Concealed (11 page)

She pushed the buzzer on the intercom repeatedly until someone answered. “Sydney Ross, I need to see my daughter, please.” The delay was just enough time for Wade to catch up and follow her inside.

“You need to calm down, Syd. You’re going to scare her.” Deep down inside she knew she was being completely irrational. The call could have been from Luke, or one of Wade’s deputies with more questions. Just because Hailey didn’t know who it was didn’t mean they wouldn’t have offered the information if asked. It didn’t mean it was him.

Realizing that Wade was right, Sydney paused and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down as she stood outside the office. It would do no good to run into Faith’s classroom, snatch her from her friends, and toss her in the car so they could run away. It would only upset her more. In plain sight at school was probably the safest place for Faith right now. She pressed a hand to her stomach then touched Wade’s arm as he stood beside her.

“I’m sorry. I know I’m out of control.” She adjusted her shirt and ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it right before the principal walked out of the office.

“Miss Ross, is something wrong?”

In a millisecond she managed to wipe the distress from her face and replace it with a sheepish calm. “No. No, sorry. Faith wasn’t feeling well this morning and I just wanted to check on her but I don’t want her to know I’m here. Would you mind if I peeked in on her through the window?”

The principal seemed to buy her explanation. She led them down the hall to the kindergarten classroom. Inside, Faith sat at a table surrounded by friends making snakes out of paper plates. Watching her tiny tongue stick out of her mouth as her fingers worked the scissors reminded Sydney how precious a gift she had been given and that she needed to protect her. No matter what.

“Thank you so much. I’m sorry to show up out of the blue.” The two women walked back toward the office while Wade lingered at the door, watching the children play.

“Um, while I’m here, I wanted to thank you for all you’re doing for Faith. This is a wonderful school and she couldn’t be happier.”

The principal’s face broke out in a wide smile. “We’re thrilled to have her here. She’s such a sweet girl.”

Sydney nervously glanced at the security monitors in the office. “And all the teachers and aides know about our arrangement, right?”

“Absolutely,” the principal said, laying her hand on Sydney’s arm. “Everyone knows that you’re the only one who will pick her up from school.” She thought for a moment then said, “But don’t you want to name one other person who can get her, in case you’re sick?”

“No. I’m the only one.” Sydney answered way too fast, startling the woman but she didn’t care. “Even if I’m sick, I’ll crawl from my bed to pick her up and that’s the end of it.”

“MOMMY, CAN I GET
this?” It seemed to be the phrase of the day. Faith must have said it a thousand times during their trip asking for everything from a piece of candy to a four foot tall teddy bear.

When Cara came up with the idea of a shopping trip, Sydney could have kissed her. The day long trip wasn’t the same without Melissa. Both Sydney and Cara had received a quick call from Melissa as she checked in with them just outside of Paris. Things were wonderful and she was looking forward to the next leg of her trip. She had said it would probably be a few weeks before they heard from her again and to not worry. It had been so wonderful to hear her voice. When Cara suggested the outing, Sydney knew it was the right thing to do.

Cara was more of a surrogate mother for Sydney than a girlfriend, but for today it didn’t matter. She was exactly what Sydney and Faith both needed—a little motherly TLC. The most important thing was they were getting out of Elton and leaving all the awful stuff behind them so they could relax.

“No, honey, we don’t need a dog toy today. We don’t even have a dog. Put it back.” Sydney stood her ground, even when Faith put on her best pout.

“Then can we get a dog?” Faith asked excitedly. She used her adorable toothless smile as a weapon when she really wanted something.

“No. Now put that back.”

“Are you sure she’s only five?” Cara laughed as Faith stomped away, the rubber chicken in her hand dragging along on the ground. “She’s adorable. My Jennifer would have screamed her head off if I said no to her when she was that age.”

“I think she’s over that phase. Now that she’s almost six, she’s moved on to full-fledged manipulation and her own brand of logic,” Sydney said with a grin. “It’s kinda scary if you ask me.”

“I heard about what she said to Wade at the auction.” There was no mistake where this conversation was leading, and Sydney wanted none of it so she tried to change the subject and keep it away from her love life. Or lack thereof.

“That’s what I’m talking about. The things that come out of her mouth terrify me.” She held up a striped blouse from her bag. “What do you think? Does it make me look fat?”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Nice try. We’re talking about Wade, child. Whether you like it or not.”

“Not.” There was nothing to say on the topic. She was done with Wade, not that anything even got started except an evening of heavy petting and could-have-beens that she would be thinking about for the rest of her life.

Not to be put off, Cara became a walking talking resume of Wade’s good attributes. “He’s employed. Has been since he came back from the service.”

Sydney nodded her head in agreement while inside she had her own internal dialogue going on.
As a sheriff and he’ll have me arrested when he finds out about Faith.

“He treats women well.”

Her face flushed at that statement. She knew exactly how Wade treated women and it was spectacular. Unfortunately she didn’t deserve any of it.
He’d cringe when he found out the truth.

“He likes you.”

That was the hardest one for Sydney to think about. He was interested, he’d made that perfectly clear the night of their date.
But that’s because he doesn’t know what a horrible person I am. But I do.

“Five more minutes, Faith. Then we have to leave.” Faith scampered over to admire some toys and it warmed Sydney’s heart to see her so happy. Cara was distracted so Sydney hoped the Wade litany would end, but it didn’t. It only became more awkward.

“He’s very handsome.” When Sydney’s eyebrows shot up, Cara laughed. “I may be old, but I’m not dead. The guy’s gorgeous in that rebel-without-a-cause way. Why, if I were thirty years younger, you’d have some competition.”

“Maybe
you
should date him then!”

“Except he wants you.” The flush came back full force. “And I know you’re attracted to him. Melissa and I talked all about it. I see the way you hide from him or get nervous when you have to talk to him. It’s sweet.”

“It’s embarrassing.” Sydney shook her head. “Listen, Wade could do so much better than me.”

“I think that’s for him to decide.”

“I don’t even know how to talk to him. I can talk to Luke and any other man in the diner just fine, but with Wade I’m constantly making a fool of myself.”

“Luke is a friend, nothing more. Wade gets you excited. You’ve gotta flirt with him, child. Let him know you’re interested. Be playful.”

“Even if I wanted to, which I don’t,” Sydney threw up her hands in frustration, “I don’t know how.”

Cara patted her on the shoulder. “We’ve got a long drive home. I’ll give you some pointers that worked for me when I was trying to catch Pete.”

“Oh, Lord!”

With a wink Cara replied, “Oh, Lord is right!”

They laughed and gathered up their bags. It took Sydney a minute to find Faith, but then the little girl came running right over. Once her hand slipped into Sydney’s, she calmed down. Everything was fine. They were safe.

For now.

The day had been exactly what they needed to clear their heads, but now it was time to get back to Elton and so many things Sydney was trying to forget.

“I LOVE MY NEW
shoes,” Faith sang from the backseat as she had been for the last twenty minutes. Cara had bought her a new doll which was snuggled up beside the little girl; however, the shiny new shoes were definitely her favorite. She couldn’t stop talking about them as her feet kicked up and down. “They are so pretty and nice and awesome… I love them.”

“I’m glad.” The songs had been cracking Cara and Sydney up but Cara still managed to get in her tips and lessons for Sydney about how to flirt. She even suggested that Syd try some of them out the next time she saw Wade at the diner.

It seemed as though Cara had picked up right where Melissa had left off.

The drive was relaxing, a combination of highway and back roads that weren’t that heavily traveled so it made for an easy trip. Sydney, as usual, kept herself aware of her surroundings at all times and, after a few miles and a number of turns, she noticed a black car was following behind them; at a distance, but definitely following them. She made a turn in error then looped back around when Cara pointed it out, and the car mirrored her actions.

They were getting closer to Elton so Sydney stepped on the gas, wanting to put more distance between them in the hopes that she might be able to lose them on the next turn. If Cara noticed her increased speed she didn’t say anything. She was busy chatting with Faith about the book she bought her at the store.

Ahead, the road veered to the left and then they were going to take a quick right to head straight to Elton. There was a slight dip in the road and Sydney felt like this might be her last chance to get rid of this car so she sped up and whizzed around the curve and took the right hand turn a lot faster than she should have. As soon as she straightened the wheel she glanced in the mirror to see if the black car would follow, but her view was blocked by the flashing lights of a police car that had appeared out of nowhere.

“Shit,” Sydney hissed under her breath.

“Mommy, that’s a bad word!” Faith gasped, covering her ears. Then the flashing must have caught her attention. “Oh, look at the pretty lights.”

Cara mumbled something about being a speed demon, so apparently she had noticed the fast pace Sydney had been keeping for the last few miles. Either way, the black car was the least of her worries. She’d never been pulled over by the police and never had to show her ID.

Time to see if it was worth all that money,
Sydney thought as she reached for her purse with a shaking hand. She held her breath and waited for the officer to come to the window. When she heard Cara laugh, her stomach dropped.

Please don’t let it be him.

“License and registration, please.” Wade’s deep voice rumbled through the open window sending Sydney into a tizzy.

“What are the odds?” Cara snickered in the seat beside her.

“Um, sure yeah. Here’s my license.” She stuck her hand out the window but the card fell from her trembling fingers landing on the ground. “I’ll just get the registration.” She leaned over toward Cara to yank the papers from the glove compartment.

“Jesus, Wade, do you have to be so intimidating? How about a friendly ‘Hello, Sydney?’ or maybe a hello to Faith and I before you throw her mother in the slammer?”

“You can’t arrest my mommy!” Faith freed herself from her seatbelt and leaned between the front seats, glaring at Wade. “Do you have a search warrant?”

“Faith!” Sydney gasped as she pulled the registration from the compartment, sticking it out the window to Wade. “You apologize to Sheriff Jenkins right now! And put your seatbelt back on before I get another ticket.”

“No, he has to tell you about your My Anna rights. If not, he gets in trouble.” Her little face lit up in a smug grin.

“Faith, what are you talking about?” Sydney spun around and saw Wade crouched down, looking through the window trying to keep a straight face.

“Mrs. Whittman told me all about the police and how they have to tell people their My Anna rights. Oh, and don’t talk to Sheriff Wade. Choose to remain silent! That was the other thing she said.” Faith reached around the seat and tried to clamp her tiny hand over Sydney’s mouth to prevent her from incriminating herself, apparently.

“This isn’t happening,” Sydney mumbled as she freed herself and pressed her forehead against the steering wheel. She could hear Cara laughing beside her.

“See, Wade? If you just would have said hello, Miss Faith here wouldn’t be all worked up and wondering about her mother’s My Anna rights.”

“Hello, Sydney, Faith, and Cara. How are you ladies doing today?”

“Much better,” Cara grumbled from the passenger’s seat. Faith moved and stuck her head out the window to talk to Wade.

“Hi, Sheriff. Please don’t arrest my mom.”

“Wasn’t planning on it, Faith. She was speeding, that’s all.”

Faith looked him up and down. “So no My Anna rights?”

“Not today.” That seemed to satisfy her so she pulled her head back inside and buckled herself back into her seat.

“Give him the stuff, Mom, he’s not going to arrest you. We talked about it.”“

Thanks, honey.” If Sydney could have curled up in a ball and died, she would have. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Wade, but this made that kinda difficult. “Sorry about that. Here’s the registration.” This time it didn’t flutter to the ground.

With a nod of his head, Wade accepted the paper and headed back to his car. The closer he got to the cruiser, the more Sydney wanted to throw up. For all she knew he was going to run her license and figure out it was a fake and she’d be in jail by dinnertime. Who would take care of Faith? She was lost in thought when Cara pinched her shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Cara said incredulously.

“Ouch! What do you mean?”

“Use what your momma gave you to get out of this ticket!”

“Have you lost your mind?” Sydney hissed, glancing over her shoulder at Faith.

“No. Flirt with the man. Tell him he looks handsome. Offer to make him dinner. Oh, or a pie! He loves your pie! I bet he’d let you go with a warning if you made him another pie.”

“I’m not flirting my way out of this.”

“What does flirt mean, Mommy?” Faith asked with a tilt of her head.

“It’s when girls act silly around a boy,” Sydney snapped before Cara could give the child more information than she needed at five years old.

“Does it make your face turn red?”

“Sometimes,” Sydney sighed, her nerves frayed as she glanced back in the rearview mirror and saw Wade coming back. His face, as always, was unreadable. With every step he took, her heart pounded faster at the realization this could be the end of everything.

“You know
your
face is red, mom.”

“Thanks for the info, Faith.” Sydney glared at a now cackling Cara. “You’re not helping!”

“I’m sorry, Sydney, but you’re flirting needs some work.”