Page 24 of Suits and Spark Plugs

I had to focus on orders and busing tables for a bit, but when I returned to where Blaine was finishing up his meal I was able to stop for a minute.

“I meant what I said.” He jumped right back in like always. The man’s mind was a steal trap. “How much do you really trust this guy? He’s getting you to a dark building after hours with no one around to see.”

“I have a plan.” I smiled. I told him about playing dead like a toddler.

“Your plan is to play dead?” His voice was flat and staunchly unamused.

“You’re not reacting the way Connor did,” I replied.

“You toldhimyour plan?”

Oops. Bad choice. “He wanted me to be safe.”

“For the record, if you don’t trust him you really shouldn’t have told him your plan, even if it is ridiculous.” Blaine’s face took on a stubborn look.

I was taken aback by his reaction. Of course I wouldn’t play dead if someone tried to kidnap me. I’d fight, kick, scream, claw, and hit them over the head repeatedly with my backpack. Connor had understood that. Blaine did not.

“If I’d been honestly worried about him, I wouldn’t have agreed to clean the shop, or told him about playing dead. Besides, that’s not my actual survival plan.”

His lips were pinched. “Well, that’s a relief.”

The kitchen bell rang, saving me from any more of Blaine’s remarks. I carried plates of food and took orders. All the while I watched Blaine out of the corner of my eye. He was so well put together, attractive, professional, successful, and as smooth as an ice-skating rink. Sometimes I felt like I had to be on my best behavior around him. Maybe that was why I held back with him. I was still trying to work out how we fit together.

“Liv, phone call for you,” Kelly called over the noise of the diner.

I nodded at her, took food to the customers that were waiting, and headed back into the hallway where the phone hung on the wall.

“This is Liv.”

“Liv, honey, it’s Mom.” My mom’s perpetually sad voice came over the phone. “What time do you get off?”

“I’ll be home around ten,” I told her.

“It’s just that I can’t get home and Sadie needs dinner.”

“Trust me, Sadie can make her own. I come home to evidence of that all over the kitchen every night.”

“I don’t need attitude from you.” She sighed and I heard the weight she was feeling come through.

“Sorry.”

I was. I was sorry that she had to work two jobs while Dad was off doing who knows what. I was sorry that I knew the oil workers made good money, but we hadn’t shared in that. I was sorry that we all lived in a place somewhere between understanding we’d been abandoned and an ability to move forward.

“Is there any way you can take a break and run her some take-out?” Mom asked.

I hesitated, unsure of how to respond. I wouldn’t have another break for a while, and even then it was only ten minutes. Then I thought of Blaine sitting out there, always wishing he could be more a part of my life. But, as usual, I couldn’t bring myself to ask. Especially tonight, when he was already put out with me.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said at last.

“Thanks, honey. I’ll let her know it’s coming.”

I hung up and took a moment to suck in three breaths through my nose and let them out through my mouth. Mom babied Sadie, who didn’t need babying at all. And I babied Mom, who didn’t need it either. Only in my most secret place did I ever admit I’d like to be babied a little too. But we were in a cycle, with no apparent way out.

I popped into the kitchen and ordered a Cobb salad for Sadie before heading back to where Blaine was still sitting. His meal had been cleared, and he was sipping on water with a lemon wedge. Obviously he’d been waiting to say goodbye to me before he left, which brightened me up a bit.

I walked around the counter to stand next to him. He opened his arms and pulled me into his embrace, snuggling his face through my curls until his nose pressed in just above my ear.

“Sorry. I worry about you because I care so much,” he said.

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