The Truth of Yesterday (82 page)

     “Take care,
Kendall
.”

     “I will. Thank you, Detective Evans.
For everything.”

     He nodded and led me out to the waiting room. Micah and Tad stood up, Tad looking very nervous.

     “Let's go,” I said brightly.

     Tad's eyes darted between the detective and me. “I can go?” he asked hopefully.

     “You can go,” Evans said.

     The smile that slowly spread across Tad's face was like the sun rising over the horizon after a long, harrowing night. I slipped my arm through his and tugged gently.

     “Come on,” I said. “Let's go home

Chapter 33

     The drive home from DC was very quiet for the most part. Since Micah had suffered a slight head wound, I was doing the driving. Tad sat in the back seat, silently staring out the window. I kept checking on him in the rear view mirror, just to make sure he was still back there. He dozed off after we'd crossed the bridge back to the Shore.

     “He's awful quiet,” I commented softly to Micah.

     Micah twisted stiffly around to look back at the sleeping boy. He looked even younger in sleep than he did awake. “He's been through a lot,” he said.

     “I hate it that it has to be like that,” I said, emotion thickening my voice.

     Micah glanced over at me. “It's hitting close to home, huh?”

     I nodded. I tried to speak but my throat was suddenly too tight to force the words though. I took a few deep breaths and tried again. “It could have been me. If Adam hadn't been there for me, it could have been me on the streets like that.”

     Micah reached over and squeezed my leg. “But it wasn't you.”

     We rode on a bit longer in silence, Micah's hand resting on my leg,
then
he spoke up again. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Kill?”

     “What do you mean? Is what a good idea?”

     “Taking Tad home like this.”

     I frowned. “Why wouldn't it be?”

     “You haven't even talked to Adam and Steve about this.”

     “There wasn't time. Besides, I'm sure they'll be fine with it.”

     “I think that's assuming a lot, don't you? I mean you show up with a kid and just expect them to take him in? They don't even know him.”

     “Adam took me in.”

     “That was different. He knew you; you were friends with his son. And they have a lot going on right now, with the B&B and trying to work out their living situation. And Kane graduates next year; maybe they won't want to be tied down for a few more years with another kid.”

     “So what was I supposed to do? Just leave him there to either be taken back to his father so he could abused some more? Or maybe let them throw him into the foster care system? How long do you think he'd last in either one of those situations? You know he'd run away again and just end up right back on the street.”

     “I'm just saying that maybe you shouldn't be expecting Adam and Steve to be overly thrilled about this.”

     The silence between us now was suddenly filled with tension. After a minute, Micah sighed. “Killian, you can't save everyone.”

     “Does that mean I should stop trying?” I snapped. “Should I just give up and not try to make a difference?”

     He looked over at me, studying me. “No, I don't think you should ever stop trying to make a difference. It's one of the things I love most about you. You care about people; you want to make a difference. That's great, but you need to understand that you can't personally save everyone you come across.”

     “Maybe I can't save everyone,” I said quietly, “but maybe I can save a few.” And then under my breath, “Maybe I can save Tad.”

     The rest of the drive home was tense and not much effort was made at conversation. I found myself becoming more and more nervous about my decision to bring Tad home. Micah was right; I hadn't given any thought to Adam and Steve's reaction. Knowing Adam as well as I did, I couldn't see him turning Tad back out on the street, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

     Tad woke up when we turned off the main highway and onto the twisty back roads.

     “Where are we?” he asked groggily.

     “Almost to
Chicone
,” I told him.

     “Is that where you live?”

     
“Part of the time.
Remember how I told you how my friend's dad took me in after my dad threw me out?”

     
“Yeah.”

     “His name is Adam. He and his partner Steve bought an old house just outside
Chicone
and turned it into a bed and breakfast. Adam still has his beach house in
Ocean
City
too though and we kind of go back and forth between them. He has an emotional attachment to the beach house.”

     “Wow, you guys sound rich.”

     “Not really. I guess Steve used to be fairly well-off, but he's spent a small fortune on the B&B.”

     “Where do you live?” he asked Micah.

     “I have an apartment in
Salisbury
, not far from here,” he answered.

     “You guys are dating, right?”

     “Yeah,” Micah answered for both of us.

     
“For how long?”

     
“A few months now.”

     Tad watched the scenery for a few minutes before commenting, “It's really flat here. I've never been on the Shore before. Is it all this flat?”

     “You've never been on the Shore?” Micah asked in surprise.

     
“Nope.”

     “Not even to
Ocean
City
?”

     “Going to the beach was never a high priority for my dad,” he said acidly.

     “To answer your question,” I said quickly, “yes, most of the Shore is this flat.”

     “Have you both always lived here?” Now that he was awake, Tad seemed to be full of questions, but I guess that was pretty natural really. Here he was coming to stay with people who were practically strangers. It was to be expected that he'd be curious about us.

     I answered first, “I've lived here all my life. I grew up in a small town near
Ocean
City
.”

     “I'm from
Prince George
's County, right outside DC,” Micah told him. “I moved here after I graduated from college and got a job with the newspaper.”

     “What was it like growing up here?” Tad asked me.

     “You're from a rural area, right?”

     
“Yeah.”

     “Probably not so different than it was for you then. I never knew anyone who was gay growing up. If I had bothered to think about it, I guess everyone I knew seemed to be pretty homophobic. But I never really thought about it at all until Adam's son Seth moved here and started going to my school. He helped me figure out that I was gay.”

     “He's the one who was killed?”

     “Yes.”

     “Was he your boyfriend?”

     “No, I wasn't at that point yet. We were just friends.”

     “How was he killed?”

     I didn't answer for a moment. “I'll tell you some other time, ok?” I said finally. I thought I did a pretty good job of keeping my voice steady.

     “I'm sorry,” Tad said immediately. “I shouldn't be so nosy. It's none of my damn business.”

     “No, it's ok. Don't apologize. You're just getting to know us better. You can ask questions if you want...I just might not answer all of them right now.”

     Just then, I turned into the driveway of the bed and breakfast and all Tad's questions were forgotten as he got his first glimpse of
Amalie's
House.

     “That's it?” he asked in awe.

     “That's it,” I said with a smile. I looked up at the house and saw it through his eyes, seeing it for the very first time. It was quite grand, a real Southern plantation manor house. Steve had made sure the restoration was meticulously accurate. It looked very different from the first time I'd seen it, looking more like the
Addam's
family mansion than a country bed and breakfast.

     “Are you sure you're not rich?” Tad breathed.

     I laughed.
“Pretty sure.”

     I parked the car and Micah and I climbed out. Tad stayed put in the backseat.

     “Aren't you getting out?' I asked him, leaning back into the driver's side door.

     He tore his eyes away from the house and gave me an anxious look. “Can I talk to you alone first?” he asked in a small voice.

     “I'll go on in,” Micah said, overhearing Tad's request. “I want to get some Tylenol for my head anyway; I've still got a splitting headache.” He leaned into me and whispered, “It'll also give me a chance to warn Adam and Steve.”

     I waited until he was inside then turned back to Tad. “Come, on. Let's go for a walk.”

     He climbed hesitantly out of the backseat and we started walking around the house. I tried to wait for him to make the first move, but eventually my inquisitiveness got the better of me. “So what did you want to talk about?” I asked.