Waking Hearts (9 page)

And she had ’em. Even if her kid was beating some of them up.

She parked in the small lot and hustled into the office building where a student assistant greeted her with a bright smile before she realized why Allie was there. Then she grew wide-eyed.

“You’re Kevin’s mom, right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“He’s in the nurse’s office, but Mr. Lewis told me to tell you he’d meet you here. You can wait with Mr. Campbell.”

Allie spun to see Ollie leaning against the wall, looking as awkward as he had his freshman year when he was a foot taller than every other classmate.

“What are you doing here?”

“Kevin called me.”

“He called
you
?”

He shrugged. “Yep.”

Allie went and leaned next to him, tapping her fingernails against the painted cinderblock wall.

“Brings back memories, huh?”

“Please. You were the good girl.”

“I know. And I was working in the office every time you, Alex, and Sean got pulled in for something or other.”

“It was mostly Sean.”

“You went along with it,” she muttered. “Why did Kevin call you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did he say why he beat up those kids?”

“They were Quinns, and no, he didn’t. He called me up, told me he was in trouble, and asked me to come to the office.”

Allie blinked. “And you came, just like that?”

Ollie frowned. “Well… yeah.”

Allie faced the opposite wall, her heart racing. “Weren’t you at work?”

“Yeah. But it’s Kevin. If he calls me ’cause he’s in trouble, work can wait.”

Allie blinked furiously so the tears wouldn’t fall.

“I’m not trying to intrude.” His voice dropped. “But if he wants me to be here for some reason—”

“It’s fine.” She reached for his hand and squeezed, resigning herself to the fact that she was going to fall at least a little in love with Oliver Campbell no matter how much she tried to resist it. “I’m glad he called you.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” She sniffed and let his hand go when she saw the assistant principal’s door open. Mr. Lewis spotted her, noted Ollie with a curious smile, but waved them both in.

“Hey,” Allie said, holding out her hand to shake. Arnold Lewis was one of the bird clan—a raven in natural form—and she’d taken English from him in junior high. The Edgar Allan Poe jokes had flown, every pun intended.

“Hey, Allie.” Mr. Lewis kept his voice low. “I’m as shocked as you are about this. Kevin hasn’t said anything, but I can’t imagine this happened out of the blue.”

She nodded toward Ollie. “He called… Mr. Campbell to come to the school. Kevin may want to talk to him about it.”

Mr. Lewis frowned. “The boys weren’t in the bear clan.”

“I know,” Ollie said. “But Kevin and I are working on a car together, so… yeah.”

Ollie looked like he was the one who’d landed in trouble. He crossed his arms over his chest, doing nothing to hide his discomfort at being back in high school. Allie took pity on him and set her hand on his forearm.

“Mr. Lewis, Ollie has known Kevin since he was little. It may be that there’s something he didn’t feel comfortable discussing with his mom. Would it be possible for Ollie to talk to Kevin while we discuss what needs to happen with the school?”

Mr. Lewis nodded, fully aware that Kevin didn’t have a dad around. “Of course.” He motioned Allie toward the office chairs while he pointed down the hall.

“You remember where the nurse’s office is?”

“Unfortunately.”

Mr. Lewis smiled. “Same place.”

“Am I still going to have to duck to get in?”

“I’m afraid the height of the doors has not changed, Mr. Campbell.”

“Right.”

Allie watched him walk down the hallway, trying to process that her son had called Ollie before he’d called her. Kevin had called Ollie, knowing that he would come.

Yeah.

Her people were the
best
.

But there might have been one that was better than the rest.

Chapter Six

WHY DID IT ALL STILL SMELL the same? Hadn’t they updated the cleansers or anything in the sixteen years since he’d graduated?

Ollie spotted the familiar bright red door of the nurse’s office at the end of the hall. He cracked it open, only to see Kevin sitting on the bench with an ice pack on his hand, staring at the opposite wall like it had stolen his allowance.

“Hey.”

The boy looked up. “You came.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

Kevin shrugged, and Ollie saw the red stain on the boy’s ears. All Allie’s kids looked like her to his eyes. Kevin had her smile. Mark had her laugh. Christopher had Allie’s vivid blue eyes and endless optimism. And Loralie… Well, she was just the spitting image of her mama from her toes up.

“Did you keep your thumb out?”

Kevin nodded.

“You ever tell your mom that I taught you and Low how to fight when you were twelve?”

“Nope.”

“You planning on telling her now?”

A smile twitched at Kevin’s mouth. “No reason both of us should get in trouble.”

Ollie shook his head, but he couldn’t hold in the smile. “What’s going on?” No one else was in the nurse’s small office, so he sat on the rolling stool in front of her desk and leaned against the wall. “Quinn boys?”

“Rory and Derrick.”

“What was it about?”

Kevin clammed up again.

Whatever it was, Ollie’d have a talk with Sean Quinn about it. His childhood friend was slowly resigning himself to the fact that the bunch of miscreants that constituted his family needed him to stick around if they were ever going to keep the next generation alive and out of prison. Stuff like his younger cousins instigating a fight with Kevin Smith needed to be talked over before resentment had time to settle.

“Hey,” Ollie said. “You asked me to come and I came. So what’s going on?” He was probably being too rough, but the kid was fifteen. Ollie didn’t think he needed a cuddle.

Kevin played with the ice pack covering his knuckles. “Are you looking into the stuff about my dad?”

Ollie was silent.

Kevin looked up. “I’m not stupid.”

“I know you’re not. Yeah, I’m looking into it.”

“Was he dealing drugs?”

Well, hell. How was he supposed to answer that? Ollie decided on blunt honesty. “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s possible.”

“Did he cheat people out of money?”

“I don’t know that either.” But Ollie did know more than one Quinn had lost money to Joe. “Your dad gambled, Kev, but he was pretty good at it. Some people like to talk shit, even if they lose fair and square.”

Kevin nodded, then looked down at his hands. “Did he beat up my mom?”

Ollie froze. “You tell me.”

Kevin was silent for a long time.

“Kev, this is really important.”

“I don’t think so,” he finally said. “He wasn’t nice to her. He’d say really mean stuff. Then an hour later, he’d say all sorts of stuff to suck up to her. Talk about how much he loved her. How they were meant for each other. Stuff like that.”

“You know that’s not how you talk to a woman, right?”

He nodded. “Grandpa and I talked about it years ago. Even before Dad left.”

“Once you say something, you can’t take it back. You can apologize. Hope they forgive you. But you’ve still said it. You get that?”

“Yeah.”

“Were the Quinn boys talking shit about your dad?”

Kevin nodded.

“What did they say?”

“That he was dealing drugs all over the place. And he stole money from people. Cheated them at cards, stuff like that.”

“And the stuff about your mom?”

“They were saying she knew about it but was too scared to say anything because he was beating her up. Which is just… You know it’s bullshit, Ollie. My mom would have told someone if he was doing all that stuff.”

“I know.”

“She stood up to him, you know? He said something bad to Mark one time when he was drunk. And Mom dragged him out of the room and tore into him. He never did it again. She’d never let him.”

If he wasn’t fairly sure Joe Russell was already dead, Ollie would have had a hard time not going hunting. But Kevin didn’t need to hear about that. The poor kid was already too grown-up for his age.

“Your mom,” Ollie said, “is one of the strongest women I know, and she loves you guys more than her own life. She’d never let anyone touch you or hurt you. She also cares too much about this town and the people here to let any of that go without telling someone. She might let your dad hurt himself, but she wouldn’t let him hurt other people. So yeah, those guys were full of shit, and I’m gonna be talking to Sean and Old Quinn about them.”

Kevin opened his mouth to object, but Ollie just held up a hand.

“Don’t argue. This isn’t you being a rat. If those boys have any real information—or more likely it’s something they overheard one of the adults saying—I need to know.”

“Are you going to tell my mom?”

“Do you want her to know?”

“No.”

“You sure?” Ollie raised an eyebrow. “It sure sounds like they were trying to start a fight.”

Kevin shrugged.

“Who threw the first punch?”

“Me.”

He sighed. “Should have walked away, Kev.”

“I know.”

“You’re gonna get in trouble. Rory and Derrick are gonna get in trouble too. Pretty sure that’s how it works.”

“I know.”

“I better not hear you bitching about it.”

His cheeks reddened with anger. “I won’t.”

“And we’re not working on your car this Saturday. You’re gonna clean the shop.”

Kevin slouched against the wall and dropped his head.

“You regret calling me now?” Ollie asked.

The boy looked up, and Ollie could see the tears in the corner of his eyes, but the proud fifteen-year-old didn’t let them fall.

“No.”

Ollie leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “You’re a good kid, Kevin Smith. I’m glad you called me.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said. “Me too.”

“I’M his mother,” Allie hissed when she dropped Kevin off at his barn Saturday morning. “I need to know what happened.”

“Why?”

She put her hand on her hips, and he knew she wanted to look intimidating, but she mostly looked cute as hell.

“Because—”

“You know what?” Ollie held up a hand. “I get it. I’m not his father, but he confided in me. If one of Jena’s boys came to you and confided something that
wasn’t
going to affect their safety, would you say anything?”

She tapped her foot, but he knew she’d do exactly the same thing he was. Ollie might not have any kids of his own, but his friends’ kids were his responsibility, just like the younger members of his clan. He didn’t take it lightly, and he knew Allie didn’t either.

“Fine,” she finally said. “But the school is going to suspend him. One day and a citation in his permanent record.”

Oooh, a citation. Scary.

“He won’t complain. And he’s not working on his car today,” Ollie said. “He’s only cleaning the shop.”

Her shoulders drooped. “You don’t have to do that. He’s been looking forward to this all week.”

“He needs to learn how to keep his temper.” Ollie shrugged. “He’ll forget a citation. He won’t forget missing out on the first day working on his new car.”

“Don’t be a hard-ass,” she said quietly. “He’s a good kid.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Me? You said it yourself. I’m a teddy bear.”

Her cheeks turned a bright pink. “I was asleep.”

“You were
sleepy
,” he said. “Not asleep.” And she’d also said he had nice arms. He crossed his arms over his chest, making sure to flex his biceps.

Juvenile? Possibly.

But she looked.

Ollie tried not to grin as Allie backed out of the garage. Kevin was already in there, putting on a pair of coveralls Ollie had found for him and banging around with the wide broom he’d use to sweep the floor.

“Okay, I’m just gonna… go.” Her cheeks were still pink.

He went to the doorway and stretched his arms up, bracing his arms on the door and watching her walk away.

“Bye.” His eyes dropped to her legs, which still carried a little tan from the summer. Allie turned and tripped a little when she saw where he was looking. “Um… you’re gonna drop him off when you guys are done, right?”

“Yeah. What time?”

She fiddled with the ragged hem of her shorts.

Go ahead. They could be shorter.

“Five? Is that too early? I usually give them dinner early on nights I’m working so we can eat together. If I’m going in at six—”