Every time I thought I’d get a break from the long stream of cars looking for a fill and could warm up inside for five minutes, another dozen cars showed up. It didn’t help that our location was just off the highway and drew all kinds of traffic other stations didn’t see. London was a thoroughfare type city between Toronto and the US border. Our station was a prime location for filling up before taking the next long stretch of highway.

Four hours later, with a drippy nose and rosy cheeks, I punched out and headed back to my humble abode. I was starving and miserable.

I was grateful the Santiagos had let me stay in their basement while I found my feet, but I knew the welcome was wearing out. They had a houseful of kids, and I’d taken space away from them that used to be their basement playroom.

Kicking the snow off my boots, I headed in the back door. I used this entrance because it provided direct access to the basement, and I could avoid having to be friendly or make small talk with Aaron’s parents. Plus, being trampled by a half a dozen little kids wasn’t my style.

I tiptoed downstairs—which was easy since the chaos of a three-year-old, a six-year-old, a ten-year-old, a twelve-year-old, and a sixteen-year-old was good cover. The minute I closed the door to my borrowed bedroom and flicked on the light, there was a knock behind me. I sighed, closing my eyes and counting to ten.

“Come in.”

Aaron poked his head in. “Hey, I thought I saw you come home. How was work?”

“Cold.”

“I bet. It’s freezing outside.”

Someone shrieked upstairs. It was loud enough goose bumps shivered down my spine. In the next breath, a deep voice admonished one of the kids for picking on another.

Aaron wasn’t fazed by the commotion and acted like he didn’t hear a thing. He was the oldest, and there was a significant gap between him and Kyle, his sixteen-year-old brother. “Did you want to study together for our programming test tomorrow?”

I shed my jacket and tossed it on the chair at the desk. “I don’t know. Might not matter.”

When another holler came from upstairs, Aaron stepped into the room and closed the door behind him—not that it did much good when it came to blocking the noise. “Why would you say that?”

“Without my parents paying for school, I can’t afford to go next year anyhow. I’m done. This is it. I tried getting a loan, and everyone laughed in my face. I’m never gonna earn enough money at the damn gas station, especially not with the shit hours I get. Plus, I can’t keep staying here.”

“Why not? My parents don’t care. I told you that.”

And he had. A number of times.