Page 39 of Over & Out

I shove the thoughts aside when I see the couple looking at me expectantly.

I smile. “Oh! Hi! I’m Chris Maplewood. It’s so nice to meet you both.”

“We were so sure Tru could never be replaced,” Margaret says after they introduce themselves. “But she tells me you’ll take good care of our Hopper while she’soff.”

“I sure will,” I say. Depending on her definition of ‘care’.

The couple leads us into the richly carpeted main hallway. “We watched all the Laser movies with our grandson yet again last week,” Margaret gushes. “Hope you say yes to the next in the series.”

“Depends on what my people tell me,” Hopper says ambiguously, though I catch the stiffness in his back. I’m learning the superhero franchise is not his favorite thing to talk about, even though it’s made him a gazillion dollars and a household name. Maybe that last part is why.

As Al pulls Hopper into a conversation about one of his grandsons, Margaret clutches my arm. “Tell me, Chris. Is Hop looking after himself?”

I blink. “Oh. I think so.”

“No drugs?”

“Not the fun kind.”

She frowns.

I school my smile into a matching expression. “Sorry. Bad joke.”

“Drugs are no laughing matter, young lady.”

“I know. It was more about him not being—never mind, not important. No, I don’t think he’s doing any drugs.”

“Drinking?”

I consider that. Besides the day I met him, I haven’t seen him drink at all. To be fair, he didn’t drink that day, either, thanks to me. He was just hungover. “Not really. He’s eating an obscene amount of protein every day and doing lots of exercise.”

“Good. We worry about him so.”

I glance over at her. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“You’re surprised, aren’t you? After what he did here.”

“A little, honestly.”

“You don’t think he deserves our affection?”

“Oh…I don’t know. I just…”

She shakes her head. “I didn’t either, not at first. We were devastated. Al talked about suing. But listen. If you’re working for Hopper, you need to know just what kind of man he is.”

I quite honestly have no idea what she’s going to say next. But she doesn’t leave me time to say anything anyway.

“We have a son,” Margaret says. “He went through an awful time in middle school.”

I grimace. “I remember middle school.”

“Oh, and I know what you’re thinking. The mean girls. The bullies. Well.” She looks at me pointedly. “Oursonwas the bully.”

“Oh.” We’re nearly at the meeting room. She holds us back as Al and Hopper head inside.

“I’ll never forget the pain of trying to get our son to see that what he was doing was wrong. It’s very difficult when someone is so sure they’re right. Hopper—well, Hopper did a bad thing. He put several holes through the walls in our best suite. Now, I’m not sure why he did it. Mainly because he refused to make excuses. He just said he did a foolish thing and wasn’t expecting our forgiveness. I’ve heard things about his past, like how he discovered his mom had gained her angel wings not from thedoctors but a—what was it?” She screws up her face. “ATicTac, I think they call it. Some hospital staff person made a video. There were photos and everything.”

I suck in an audible breath. “I had no idea,” I say softly, reeling.

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