Under the Viaduct by H. Anderson (first e reader txt) 📗

had another coughing fit, worse this time.”

Kaylee shook her head, worry piercing her heart. “Help me carry this stuff, please.” She handed him the bag of food and she grabbed the bag with the pan and cough drops and the container of soup.

“You need to stop doing this,” Blayne said.

“What?” Kaylee put on an innocent act.

“Spending money on us.”

She stopped and turned to him. “Look, it’s my money and—just like Mama C—I’ll do what I want with it.” She smiled to soften her tone.

Under his breath, Blayne whispered, “Until you run out.”

She rolled her eyes and continued on to where Mama C sat. Gravel dug into her knees as she knelt beside the elderly woman. She sat the bag next to her. “Here’s a new pan and some cough drops.” Kaylee peeled the top off the steaming soup, plopped a plastic spoon in it, and handed it to Mama C. “Please eat the whole thing. It’s the best soup in Denver.” She screwed the top off the water bottle then screwed it back on loosely. “Here’s some water to go with it.”

“You are the sweetest.” Mama C slurped a bite of soup, closed her eyes, and hummed, “Mmm mmm.”

Blayne handed out the warm sandwiches and fries, taking two sandwiches for himself. “You really are the sweetest,” he whispered as he sat down next to her. Some of the tension still present from their earlier discussion eased from Kaylee’s shoulders.

The apartment was a mess. Allie had spent all of her time at Max’s before he had to leave on his next away rotation in Arizona. Kaylee had spent all her time upholding her promise to Mama C to help Blayne. She sighed as she surveyed the dishes piled high in the sink, the takeout packages littering the countertop, and the dust built up on the coffee table. She opened the fridge. A half-gallon of expired milk and some condiments. “Cleaning tonight, shopping tomorrow,” she said to herself.

She changed into her “sloppy clothes,” pajama bottoms and a Captain America t-shirt, and started in on the kitchen. As she cleaned, she let her mind run wild. By the time she’d completed the dusting and ran a vacuum over the small area of carpet, she’d decided she needed to go to New York. It was more important than worry about racking up more debt. As her head hit the pillow well after her usual bedtime, she decided she’d work the “dad” angle first.

Using the “I need to do this for my thesis project” angle, Kaylee was able to convince her dad to use some of his credit card points to buy her airline ticket. She only felt slightly guilty about the partial lie—it was because of her thesis that she’d stumbled onto this mystery.

She booked her flight for the middle of the next week and used her credit card to reserve a room at the cheapest hotel she could find. She’d have to use a ride-share company to get around, from what she’d researched about the subway system, it would be much too confusing for her to figure out.

And she needed to break the news to Blayne. He was not going to be happy, but she didn’t want to lie to him.

After she made the arrangements for New York, Kaylee finished cleaning up the apartment. By the time Allie rolled out of bed near noon, Kaylee’s stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten since sometime the day before. She stepped in front of her sleepy roommate. “Get dressed. Let’s go to lunch and then get a few groceries.”

Allie drew her eyebrows together and pointed to her ear. “I can’t hear you,” she growled.

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Kaylee rolled her eyes. “I know you aren’t a morning person, but it’s no longer morning,” she signed, then pointed to the clock on the microwave.

“Ugh. Fine. As long as lunch includes copious amounts of coffee.” Allie pivoted and stomped back into their shared room.

They went to their favorite diner for breakfast where Kaylee told Allie her plans for New York the next week.

“You can’t be serious.” Allie raised her voice to the point where the neighboring tables turned to look at them.

“Lower your voice,” Kaylee signed.

“Sorry,” she signed back and then spoke in a slightly muted voice, “but, this is crazy. You can’t go to NYC by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m only going to the school. I promise to be back in my hotel room before dark. I’ll really only be there for one full day, I’m flying in on Tuesday, visiting the school on Wednesday, and flying home on Thursday.”

“Maybe I should go with you. How much are plane tickets?”

“A lot. I was only able to swing it because I’m using my dad’s points.”

Allie took a sip of her coffee. “Well, I’m still going to look at flights.”

Later that evening, at a time she was sure Blayne would be there after work, Kaylee went to check on Mama C.

She didn’t see his tall frame among those gathered around the fire, but before she could be too disappointed, Demarcus hurried over to her. “Mama C has a fever. You don’t happen to have some medicine for that, do you?”

“Actually,” Kaylee raised her left arm that had a bag looped around it, “I do. And some fresh water and more soup.”

Demarcus smiled, but it wasn’t his usual carefree smile, his eyes continued to show worry even as his lips curled up at the ends. “You’re the best.”

Kaylee knelt down next to Mama C and felt her forehead. She was burning up. Kaylee opened the large bottle of water she pulled from the bag and handed it to her. Mama C took a small drink and then suffered a bout of coughing that shook her thin frame.

Popping two cold and flu pills out of a blister pack, Kaylee handed them to the elderly woman. “Here. These will help with your cough and fever. I hope.”

Mama C worked on swallowing the pills while Kaylee