Page 5 of Kingston

“Like I said, I felt like the fewer people who knew, the better.Your dad is aware, because I don’t keep anything from him.And while Opal knows a little of our arrangement, I didn’t fill her in on the full details.Maybe I should have talked to Gracie, asked her to have a conversation with Demi.Sanctuary has a lot of options, but she was skittish, Kingston.I was worried the slightest wrong move would scare her away.”

Her shoulders dropped, a weight seeming to fall on her, driving home how much I’d fucked up in just a matter of minutes.“And I was right, but I still should have done something.Demi and Iris deserved for me to try harder.I let them down.”

“You didn’t let anyone down, Ma.I’ll fix it,” I promised, already running for the door.

Every head turned to look when I pushed through the swinging doors at a dead run, and no one so much as shifted a plate or scooted a chair back until I raced into the parking lot.But by the time I got outside, I saw her pulling onto the highway.Cursing, I rushed back inside, tearing off my apron.The chatter abruptly stopped again, but I didn’t have time to roll my eyes at the small-town bullshit.

“Mom, where does she live?”I yelled, grabbing my keys.

She straightened from cleaning up the broken plate on the kitchen floor, the smell of burned pancakes filling the air.But the ruined food was already in the trash, and fresh batter was on the grill.Mom was back in survival mode, and I clenched and unclenched my fingers.She needed me here, but she also needed me to fix the mess I’d made with Demi.

And more than that, I needed to see that little hell-raiser again.

To know if what I’d felt earlier was what I’d thought it was…

“She’s staying with the Lively family.”Using her forearm, she pushed a few strands of hair out of her face.“They live right over the county line, just past Mill Road.”

“Fuck’s sake,” I muttered to myself, recognizing the family’s name.

Jim and Felicia weren’t the worst people, but they didn’t do anything without a reason.And they sure as hell wouldn’t let a single mom live with them simply out of the goodness of their hearts.After Jim’s mother broke her hip, she couldn’t keep a home health care nurse.When the fourth one quit because of her verbal abuse, there was talk that Felicia was going to divorce Jim unless they placed Joy in a nursing home.But I hadn’t heard anything about that at the diner in months, which must have been when Demi had moved to town.

School buses were coming and going, making traffic a bitch.I didn’t catch up to the clunky car I’d seen Demi drive off in the entire drive, even though I was pushing limits that would have had the cops busting my ass, despite my cousin being married to the sheriff.By the time I pulled into the Livelys’ driveway, it felt like a lead weight was sitting in the pit of my stomach.

Despite knowing she wasn’t there, I jogged up to the front door.After knocking loud enough to wake the dead, I turned the knob.It was unlocked, so I stepped inside.“Demi?”

“Who is it?”a shrill voice called out, and I turned to find Joy Lively sitting in a recliner in the living room.“Who are you?I don’t know you.Get out of my house!”

She was at least seventy, her face showing every sign of her age and the hard life she’d lived.Her hair had been gray for as long as I’d known her, maybe for as long as my parents had known her too.Her husband had been a nice enough man, which was probably why Jim wasn’t a complete waste of human skin.

“Ma’am, my name is Kingston.I work at Aggie’s, the diner in town.”I adjusted my cut, trying to relax my shoulders so I didn’t scare the old bat into a heart attack.Thankfully, she seemed to relax.In Creswell Springs, the citizens looked to the MC to protect them, almost as much, if not more so, than the local police.

My gaze swung around the living room, hoping to see my little hell-raiser.Demi had obviously gotten the old woman comfortable before driving over to the diner earlier.Joy had everything within reach and a walker beside her chair.There was a landline and a cell phone on a small table with a cup of coffee, water, snacks, and the remote control.Other than use of the bathroom, Joy could have been there for a few days without a care in the world.“I’m looking for Demi.”

“She isn’t here,” Joy huffed, turning her gaze back to the television, dismissing me.“She and the whining brat left earlier.”

“Define earlier,” I gritted out.As old as the woman was, earlier could have meant when Demi had first come to the diner.My stomach clenched.Or it could have meant she’d come back and then left again.

She shrugged.“Few minutes ago.Maybe five, ten tops.Said she was done.Good riddance, I say.Damned annoying thing, if you ask me.I was tired of all that crying keeping me awake all night.Whine, whine, whine.Cry, cry, cry.Her ear hurts.Her tummy hurts.She doesn’t feel good.Everything makes her sick.Can’t look at the little wretch without it screaming.Day and night.Night and day.Cry, cry, cry?—”

“Demi left?”I confirmed, cutting her off.“She told you she was leaving?”

“That’s what I said, didn’t I?”she spat.“You Hannigans never listen.I know how you are.Knew your father, boy.Knew your grandfather before him.And his father before him.All the same.Those green eyes.You got something in you, something not right.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, already walking away, but making sure I closed the door behind me.Her nearest neighbor was a half mile away.There was a higher chance a bear would wander in and eat her than she would get robbed.But I wouldn’t have been opposed to a stray dog running in and pissing on her.

Goddamn it, I just wanted to find Demi and make things right.

For my mom.

And maybe to ease the growing ache in my chest with every passing minute I didn’t know if Demi was safe.

ChapterFour

Demi

Iris clungto my neck as I rocked her, trying my best to tune out the awful noise of the emergency department waiting room.I shifted my eyes from one person to the next, attempting to keep those with the more dangerous ailments to my baby as far away as possible.But that was hard to do when everyone was a potential threat.

Another shuddery sob left her, and she snuggled against me, seeking comfort and a little relief from the pain in her ear and attempting to sleep.I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, fighting my own tears.After the blowup at Aggie’s, I’d been too scared that Kingston Hannigan would press charges against me for assault or destruction of property.

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