My eyes poked out from the crook of my arm as tears wet my skin.
Documents.
Help.
Single mothers.
All the things my doctor told me came rushing back to my mind as I scurried off the bed. That was the first thing on my agenda. Getting those documents filled out and turned in to their rightful places. If I could get approved for some local housing and some money every month for food, that was a good step in the right direction.
I sat down at my small desk and pulled out a pen, then began to fill out the applications the doctor had stuffed into the bag.
And all the while, Nick and my mother’s voices continued to swell with anger.
Chapter 11
Grayson
I spent all damn weekend driving around town trying to find Michelle. I checked the other rental properties to see if she had accepted one of their requests to live there. I checked all of the restaurants to see if anyone had employed her after her time at the diner. I drove by the gas station and checked out some of the other rental properties that would’ve been within her price range. Hell, I even checked with Dr. Luke Simmons at his practice to see if she had scheduled an appointment to come in and see him.
But she was nowhere to be found.
Where the hell could she have gone? She didn’t have a car. Not much money to her name. She couldn’t have gone many places. Even with four hundred bucks, a cab only would’ve gotten her a few towns over in either direction. So, I checked those areas as well. Asked around using her name and prior occupation. Told people I was a concerned friend that hadn’t seen her in a few days. I was even tempted to file a missing person’s report on her.
The only other place I knew to check was the diner.
“Well hello there, Grayson,” Cecily said as I entered. “I didn’t realize you were still in town. Can’t get enough of us?”
“Cut the shit,” I said. “Where’s Michelle?”
Her face fell at the mention of her name and all she did was shrug.
“Figured she was with you. What’d you do? Lose your best racehorse?”
“I need to know where she went and someone in this town knows,” I said.
“She run off like I told you she would?” she asked with a grin.
I’d never even considered hitting a woman in my life, but I was two ticks away from smacking that sly grin off her face.
“Come on, Gray. Why are you wasting your time with a little girl like her? She doesn’t know what she wants in life. She’s weak-willed. Pathetic. Remember how hot we used to be together?”
“You mean before you stood me up at prom?” I asked.
“You know damn good and well I wasn’t a woman to be tied down. And you’re not a man to be tied down, Grayson. What are you doing, running after a girl like Michelle when you could be with a woman like me? A woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it.”
“I don’t want you, Cecily.”
“But you want Michelle? Things could be so good between us. And I’d never run from you. Unless, of course, you enjoyed that sort of thing.”
“I... do not want... you,” I said.
“You know, you’re a real piece of work, MacDonald. And an asshole, by the way. You think this entire town doesn’t remember the shit you and Andy got up to back in the day? People in this town hate you. Despise you. But not me, Grayson. I never have. Sure, I screwed up in high school by standing you up. Once. One mistake, and you’re lording it over me for the rest of my damn life. I could love you like no woman could, and you’re stuck running after some bitch who’s fucking around with—”
“She’s not a bitch!” I exclaimed.
The entire diner fell silent as Cecily’s eyebrows rose up onto her forehead.
“She’s kind, and considerate, and beautiful. Soft-natured and intelligent and driven, despite everything this bullshit town has done to her. I let this pathetic excuse for a home crawl under my skin and rid me of the one good thing to ever come from this place, and now she’s gone and I’m trying to find her. So, are you going to help me or not!?”