Read Online Baker’s Law by Denise McDonald - Free Book Online Page A

hopped her five-foot frame up on the tall stool, took a deep breath and the words
     tumbled out of her. “You see, it’s like this. Hill’s mom passed away a few years ago.
     He was living with his dad. Who is a real loser. Sorry, Hill—” she looked back at
     him for a moment “—but he is. One day, his dad up and leaves.” She held Marissa’s
     gaze without blinking once. “No one seemed to notice there was this kid living all
     by himself. Hill’s a good student so it didn’t affect school or anything. But a few
     months later the bank forecloses on the house. He didn’t have a way to float a mortgage
     on top of school and his part-time job. He did have a job.” She said it so earnestly,
     as if to score a few extra points in Hill’s favor. “But the company folded and everyone
     lost their jobs.”
    Lexi took a long breath and continued. “He lived with friends here and there. And
     no one asked questions or seemed to notice he had nowhere to go.” She gave a quick
     little growl of disapproval. “I’d totally let him stay with me, but my mom’s so provincial
     I can’t. He’ll be eighteen in two months and then it won’t matter, but until then…”
     She shrugged. “He needs a little help here and there.”
    Hill shifted. He hadn’t said a word. Just let his friend Lexi plead his case.
    “So like I told you, he only snuck in here when it was too cold or he had a lot of
     homework. He didn’t really hurt anything or anyone by doing it.” She folded her hands
     in her lap and straightened her shoulders. She’d said her piece.
    For a moment, all Marissa could do was try to catch her breath. She glanced at Hill.
     He stood next to the other table, his food and drink still half-finished. He’d turned
     three shades of red under his tan complexion and looked ready to bolt at any moment.
    Marissa’s head swam with the information. The most she could muster up at the moment
     was a simple question. “Is that all true?”
    “Yes ma’am.”
    It was the first time he’d spoken. He had a deep, smooth voice that while polite held
     an edge of mistrust.
    There were so many people who’d failed him. She didn’t know the first thing about
     where or how to help, but there were also services and organizations for that. None
     of which had come to take care of him when he needed it the most. He could have gone
     to them, but he was still a kid. He’d been taking care of himself any way he could.
     Until he’d gotten caught.
    And what had she done?
    Sure, she’d called the police initially, but when he’d run and she could have identified
     him, she hadn’t. Was she as guilty as the others? Even when Jax had come face-to-face
     with Hill, she hadn’t turned and pointed to him. She’d kept quiet. Now the teens trusted
     her for it and were asking for her help. Sort of. It wasn’t like they were necessarily
     asking her to help him into the system, though. They wanted her to overlook the fact
     that he’d broken into her shop—several times—and helped himself to her food.
    Food that was going to go to waste, a little voice in the back of her head whispered.
    She shook herself and asked, “And somehow all this parlays into a job offer from me
     to him?”
    Lexi’s face brightened. “Yes. You could let Hill work here. He could clean up and
     maybe you could let him sleep on the sofa in your office. It’s not all that comfortable,
     but it beats under the bridge on the far side of town.”
    Marissa let that sink in. It sucked that she’d been right. It sucked worse that Hill
     had been basically tossed aside and made to fend for himself. What must it be like
     for a teenager—whether he was soon to be eighteen or not—to be completely on his own?
     She’d never been alone since the moment of conception. She’d always had Marlie, her
     older brothers and her dad. Not to mention a slew of extended family all over Texas
     and beyond. She’d never once worried about being alone.
    Lexi