“I was hoping you needed to go to Davy today? I need a ride to the Kut N Kurl salon.”

“You don’t have your driver’s license yet?”

“Dad has to take Connor to a doctor’s appointment. I usually do that, but the doctor will want to talk to Dad. So he’ll need the truck.”

“I’ll be glad to take you,” Manfred said. “Do you have an appointment?”

“At three. Is that at all . . . ?”

“I’ll stop by the service station to pick you up at two thirty.”

“Thanks, M . . . Manfred.” She’d been about to call him Mr. Bernardo. He had a lot of remedial work to do.

At two twenty-seven, Manfred pulled in at Gas N Go. There were no customers at the moment. Inside, Shawn was shelving motor oil. Creek was sitting on a stool behind the register, and she grinned when he came in. Shawn gave Manfred a grim look.

“Hey, Shawn,” Manfred said, doing his best to sound casual and responsible. “I had to go to Davy this afternoon, anyway, so it’s no trouble for me to give Creek a ride.”

“All right,” Shawn said heavily. He straightened up and looked at Manfred without much enthusiasm. “Teacher Reed’s coming over to take care of this place. I’m leaving as soon as Connor gets home on the bus. His doctor is over in Marthasville. Be sure and have Creek home by six. She needs to watch Connor.”

“She’ll be back by then for sure,” Manfred said. How much watching could Connor need? The boy was fourteen. “You ready, Creek?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she said, sliding off the stool and walking around the counter. “Thanks for giving me a ride, Mr. Bernardo. Dad, see you later.”

“Okay, Creek,” Shawn said grudgingly. “You got enough money?”

“Yes, sir.”

Shawn couldn’t think of any other reason to delay Creek’s departure, so Manfred held the door open for the girl and she flew out of the store.

Creek didn’t wait for him to open the car door for her but scrambled inside as if she feared her father would stop her from going to Davy at the last minute. Manfred buckled up as quickly as he could, and looked both ways about ten times before he pulled out onto the Davy highway. If Shawn was watching—pretty much a sure thing—Manfred wanted to be sure he saw how responsibly Manfred would drive with Creek in the car.

“Relief!” said Creek.

“Relief?”

“Getting out of Midnight for a little while. Well, actually, getting away from my dad for a little while.”

“You’re at the age when most kids separate from their parents,” he agreed.

“Okay, I won’t call you ‘Mr. Bernardo’ again, and you don’t call me ‘kid.’”