Free Reckless Radiance by Kate Roth Page A

Russell.”
    Waiting for some kind of response from Paige, Valerie held her breath. What would she think? What kind of psycho skipped town with someone they’d only known for a day? Granted, Paige didn’t know Russell had essentially saved her life—by dying. Keep the crazy in check, she told herself.
    Valerie pulled the phone away from her ear to see if the call was still connected after a lengthy silence. Then a booming cackle sounded from the speakers and she let go of a breath, a smile curling on her lips.
    “Girl, just when I think I have you figured out,” Paige mused.
    Valerie bit down on her bottom lip and joined in laughing with her friend. “Am I crazy?” she asked.
    Paige’s giggling subsided. “Honestly? I don’t think so. It’s good you’re with your family again. Is Russell staying?”
    “I don’t know. If he does my dad’s going to put him to work,” she laughed.
    “Do you want him to stay?” Paige asked, carefully rephrasing the question.
    Valerie smiled distractedly. “I think I do. Yeah…I do.”
    She heard Paige’s small giggle and Valerie instantly felt such relief for having talked to her best friend. Paige agreed to let Penny know Valerie wouldn’t be back at the diner for a while and to look in on her apartment.
    “Whatever you need me to do, I’m here for you,” Paige said sincerely.
    “Thank you so much, Paige.”
    She heard the other end grow quiet again but she knew somehow that she hadn’t dropped reception. She wondered what Paige was pondering and whether it was wrapped in worry.
    “Paige?” Valerie pressed.
    Her normally chipper voice started slow and calm. “There’s something strange about him, isn’t there?” she asked.
    Valerie felt the wind knocked out of her lungs as she moved the phone away from her ear. She couldn’t tell her. Explaining it to anyone who hadn’t seen it firsthand would be too much. She wouldn’t understand.
    “He’s different,” Valerie whispered into the receiver. “But not in a bad way.”
    “I could see it in his eyes at the diner…he cares about you. How is that possible? He barely knows you,” Paige replied.
    Another breath fell from Valerie and she shook her head though Paige couldn’t see it. “I don’t know but I care about him, too,” she said.  And she did care. More than she was willing to admit. But the thought loomed in the back of her mind. Every time she envisioned his face it grew stronger. Every time she looked in his eyes it intensified. How is that possible , she thought.
    ***
    The next morning Valerie was anxious to get out of the house and she figured it was the best time to take Russell shopping. A funny feeling rushed over her for a split-second as they got in the car together. It was a completely normal thing to do. The shopping excursion had little to no chance of ending with gunshots. She couldn’t help but let a grin form on her lips. It felt nice to be normal with Russell though she knew deep down he was anything but normal.
    “What are you smiling about?” he asked, peeking over at her.
    “Nothing,” she lied. “Where should we go? Where do you normally shop?”
    His brow wrinkled and his shoulders pushed up in a shrug.
    “Well I’m sure we can find black just about anywhere,” she snickered before turning out of the long driveway. Greensburg didn’t have a mall but a few years ago a strip center was built. It looked out of place amongst the older buildings but she could remember it being the highlight of her junior year of high school when it opened. There was a men’s store, a women’s store, a dollar store and a place to buy cell phones and car radios.
    There was silence between them as she drove and Valerie didn’t mind. It was easy compared to the night he’d sat beside her covered in blood. Hearing only the sound of his breathing was comforting now, not haunting as it had been that night.
    Pulling in to the nearest parking space to the men’s store she could, she glanced at