She choked on the word, all while I tried to force a calming breath.

“He’s a good man. A good father,” she added. “Much better than your own. If I’d have been a smarter woman, I would have gone on a date with him when they all came into my diner that night.”

“Mom.”

“Oh, I’m only teasing,” she said, and I could picture her waving me off even as we both knew she wasn’t joking, not even a little bit.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “What… why did he do this?”

“Because he’s a good, Christian man,” she said, almost defensively. “And because he saw someone who needed help, and he happens to be in the position of helping.”

I swallowed.

Cory was a good man. Hadn’t I just argued that point to my father? Hadn’t I wished the very same thing Mom had, that it was Cory in our life instead of Dad?

So why was my stomach curdling like bad milk?

“This is a good thing, sweetheart. And I can pay you back for what you sent, so you can pay off that loan before it even has time to accrue interest. It’s all working out, don’t you see?”

But I couldn’t see anything but red.

Because I knew that while Cory had the means to help many people, he rarely ever did without wanting something in return.

“Mom, I need to go.”

“Okay, honey. I love you. It’s all good now. I’ll be sending you a check, okay?”

I couldn’t even manage to acknowledge her further before I was hanging up with shaking hands, and immediately thumbing through my contacts for Maliyah’s number. I typed out a text.

We need to talk. Now.

The bubbles bounced on the screen, then went away.

I gritted my teeth as I marched the rest of the way across campus, and I’d just swung through my dorm room door when my phone buzzed.

I have class until six. Meet after?

I only responded with a thumbs up emoji and my dorm number, although I was pretty sure she already knew it, and then I promptly threw my phone down, dragging my hands back through my hair as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on. It was only four now, and I was going to drive myself insane trying to piece this all together in the time I had until Maliyah could meet.

I was just about to hop in the shower — a cold one — when my phone rang.

Cory Vail was the name staring back at me.

My throat thickened, and I forced a breath before answering. “Hello?”

“Hello, son,” his deep voice echoed back. “How are you?”

The emotions that warred inside me then were too much to bear, a cross between familial pride and the wariness of a cornered animal.