Page 96 of Making Over Maris

His fingers laced together until they went white. “Aunt Linda said that was my fault too.”

“I am seriously not liking this Aunt Linda. She sounds like a raging bitch.”

“Oh, you have no idea. There were other things—” He looked away. Then he stood. Turned. Faced the wall. As though he wanted to block out a memory. Or couldn’t bear to share it with her.

Sara ached to soothe him but knew he needed to work through this, to tell her in his own way. “And?”

“And. Well. Suffice to say, I didn’t stay with Aunt Linda very long.”

“I should hope not.”

“I ran away.”

“Oh, Jack.”

He swallowed heavily and sat back down, in command of himself, his life, once more. “I ran away and it was the best fucking thing I ever did. It was difficult at first because I had to find food and a place to sleep. And life is rough as a homeless kid.”

Her heart lurched. He’d been homeless? As a kid? “Oh, Jack.”

He glared at her. “No pity, Sara. There’s no need for it.”

“But how horrible.”

“You do what you have to do. Besides, it was a hell of a lot better than living with my aunt—”

“Okay.” She tried to rearrange her features into a pleasant, cheerful mien but probably only accomplished a grimace.

“Anyway it was tough but then I found Teen Hope—or rather they found me. They gave me a place to sleep and food to eat and made it so I could keep going to school. But they did more than that. They gave me Mr. Winston.”

“Mr. Winston?”

“Yeah.” Jack sat back in his chair. His face transformed. It was a balm to her soul. Thank God he’d found someone who could make him smile like that. “He wasn’t anybody, really. Not a millionaire or some bigwig. He was just a guy who worked at a grocery store and spent his evenings and weekends helping us kids with our homework—or talking to us about life.” He paused and fixed her with a poignant smile. “He’s the reason I’m anything, Sara. He’s the reason I finished high school. He’s the reason I stayed out of trouble. He’s the reason I didn’t stick a needle in my arm like so many did. He helped me prepare for my SATs and ACTs, he helped me figure out how to apply for a scholarship. He made me what I am.”

“You can’t miss his birthday.”

“I know.”

“I totally understand, Jack.” She swallowed but it didn’t relieve the pressure in her throat. But damn it, she wasn’t going to cry. “I’m…sorry if I was a bitch.”

“You’re never a bitch.”

She tipped her head to the side and shot him a sardonic look.

“Okay. Sometimes you are but I like it.”

She couldn’t help her smile. “We’ll get together another night.”

“Okay. Thanks, Sara. For understanding. Unless…”

“Unless?”

“Would you like to come with me?”

Her heart soared. To meet Mr. Winston? The man who had saved Jack? “Hell, yes.”

“So…if your mom died when you were a baby and your dad was…wasn’t present, who raised you?”

Jack braked for a light before he answered. “No one raised me, Sara.”