I needed to find Zip.
I spent a few minutes helping Jackson build his space station before Alex took over.
“Can you build?” Jackson eyed him skeptically.
Alex nodded. “Sure can. Let me talk to Noah for a minute and then I’ll be back. And we’ll trick out your space station, I promise.”
I said goodbye and Alex walked outside with me.
“He likes you,” I said.
“He’s a good kid.” He rocked on his heels. “So. Anything I need to know?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t fudge on anything. It went the way I said it did.”
“You think he’ll stay off?”
“No. He’ll probably come after me again. But I’m okay with that. You need to work on getting her to understand that San Diego is a good idea.”
He nodded and something crossed into his expression. “I will. Is there anything I should know about? With Bella, I mean?”
“I’m not following.”
He hesitated. “Between you and her.”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing. I’m just trying to help her out.”
“Okay. Just wanted to make sure.”
“Why?”
“I just wanted to make sure I understood the dynamics here,” he said, shrugging. “That’s all.”
“She’s been really nice to me,” I said. “I like her. I like the kid. I wanna help her. That’s all.” I took a deep breath. “And she knows about your sister.”
“Everything?”
“I told her everything.”
“Wow,” he said. “Okay. Good to know.”
“I trust her,” I said. “If she asks questions, you can answer them.”
“Okay. Where are you headed?”
“To find Zip,” I said. “I need to know how stupid he’s been.”
“You want me to come along?”
“Nope. You stay with them. Convince her about San Diego.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ll be back here later on. Okay if I take your car again?”
“Of course,” he said. “Be careful.”
As I walked to the rental, I thought about how careful I’d been for the previous few months. It had worn on me. It had changed me. And I wasn’t sure it was for the better. I was tired of being careful. If I was really going to help Bella and Jackson, I wasn’t going to be able to be careful.
I was going to need to be me.