Delilah rushed through the rest of her tasks so they could leave. She felt warm and swollen from his love making, still feeling the after glow as she went about her paperwork. He sat beside her, and she couldn’t stop looking at him. Every glance his way brought a new little flutter in her chest.

When she was finally done and they walked out, she locked up. He’d asked her to dinner, but she had so much to do at home, she would have to say no. She didn’t want to, and it made her sad to think she would say goodbye to him and not see him tonight, but she had no choice.

“I really need to get home,” she said.

“What about dinner?”

“I know, but I can’t. I want to. Believe me, I wish I could just drop everything and go out with you anytime you want to, but I have too much to do.”

“Bring your books.”

“To the restaurant?”

He nodded. “Why not? We’ll go wherever you want tonight.”

She shifted her weight as she considered. As long as she didn’t spend the night with him again and worked quickly, maybe she could spare an hour or so for dinner.

“Okay. We’ll eat, then schoolwork. Deal?”

He nodded and stuck out his hand to shake hers. “Deal.”

She shook his hand, laughing, and they got into his car.

“Where to?” he asked.

“Umm…” They pulled out of the parking as she thought.

Her family had never had enough money to eat out often. She could probably count on one hand the number of times she ate a meal at a restaurant. But she didn’t want to make it obvious how poor and pathetic her family was. She had to be able to think of one place to eat.

“What are you in the mood for?” she asked, stalling.

“We just had Italian the other night. Are you a fan of Thai food?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not really.” In truth, she didn’t think she’d ever had it, but this was not the time for experimentation.

His phone rang and he glanced at the screen, then made a face like he was unhappy.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“It’s my mother. She doesn’t usually call me, she just texts.”

“You better answer then. It could be important.”

“Yeah. It’ll just be a minute.”

“Take your time.”

“Hey Mom,” he said.

Delilah couldn’t hear what was said, but when Christian reacted in surprise and promptly pulled the car over, she was worried.

“What happened?” He almost screamed it into the phone. He put his hand to his head and said, “Oh my God.” He listened for another few seconds. “Yeah.” Then he put down his phone.

He started the car and pulled onto the road, speeding quickly.

“Everything… okay?” she asked.

“Umm. Well, no. My mother called to tell me that my father was killed.”

“What! Oh no!” Her mind spun with the news. His father had just been killed? Like, murdered? She had no idea what to do. “Christian, I’m so, so sorry,” she said fervently. “I… I don’t even know what to say.”

“It’s okay. I have to go home right away. Will you come with me?”

She paused, thinking this might not be the best time to bring someone home, but if he wanted her there, she’d be there for him any way she could. “Sure. If that’s what you want. I don’t want to get in the way or anything.”

“You won’t be. I just don’t want to go all the way back to the store, and I don’t want to just drop you off like this. I want you with me.”

“Okay.” She reached over to squeeze his hand. “Whatever you need. I just can’t believe this. How completely horrible.”

“Yeah,” he said stiffly. His jaw was tight and his eyes were focused on the road.

Delilah tried to think of what to do or say, but nothing came to her. When her own father died, it had changed everything. For weeks, it was like living in a house where an explosion went off and no one cleaned up the mess or acknowledged what happened. They were all zombies, trying to survive, not knowing what to do for each other. Ethan had been just a baby at the time and her sisters were toddlers. At only 12 years old, there hadn’t been much she could do to help her mother, but she tried her best.

Christian drove fast, tearing through streets until they got to a neighborhood full of huge, expensive homes. They must be getting close. He pulled into one of the biggest houses on the block. She didn’t have much time to appreciate the house—or was it a mansion? Christian hopped out of the car.

When he got out, several car doors opened and people started getting out. Delilah hurried over to Christian as he stood watching the people getting out. She stood with him, but when she looked over, she recognized some of the men now coming toward them. It was the guys from the restaurant.

Christian squeezed her hand, then looked at her. His eyes were wild with terror. “Wait in the car.”

She swallowed hard and did as he asked.