Vicious Cycle Read Online Free Page B

you money. Is there anything you want me to tell your mom?”
    He thought for a moment, tears rimming his eyes. Then he turned and staggered away.
    She closed the trunk and chafed her arms, watching as he made his way off the parking lot. From the back, he looked like a stooped, eighty-year-old man.
    He was only twenty-three.
    “J.B.,” she called out.
    He kept walking.
    “J.B., go to the shelter. It’s going to get really cold tonight.”
    “Hate that place,” he said.
    When he was off the premises, she swallowed the lump in her throat and headed back inside. Lily waited at the glass doors as Barbara went in. “Did you tell him not to come back?”
    “He knows. He’s just cold.”
    “We can’t have homeless people hanging around here.”
    “I know.”
    “You shouldn’t feed him. It makes him come back.”
    “He’s not a stray dog, Lily. He’s my friend’s only son.” She hurried into the bathroom, grabbed a tissue off the sink, and dabbed at her eyes.
    She would have to call Charlotte later and tell her J.B. had gotten the coat. But today was a chemo day. Charlotte had it on Saturdays, since she worked during the week. Maybe she should wait until tomorrow.
    Barbara studied her reflection in the mirror. Kent said she looked like Michelle Pfeiffer, but the movie star didn’t have deep lines around her mouth or grief lines between her brows. Family problems had aged her, as it had her friends.
    Had she done the right thing for Charlotte’s son? Maybe she should have let Lily have him arrested. At least he’d be warm tonight, and relatively safe.
    It was so hard to know what to do.
    Her phone vibrated again, and she looked down at the readout. Lance. She clicked it on. “Hey, sweetie. What’s up?”
    “Nothin’,” he said. “I was thinking about Jordan. Mom, do you know her mother’s name? I want to get their number from Information.”
    She pictured Jordan’s mother, who looked like she’d been using drugs for decades. Though she was probably much younger than Barbara, she looked three times older. “It’s Maureen. So you’re going to call Jordan?”
    “Probably. She needs to go back to treatment. Using drugs while she’s pregnant has got to be really, really bad for her kid.”
    “It wouldn’t hurt to call her. I’m sure she’d appreciate that you care.”
    He sighed. “It’s just that if she’s using, she probably won’t talk to me. She won’t want me to know.”
    “All you can do is try. Just understand that you can’t make her do anything. Her mother can, since Jordan’s a minor, but knowing her, it’s not likely that she will.”
    “Maybe I should talk to her mother too.”
    “Just remember, the choice is Jordan’s. If she doesn’t want your help, you can’t force her to accept it, and you’ll have to leave it alone.”
    “But, Mom, the baby …”
    “I know, honey. That baby needs a hero.” Silence hung heavy over the line. “Listen, I have to get back to work.”
    “Yeah, okay.”
    When Barbara hung up, she prayed a silent prayer for J.B. and Jordan—and for the innocent baby about to enter a chaotic world. Dabbing her eyes again, she left the bathroom and walked to the front door just as a family approached from the parking lot. There were two teens with them. That was a good sign. When a family came with adolescent children, it usually meant they were planning to make a purchase.
    Either that, or they wasted a lot of her time.
    She met them as they entered the store. “Hi, may I help you?”
    The mother looked disinterested. “We just want to look around.”
    “Great, feel free.” Barbara handed them her card. “I’m Barbara. Just so you know, I’m not just a salesperson; I’m an interior decorator. No extra charge.”
    It didn’t seem to impress them, but she followed at a distance so she could help the moment they had a question. She needed another big sale, and she wasn’t going to let this family get away.

Chapter 5
    L ance told himself he