn’t do this.”
“Wade’s too soft on you. He sees your curls and big eyes and forgets what’s inside.”
“I want him to be my dad.”
Dylan burst out laughing, then held his side. “Yeah, I bet you do. It ain’t happening. He can be the fun uncle. I’m the mean dad.”
Sue Ellen stomped her foot. “No.”
He looked at her foot as if it offended him. “You want the grounding to start right now, girl?”
“Are you kidding me?”
Dylan raised his gaze and stared at her until her defiant one turned to the floor.
“You already sound like a dad,” Sue Ellen complained.
“Good. Must be doing somethin’ right then. Now help me back to bed and get me a glass of water.”
It was a mystery to Sue Ellen why she didn’t just run out the door as soon as he was seated.
Sure, he protected all of them, including her, but she could find someone else for that. She shot him a glance out of the side of her eye. He was tough, for sure, tough as they come. Why was he taking time to worry about what she was doing in the middle of everything going on?
Why did he care?
Wait. Did he care?
No. Her grandma hadn’t ever said she’d cared in all her life. Her dad certainly hadn’t. She did remember her mom holding her and rocking her, especially after she’d been drinking.
So if none of them cared all that much, how could this guy after a few months?
Quietly, Sue Ellen walked to the kitchen and filled a couple of glasses of water for him. It was Dylan’s habit to drink two cups of water at a time.
When he drank those, she went and filled another and sat it on the bedside table for later.
“Well, if we’re done here, I’m going to head home.”
“Okay, come back in the morning. Directly after breakfast, which you need to eat at daybreak. Understand?”
Sue Ellen’s mouth dropped open, and she sputtered. “I ain’t getting up that early!”
“Yes, you are, or I’ll send Travis after you with orders to drag you back here. We got a lot of work to do.”
Sue Ellen stomped out of the room, wondering why she’d ever agreed to come to this mountain in the first place.
Dylan chuckled as he watched Sue Ellen leave, hissing and spitting like a mad kitten. The girl had issues, no doubt about that. She needed firm direction.
Sue Ellen had been left to her own devices for too long. Skye had thought Sue Ellen only needed time to settle in. But Dylan had known from the beginning that the girl had a mean streak a mile wide.
She reminded him of himself when he was a teenager.
Yes, she tried to play him, but he played her better.
Dylan laughed as the front door banged shut.
The girl was going to be doing a lot more door slamming in the days to come.
Thirteen
Whatever
The next morning, Dylan groaned as he lowered himself into the straight chair across from his bed. He eyed the short trail he’d taken to get there and shook his head.
What a sorry state he was in!
He heard the ruckus before he saw Sue Ellen and chuckled.
She entered the room madder than a wet hen. Travis just about dragged her through the door.
Her angry scowl was the worst face Dylan had ever seen, and he’d seen plenty of her sour looks.
Travis pulled Sue Ellen until she stood in front of Dylan. “Here you go, Boss.”
Unused to the title—and not sure how he felt about it—Dylan winced.
Sue Ellen turned and kicked Travis above his ankle.
The young man dropped her arm and took a few steps backward, then leaned over and rubbed his shin.
Dylan nodded his appreciation to Travis. It couldn’t have been easy getting Sue Ellen here.
Then he turned to the steaming girl, “Why don’t you sit down?”
She let out an exaggerated sigh and plopped into a matching straight chair across from Dylan.
Travis straightened and stood over her with crossed arms.
Sue Ellen let out a muted scream, crossed her own arms, and slammed herself back into the chair. Her blond curls had gone wild, and her blue eyes blazed like lightning.
Dylan leaned forward, elbows on knees. “I’d feel sorry for ya, but I warned you. I don’t have days to waste. Every day I’m stuck in that bed is a day without Skye—not knowing — “He shook his head, trying to get rid of the constant uncertainty circling his thoughts.
What was happening to her? Had Wade found her? Or was she miles away and getting further away by the minute?
Dylan pushed his concern away—first things first. He needed to get stronger. And if he was able to teach the girl something while he was doing so, that’d be a good thing.
Dylan pressed his lips into a thin line and sat back in his chair, staring at Sue Ellen. Stares were effective weapons. If one stared at another person long enough, they often became uncomfortable and started talking.
A person could learn a lot that way.
Sue Ellen may think she was immune to mind games, but she wasn’t. Within a minute, she was spitting venom. “I don’t have to be here. You can’t make me!”
Dylan didn’t say a word—just kept staring.
Sue Ellen huffed. “It’s not my job to take care of you. I have other things to do!”
Dylan raised an eyebrow at her. Sue Ellen shifted her gaze to the floorboards.
He cleared his throat. “Everything you just said is wrong.”
“It ain’t. I’ve got things to do!”
Dylan barked out a laugh. “What? Steal from kids, sass your elders, and kick people?”
Sue Ellen bristled, but before she blurted anything out, Dylan put up a hand to stop her.
“She kick you before now?” he asked the young man.
Travis’s face reddened. “Yeah, a few times.”
If the girl had known what was best for her, she would have apologized, at least looked contrite.
Instead, Sue Ellen smirked.
Dylan leaned forward. “Sue Ellen, I’m disappointed in you.”
The girl looked surprised, and her smile faded. For a moment, she gave Dylan a blank stare then shifted in her seat. “Whatever. I don’t care what you think.”
“Too bad, cause if you did, you’d know I was thinking that you’ll be staying here with me all day.”
“I ain’t!�
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“You are. Travis will be here to make sure you don’t slither your way out.”
Sue Ellen shot a glance of pure hatred to both Dylan and Travis.
Dylan’s jaw tightened. No one could do that quite as well as a teenage girl.
Dylan studied the sullen Sue Ellen. He would not get anywhere goading her like this. It was time to change tactics. “Sue Ellen, I’m troubled about Skye and Kelsey—Jesse—all of them. I want to get on my feet as fast as I can, and I need your help to do that.”
Sue Ellen slumped in her seat. “Why me?”
“Cause, girl, you’re family now. All we got in this huge, empty world is this community—this family. You need us, and we need you. I need you to help me get better so I can get to Skye.”
Sue Ellen’s face lost some of its frown, but she still refused to look at Dylan.
“’Sides, the faster I get myself together, the faster I’ll be out of here. If you don’t look forward to nothin’ else, look forward to that.”
She shot Dylan a wry glance. “Now you’re talking.”
“Yeah. Thought you’d like that.”
“Okay.” Sue Ellen stood, shooting Travis daggers when he moved closer to her. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want to get out of here. Walk around outside.”
“That’s it? You couldn’t have had this bully of yours do that.”
“I told you. It’s your job to help me. Travis has other things to do.”
“Like harass innocent citizens?”
“What?” Travis sputtered.
Sue Ellen walked over to Dylan, waiting for him to stand. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll help you.”
“Not whatever. It means a lot.”
She nodded.
If her upbringing were anything like his, she’d rarely heard words like that. Dylan understood. The sudden sheen in her eyes told him his praise affected her.
Dylan kept Sue Ellen with him throughout the day. He hoped this forced time together would help him gain her trust. The girl needed to know she had a support system. He doubted she’d ever had much of that.
Besides, something was eating at her. Dylan would have noticed it behind every guarded glance and every careful moment of hers, even if he hadn’t seen the evidence out in the field with his own eyes.