Ronan frowned down at me, taken back by the fire in my tone. “No one.”
“It was Dowd, wasn’t it? For Frankie?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it does,” I said, incredulous. “It matters to me.”
We both froze. Ronan’s gaze on me softened. We were standing so close. Close, like we were about to dance or…
I stepped back, my cheeks flaming. “I mean…it’s not right. First your arm and now this.”
“Forget it.”
“I don’t want to forget it. I want to press charges.”
“No.”
“Ronan—”
“It’sover, Shiloh,” he said harshly, though his gray eyes looked more sad than angry. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to fuckingthinkabout it. Just…leave it alone.”
“But…”
But nothing. Ronan had shut down, turned away, and resumed his work on my shed, leaving me gaping after him in the middle of the yard like a dope. I turned on my heel and strode back into the house.
“Shiloh, what’s wrong?” Bibi asked.
Everything. Because nothing is what it’s supposed to be.
I sucked in a breath. “Nothing. Everything’s fine.”
“Hmm,” Bibi said, wiping down the counter with a cloth. “Are you sure?”
Bibi probably hadn’t seen Ronan’s bruises, and I didn’t want to worry her.
“Yeah, sorry. It’s just been a weird day.” I forced a smile that she’d hear in my words. “I’m going to the garage. Holler if you need anything.”
Lying to Bibi was high on my list of things I never do, but then again, so was losing control. I sat at my dim workstation and concentrated on my work, refocused my attention, and calmed my beating heart. It was slow going at first until I thought of my mother sitting in Aunt Bertie’s kitchen, smoking over a crossword, and not looking at me.
It went faster after that.
Yellow twilight was slipping under the garage door when I finished. Everyone at school would be getting ready for the homecoming dance, taking pictures and going out to dinner. I’d completed a bracelet that would go in my eventual shop. That was something.
I expected—hoped—Ronan would be long gone, but he was still in our yard, working. The base of the shed had been laid, and he was hammering a nail into one corner. More nails stuck out of his mouth,his thick brows furrowed in concentration. The muscles of his arms flexed with eachwhackof the hammer.
I quickly turned and joined Bibi on the couch where she was listening toLaw & Orderon the TV and knitting. The cats, Lucy and Ethel, lay stretched out over the back like throw pillows.
“Well?” Bibi asked. “Feeling better?”
“Yes, thanks. I’m sorry. I…” I sighed out the rest of my words, not sure what I’d have said anyway.
“It’s getting late,” Bibi said pointedly. “That boy is going to work until dark if we let him. Will you go tell him it’s quitting time, or shall I?” She smiled and patted my hand. “Don’t want you to get flustered after all.”
I gaped. “What? I’m not… I’ll tell him.”
I ignored Bibi’s snickering and went out to the patio.
“Hey,” I said when there was a break in the hammering. “Bibi says it’s time to quit.”