Chapter Five

Spencer yanked open the back door and sat with a humph. Starr chewed her lip as he slammed his door. He was actually taking this much better than she’d expected—he’d gotten into the car. Maybe there was a redeemable gene or two in him that wasn’t full-bred scoundrel.

“I’m, um, not familiar with the location,” Starr said to Matt’s mom, pulling to the parking lot exit. “Which way do I turn?”

“Left. Then make a right on Fourth and another right on Record.” Rose gave a tentative smile. “Thank you for doing this.”

“It’s nothing.” Starr looked in the rearview mirror and momentarily caught Spencer’s eye before he glanced away. He was pissed, so why had he come with her? She was positive he could manage to get back to the hotel and then hunker down until his passport arrived on Tuesday. Whatever the reason, a small piece of her was thankful for his support, even if given grudgingly. At least he wasn’t like Robert, spewing insults whenever they disagreed.

“I’ve left him alone too much.” Rose shook her head. “But working double shifts, I’ve got no choice. Mattie’s a good boy,” she said to herself as much as to Starr.

Starr nodded. “I know.” And Rose was a sweet woman. A kind, hardworking woman. She’d always had a job, and once her husband had left, Starr remembered how she’d held two. That’s why Starr had babysat Matt so much during the summer. How could such a good family end up like this?

Starr turned onto Fourth Street. Maybe JJ was right. She needed to help them, and not just with a ride home. And why not? In fact, this was exactly what her therapist, Dr. Parnell, had suggested. Find something to work toward, give herself a goal. Sure, he’d said start small, but she needed something relevant. She needed to prove to herself she could do something worthwhile with her life, and for someone else’s. Prove to herself there was more to life than skiing.

When she hit Record Street, she made another right.

“There.” Rose pointed to the brick building on the far corner.

Starr slowly angled toward the empty parking spot across the street, taking in her surroundings. Trash and broken bottles were scattered everywhere. A guy in layers of tattered clothing limped down the street pushing a shopping cart filled with aluminum cans. Several older teens, one with a crowbar and another wearing chains like a necklace, met on the corner and flashed hand signs before exchanging something. Her heart thunked. Dear Lord, had she just witnessed a drug deal? In-out; in-out. Her deep-breathing techniques weren’t doing diddly for her racing heart.

She parked the car. They couldn’t just drop Matt’s mom here. “We’ll walk you to the door,” Starr said quickly, before she could change her mind. “Right, Spencer?” She turned and looked back at him.

“Of course,” he said, his smile tight.

Rose burst into tears again. “I don’t even know how this happened. I sent him out for bread this morning. We were out of bread.”

Starr imagined they were out of a whole lot of things besides bread. The look Spencer shot her said he was thinking something similar.

“He’s a good boy,” Rose wept. “We’ve just had it rough. Sometimes it seems like he’s the one taking care of me.”

Starr’s heart squeezed at her words. Matt was too young to be taking care of anyone, himself included. But Starr knew that life wasn’t fair about those things. After Mom died, she and Noah had spent years taking care of their father while he fell further into the clutches of Alzheimer’s. Though truth be told, it was Noah who’d done most of the caretaking—of Daddy and Starr. Noah had refused to let anything get in the way of Starr’s Olympic future, to the point where he gave up his own dreams, his chance at college, even time with Grace— Thank God those two had worked it out.

“My Mattie’s a good boy. He wouldn’t steal anything.” Rose shook her head almost violently. “He wouldn’t do that.”

Starr covered the woman’s hand with her own. “He did. They caught him in the act.”

“How can you be sure?”

Starr nodded toward Spencer, encouraging him to tell her.

“It was my wallet,” Spencer said quietly.

Rose gasped, then turned toward Spencer, her eyes flickering between him and Starr. “Then why are you here?”

Starr glanced at Spencer, then took a deep breath, gathering her resolve. Her face must’ve shown it, because Spencer’s eyes widened in disbelief. He slowly shook his head, as if he knew what was coming and was willing her to stop.

Starr squeezed the woman’s hand. “Because I know Matt’s a good kid. We’re going to go with you tomorrow to the court. Spencer’s an attorney.” It wouldn’t kill him to give her some advice, even if he refused to do more. She plunged forward. “We’re going to help Matt out of this mess. That’s why we’re here.”

…

After making sure Rose got into the Family Shelter, Spencer followed Starr back to her Jetta. Just as suspected, Starr was getting sucked in, offering to pick up the woman and take her to her son’s arraignment. He ground his teeth together and considered his options. Not that he had many. He was good at negotiating, when he had something to negotiate with. He was also good at taking control and insisting. Something told him that wouldn’t work, either. It was like watching an impending car crash in slow motion and being unable to do anything to stop it.

“There’s no good that can come from this,” he said, trying a last-ditch attempt at good old-fashioned reason.

Starr turned to face Spencer. “Thank you for your help today, but that’s your bad karma talking.”

“Suit yourself,” he said, opening the car door for Starr.

She plopped into the driver’s seat, her lips pouted. Red lips, lush. Probably soft.

What the hell was he thinking? It didn’t matter if they were soft, hard, kissable—kissable?—Jesus. Off-limits, that’s what those lips were. The last thing he needed was to get sucked into those lips—and this mess. He closed Starr’s car door and strode around to the passenger side.

“So now, what about you?” she asked as he settled into his seat.

“I told you, there’s nothing I can do, and nothing you should do.”

“Believe it or not, I heard you the first fifteen times.” She sighed. “I meant, where should I take you?”

“Drop me back at the hotel, I guess.”

“You’re just going to hang out there until Tuesday?”

He hadn’t thought that far, hadn’t really had a chance to think much about anything but trying to rein in this crazy blonde since she’d shown up at the police station hell-bent on saving the world. “You’re worried about me?” He scrunched his brows together in exaggerated confusion.

“Well, of course. I mean, you’re Grace’s friend.” Pink swathed her cheeks. Amazing that she could dive-bomb down a slope, storm a police station, and try to conquer the juvie system—and yet fluster so easily. Maybe he hadn’t lost his touch.

No, he wouldn’t go there. If he’d learned anything about Starr from today’s exploits, it was that she wasn’t a one-night-and-done sort of girl. She was too serious, too altruistic. Too real.

She glared at him, lips pursed, as if debating what to do next.

Enough fun for one day. He’d make it easy on her. “Drop me at the hotel. They’re holding my luggage and have my credit card on file. I’ll be fine.”

“I can’t just leave you.” She bit her lip before continuing. “I mean, I think Grace would agree, would expect, that you stay at the ranch, you know, until your passport arrives. Call your secretary and tell her to send it to Grace’s house.”

He shook his head. This woman continued to shock him, not an easy task. “Are you inviting me to stay with you until it arrives? That’s two nights together.” Somehow, she’d managed to make this day even more interesting.

“Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m offering to help.” She sniffed. “That’s what friends do.”

“Last night you nixed the idea of friends,” he said drily.

“Are you taking my offer or not?” she snapped.

“Yes. Thank you, I accept.” It was too intriguing not to.

Somewhere in the back of his brain, alarms blared. But he’d never been one to heed warnings.