That stung. She kept her gaze forward, focusing hard on the bus stop a half block away. “You think I am, though?”

“You’re not stupid.” There was no hesitation in his words. “But after what your mom did, I’m worried you might be getting desperate.”

“Desperate.” The word was forced between gritted teeth. The truth of it made it especially painful to hear. She needed to get away from John before she did something embarrassing—like burst into tears or admit that he was right. “Go away, Carmondy.”

He made a frustrated sound. “You’re taking this the wrong way. I’m trying to look out for you.”

“Stop trying.” She reached the bus-stop shelter and halted. “You don’t need to look out for me. I have four sisters who do that already.”

“At least let me give you a ride home.” He pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen. Although she was curious, she refused to crane her neck to see what he was doing.

“No. I’ll take the bus.”

“You’re going to be waiting hours.” He held up his phone with the screen toward her so she could see the bus schedule. He was right.

Suddenly, all of the anger that had been filling her whooshed out like a balloon with a leak, leaving her limp and tired. She sagged against the side of the shelter. She hadn’t felt so hopeless and desperate since she was twelve and the heat had been turned off in January because Jane hadn’t paid the gas bill. So many times, Molly had come up with solutions and worked hard and thought she’d succeeded in making life better for her sisters, only to have her mom destroy everything Molly had just built with one casually selfish decision.

John’s mention of Sonny Zarver reminded Molly that Barney wanted her to bring in that particular skip. Now that he had leverage on her and her family, she couldn’t see how they could get out of taking the job. Molly needed to call Jeremy Tremaine, an attorney her mom had used for years until Jane had finally chased him off, as she eventually did all of her lawyers. Jeremy would know whether Barney really could take possession of the house before Jane’s next court date if it appeared that she’d fled. Molly’s stomach twisted and churned.

Gentle, enormous hands on her shoulders brought her out of her galloping thoughts, and she looked up to see that John was watching her intently. “Let me give you a ride home,” he said. “Please.”

Her knee-jerk reaction was to turn him down, but she hesitated before saying the words. Her options were limited. She could walk several miles back home or wait hours for the next bus or text Charlie for a ride. The last was her only real option, and it wasn’t ideal. Charlie and Felicity were doing the rounds of Jane’s friends, trying to find out where their mom had landed after leaving the Denver jail. They didn’t need to come all the way back to Langston to give her a ride home, especially not when John was right here, offering her his taxi services, and the only thing stopping her from accepting was her pride.