dry the back of his neck. The smell of burnt to

d into th

e surface. She was staring at a crumpled, brightly colored flyer for the New

ered, she snap

voice breathless. "Keyla said

reached across the table, grabbed a piece of blackened t

dded

ob. She pressed her hands to her face. "Thank God.

counter, her arms crossed defensivel

are we paying for this? Bus tickets to New York

sh reality of their poverty crashed down on h

mmered, her eyes darting around the room. "Or I can ta

ge of disgust hit him-not at Brenda, but at the situatio

ize is fifty thousand dollars," Erich said, his voice cutting through her panic. "That wou

mor, he saw the subtle way her eyes kept dar

t down. He looked

g with me," h

w knocking into the to

nizing the original host's social anxiety. "I can't handle crowds. I

ect excuse. It

r's arm. "Keyla, please. It's a great opportunity for you to see

her face. "Mom, I have shifts at the diner!

o crumpled twenty-dollar bills-the last of the original Erich's m

voice dropping into a low, authoritative register. "I'

r, unshakeable confidence radiating from him made her skin p

nd pushed the mon

, her cheeks flushing slightly. "But I

ed into a microscop

I'll figure out the bus tickets. Keyla,

diately pulled her phone out of her

ough his chest. It was the feeling of a team. A family. Erik Patton had isolated him

carried his pl

ircut for three o'clock,"

s phone stopped instantly.

h with it?" Keyla asked, her

his hands. "I can't go to New York

reen a few more times. "Three o'clock

He could feel their eyes burning into his back. The f