Free The Price of Trust by Amanda Stephan Page B

bothering Carly, and he suspected those two men had a part in it.

Chapter 7
     
    Carly was successful in avoiding Joe, Kelly, and Todd the following couple of weeks.
    She didn't answer the store phone on the pretense that she was afraid it was a prank call. She was always out when Joe or Kelly came in, and she was purposely late for church and left early before anyone could stop her.
    One such Sunday afternoon, Joe left his seat as soon as the services were over and almost ran outside, looking for Carly. She was nowhere to be seen. Frustrated, he turned to find Angie standing behind him.
    "Hi, Joe. What are you looking for?" she asked, batting her eyes flirtatiously.
    He wasn't in the mood.
    "I was looking for Carly. Excuse me," he tried to pass her, but she stepped in his way.
    "I don't know why all the guys seem to like her. I find her pretty boring and uninteresting myself. You can't be too careful with people like her, you know."
    Joe’s brow glowering, he turned his attention to her, wishing he could swat her away like a pesky fly. "What do you mean, 'people like her'?"
    "Well, no one knows anything about her.” She stepped a little closer to him and lay her hand on his arm. Forcing himself to be nice, he stepped away, making her to lose her grip. “Billy likes her pretty well, and that should tell you enough. I heard that she's running from the law. It could be true you know. She doesn't talk to anybody. She just stays in her dumpy little apartment all the time or hangs around Sam and Sue. Don't get me wrong, they're nice people and all, but she doesn't have any friends."
    "You know, I find that amazing. I find her extremely interesting and very pretty, and I'm certain she's got quite a few friends that are worth having." He walked back inside to join Todd and Kelly, leaving a fuming Angie behind.
    "I didn't see Carly here today," Kelly said, worried.
    "She was here. She sat in the back again and left right before church ended." Joe grabbed his coat and swung it over his shoulders.
    "Why didn't she sit by us?" Kelly wondered, more than a little hurt. "Do you think she's mad? It’s been a while."
    "No, I think she doesn't want to see me.” Taking his keys out of his pocket, he headed toward the door.
    "What do you mean? I thought you two got along great that Thursday night!" Kelly was talking to Joe's back, so she turned to Todd. "Did something happen?" He just shrugged his shoulders and followed Joe, Kelly tagging behind.
    "What are you doing, Joe? Where are you going?" Todd asked, putting his hand on his arm.
    "I'm going to go to the hardware store, break down her door, and make her talk to me," he said through gritted teeth, striding down the aisle.
    "I don't think that's a good idea." Todd restrained him. "Let's go outside."
    They noticed Angie watching them angrily, but Joe didn't care. He tried to shake off Todd's hand, but he held on. Kelly put her hand on his other arm and whispered, "Do you think she was jealous that Angie sat next to you last week?"
    "I don't know; she won't see me or talk to me. Every time I go near her, she runs the other way. I don't know what's going on," he said as they walked to the truck.
    "Joe, I think you should leave her alone," Todd said quietly. Joe looked at him crossly. "No, I think you should think about this before you do anything."
    "Why?"
    "Do you want her to trust you?"
    "Yes." He paused. "But I don't want her to leave either."
    "Why would she go anywhere?" Kelly asked, looking at Todd. He gave a slight shake of his head.
    "She wouldn't tell me." Joe rubbed his forehead, and leaned on the truck. "She said that maybe it wasn't good for us to get to know each other, and that she might have to leave."
    "Do you think you might have scared her?" Todd asked, looking at him thoughtfully.
    "No. I didn't scare her. She was comfortable with me, and I think she liked being with me."
    "I did too. That's why I'm surprised at this change of heart so quickly," Todd said, bemused.
    "I