Page 35 of Bullet
I frown. “Why are you congratulating me?”
“Because we all know that if it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t have graduated. You single-handedly kept her together the last few years, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”
“She’s the one who sat in the classroom, not me,” I tell him, feeling uncomfortable with his praise.
I might have been the one to force her hand, but at the end of the day, she’s the one who stayed. She studied and passed all of her classes. She’s the one who deserves all the credit, not me.
“What do you think she’s going to do now?” he asks, slightly changing the subject.
I look back over at her. “Her plan was to leave.” I remember how sure she sounded when she spoke those words.
“Has that changed?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve kind of been avoiding the topic.”
Wrath hums. “You know, I have an idea, but she’d have to be open to it.”
“I’m listening.”
“Well, it is summertime, and we all know the girl could use money either to get out of here or just to buy whatever shit girls buy. Midnight has an opening at the shop at the front desk. Claire is due to have her baby soon, so he wants someone in place temporarily to keep things going. Maybe she’d be willing to take one for the team and work there?”
How the hell did I not think of this? Maybe the solution to all of her acting out has been right in front of me all along. I just hadn’t thought of it. Maybe if she has a job and she works enough hours, she’ll tire herself out and she won’t feel the need to party and self-medicate. It will give her some purpose.
I’m a fucking idiot.
“So what do you think?” Wrath asks.
“I think if I can get her to agree, it could definitely help. Thank you, that honestly hadn’t even crossed my mind.”
Wrath slaps my shoulder. “It’s not a big deal. It was just an idea.”
“No, I honestly think if I could get her to agree, it could work. Midnight is open to having her work there?”
Wrath nods. “Yeah, I talked to him about it earlier today and told him I’d bring it up to you. I didn’t even realize he was hiring somebody until I stopped by while I was waiting for Tara to get done at the bookshop.”
“I didn’t even realize he was trying to hire someone either.”
I used to know everything that was going on with all my brothers, but I’ve been so wrapped up in Harlee that I haven’t checked in with anyone. Shit, I’m being a bad brother, a bad friend.
“Hey, don’t let it bother you. We don’t have to know everything about each other. When I asked him about it, he told me the girl that he hired after Lainey is now expecting and is struggling to keep up with shit that needs done around the shop.I guess Lainey is helping out as much as she can when she’s not busy with the girls.”
“Yeah, I bet she’s spread thin. I’ll bring it up to Harlee, and hopefully she’s open to the idea. I’ll talk to her about it on the way home.”
Wrath slaps my shoulder. “It looks like now’s the time. Your girl looks ready to leave.”
My girl.
I like the sound of that too much.
I look over and see Harlee giving all of the girls hugs. When she’s done, she starts walking my way.
“Hey, Wrath,” she says as she approaches.
“Hey, Harlee. Congrats on graduating again.”
I watch as a pretty blush covers her cheeks, and she ducks her head.
“Thanks,” she murmurs softly.
