Baker's Law. Denise McDonald

The most she could muster up at the moment was a simple question. “Is that all true?”

      “Yes ma’am.”

      It was the first time he’d spoken. He had a deep, smooth voice that while polite held an edge of mistrust.

      There were so many people who’d failed him. She didn’t know the first thing about where or how to help, but there were also services and organizations for that. None of which had come to take care of him when he needed it the most. He could have gone to them, but he was still a kid. He’d been taking care of himself any way he could. Until he’d gotten caught.

      And what had she done?

      Sure, she’d called the police initially, but when he’d run and she could have identified him, she hadn’t. Was she as guilty as the others? Even when Jax had come face-to-face with Hill, she hadn’t turned and pointed to him. She’d kept quiet. Now the teens trusted her for it and were asking for her help. Sort of. It wasn’t like they were necessarily asking her to help him into the system, though. They wanted her to overlook the fact that he’d broken into her shop—several times—and helped himself to her food.

      Food that was going to go to waste, a little voice in the back of her head whispered.

      She shook herself and asked, “And somehow all this parlays into a job offer from me to him?”

      Lexi’s face brightened. “Yes. You could let Hill work here. He could clean up and maybe you could let him sleep on the sofa in your office. It’s not all that comfortable, but it beats under the bridge on the far side of town.”

      Marissa let that sink in. It sucked that she’d been right. It sucked worse that Hill had been basically tossed aside and made to fend for himself. What must it be like for a teenager—whether he was soon to be eighteen or not—to be completely on his own? She’d never been alone since the moment of conception. She’d always had Marlie, her older brothers and her dad. Not to mention a slew of extended family all over Texas and beyond. She’d never once worried about being alone.

      Lexi wasn’t done yet. “If you agree, it will give you an added layer of security having a warm body here at night. So no one can break in.”

      “No one else can break in, you mean,” Marissa pointed out.

      If Hill’s face had been red before, now it was about-to-stroke-out red. He rolled his head back and stared up at the ceiling.

      “How many times have you…” Marissa motioned to the back of the shop.

      “Not that many,” Lexi said at the same time as Hill lowered his head and said, “a dozen or so.”

      Marissa pinched the bridge of her nose. A dozen times someone had broken into her shop. A dozen times a lone, teenage boy had slept in her office, on her sofa, to keep from sleeping under a bridge. She’d only noticed a couple of times when things seemed off, and only once was it obvious that food had been taken.

      The bell over the door clanged as a woman with three little girls came in chattering away.

      “How are y’all?” Marissa stood. “I’ll be right with you.” When they passed and made their way up to the counter, she turned to the teens. “I’m not done talking with you two. Sit. Finish your snack and I’ll be right back.”

      She wasn’t entirely sure they’d listen to her. She half-expected them to be gone when she finished with her customers. But Lexi and Hill were at the table. Hill had finished his cupcake and Lexi sat picking at hers. Marissa grabbed another red velvet from the case and headed back over to the teens. She set the cupcake in front of Hill. He stared at it for a long moment, then peeled back the paper and took a bite.

      There were so many things she could do. The least of which was nothing and tell the kids to skedaddle. One thing that played over and again in her head was the fact that Hill had admittedly sneaked into the shop so many times and—other than the food—he hadn’t taken a single thing. He could have cleaned out the money from the cash register. Not that she kept more than a few dollars in the drawer when the store was closed. Not to mention, there were any number of pawnable items in the shop and on her desk and he’d never once filched anything. That should count for something. And while she did want to help him out, she wasn’t ready to invite him to her small two-bedroom townhome. Nor was she ready to thrust him upon a system that as of yet hadn’t even noticed he needed help.

      “If I say yes, there will be some strict ground rules.”

      Lexi squealed at an ear-piercing decibel, then launched herself from the stool to give Marissa a bone-crushing bear hug.