October Snow (22 page)

Dave was grinning. “I love getting nice things for you.” He stood, pulling her to her feet. “Get ready. I’m going to run down to the office and grab some documents, be back in an hour. We’ll go to breakfast first.” She shook her head in protest, and he kissed her on the forehead, pulling her in to hold her. “Mother’s Day
week
, remember?”

She laid her head against his chest, remembering the day she told Dave that she was pregnant with Tyler. The joy on his face was radiant, as if the glow of it went all the way through him and lit up her life. In the years that followed, they lived together as a family. Dave asked her every few months to marry him–but she had been terrified of marriage. To anyone. Even Dave, as strong and as gentle as he was, couldn’t convince her.

Then Jack came along. Secretly, she had always thought it wasn’t exactly moonlight and roses: she bought her car from him, and he had started chasing her right away. Liz, for her own reasons, had preferred Jack. She blamed Dave for making her daughter live in sin, and support him while he was in school, and for then having Tyler when they weren’t married.

Jack had said all the right things, and he and Liz had managed to wage a convincing campaign against Dave, making Sam think he was in it only for himself.

Their breakup had been exquisitely painful; yet, Dave had remained steady in Sam’s life, always there when she needed him. Always her best friend. He gave her more for Tyler than he had to every month; many times, he would send her quite a bit extra, and tell her to go do something fun with their child, or just for herself.

Jack took all of the money, though. Sam couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone that, not until that day in Max’s apartment when she admitted that she had nothing.

Being with Dave for the week, it felt like she had it all…
Once upon a time
, she thought,
but not now
. And she hated herself for allowing Jack and her mother to come between them.

Now, with her head on Dave’s chest and his arms around her, finally back where she belonged, she fought the need to sob with the relief of it.
Here it is
, she thought.
This is what I lived for all these years, it’s what I wanted, and now it will never be
.

“Sammy?”

She looked up at him.

He seemed to shift then, to change his mind about something. “Let’s go have a wonderful day today. Go get ready. I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

She nodded, wishing she had never hoped for anything, stifling the sudden wave of despair that gripped her. She thought about Bow Lake, where her friends waited–and she suddenly wanted, very badly, to get there.

The last place Jack wanted to be was back at work, but Andrew had covered for him for days and needed the weekend off. His wife was pregnant with their first child, so they wanted to celebrate an anticipatory Mother’s Day.

Jack felt sorry for Andrew. He was glad that at least
he
didn’t have to deal with a pregnant wife, especially since having Sam’s whiny little kid around was bad enough. Jack had never wanted children, and he was relatively certain that he never would. They were no more than emotional and financial drains–selfish, arrogant creatures that sapped the fun out of living.

Every few minutes, Jack checked his phone to see if Liz had returned one of his many calls over the last several days. As he checked it again, he decided that his patience had come to an end.

“Paula,” he called across the showroom to his assistant manager, “keep an eye on things.”

She nodded, looking around the empty showroom. “Won’t be too hard.”

It was insufferably slow for a Saturday. Another thing to worry about, Jack thought. A rotten economy, his failing dealership, and a bunch of yahoos in Washington screwing things up even more. He sometimes played with the idea of running for office; after all, he had the looks, the ideas, the experience, and certainly the brains–and he was the personification of the condition of men these days, he was quite certain of that. He couldn’t imagine that he wouldn’t win easily.

He carefully shut the door to his office, turned the lock, and then kicked his desk chair across the expansive room. It bounced off the filing cabinet, coming to a spinning rest on its side. Picking up the business phone, he punched in the first five digits of Liz’s number, then pressed the disconnect.

Think, damn it
.

The lawyer he saw on Thursday, the one Andrew had hooked him up with, had warned him against any fits of temper. “You don’t need to be making any more enemies right now. If nothing else, you may find Mrs. Bentley to be useful at some point. So don’t run her off. And keep a low profile–you’re still facing charges for head-butting that police officer.” With that, Jack decided to stay quiet about the pictures Jo had of him stalking the apartment house. He knew he’d find a way to deal with her blackmailing him, but that would have to come later.

Barb had declined to follow through with charges against him, provided he never again came near the restaurant; the Hillsboro County D.A. decided not to pursue him for resisting arrest. They were holding on to the battery on the cop, though. Steven Patch, his lawyer, thought he may be able to make a few phone calls to sympathetic friends, and get him off with probation–but only if he was absolutely perfect, at least for now.

Jack grabbed his suit jacket from the hook by the door. He desperately needed to keep Liz on his side, and then find a way to lose the whole situation, and dispose of all of the problems that hung over his head because of Sam.

Then, he would find her. She had to surface eventually, without her friends around to shield her.

He swung through the showroom, shouting, “Paula, I’m out for the day.”

Liz and Rhonda were having coffee on Liz’s patio when Jack appeared, walking casually around the corner to the back of the house, hands in his pockets. Both women gasped when they saw him; Liz stood, immediately defensive.

“Whoa! Hey, I’m sorry, ladies. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He stopped, holding his hands palms-out, as if to fend them off. “I haven’t heard from you, Liz. I was worried.”

She glanced at Rhonda, who was staring at him anxiously. “What do you want, Jack?”

He took on a wounded, confused expression. “Well, like I said, I haven’t heard from you. I just wanted to check, make sure you’re okay. I know Samantha’s been pretty upset with you.” He didn’t know that, not for sure, but it was a safe guess–and he needed to lay some groundwork.

“I’m
fine
. Thank you.” She hoped she seemed aggressive.

“Call the police, Liz.” Rhonda watched him carefully, wide-eyed, expecting that he would suddenly leap at them.

He took a step back, still feigning confusion. “The police? Liz, what’s going on?”

“I know what you did, Jack. I know you’re the one who painted those filthy words all over my house last week.”

“Filth?
What
?”

“I’ve done some thinking lately. My daughter comes home limping, her best friends take out a restraining order on you, and suddenly I can’t even
reach
Samantha. And my home winds up spray-painted with vulgarities, which happen to be the same uncommon color as
your
dining room.” She was genuinely angry now. “Too many events, all connected, all at the same time–and
you
are the common denominator.” She threw her linen napkin on the patio table, disgusted. “What on
earth
have I been doing?”

Jack knew he had to think fast. She was his only link to Sam, and he needed to keep her in his corner.

“Liz,” he held a hand out to her, as if pleading. “I’m so sorry.”

“Ha! You admit it?”

He shook his head sadly, pausing for effect. “No,” he sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. You had a right to know. I just…I didn’t want to create any more trouble between you and Samantha.”

She narrowed her eyes, feeling the hair rise on the back of her neck. “What trouble? What are you talking about?”

He seemed tortured by what he was about to reveal. “Liz, you know your daughter…She tends to be unstable, lash out…”

“What are you saying?”

He was looking at his feet, his hands in his pockets again. “Never mind. Tell you what–I’ll pay for what happened here.” He met her eyes then. “Let me make it right, okay? And then, I’ll get lost, and you don’t have to see me again.” He bit his lip. “Ever.”

Rhonda moaned softly, “Oh goodness, Liz. Maybe you should hear him out.”

She was confused. “Jack, you have an obligation to me, to tell me the truth.”

He shook his head, dejected. “Just give me a number. I’ll write you a check, right now.”

“
Jack
!” she snapped. “Tell me!”

His eyes widened as if he was intimidated, and he muttered, “Okay, look, I
did
see what happened to your house, but I’m not the only one with access to that paint, Liz.”

Her skin felt prickly. “You mean Samantha…?”

He didn’t respond, didn’t move at all–he just stared into her eyes sadly, knowingly.

Rhonda gave a small, surprised grunt. Her chair groaned loudly as she leaned back in it, folding her arms. It was the only sound for a few moments. Liz seemed frozen, ticking off in her head the events of that day, of the things that had happened in the hours before her house was vandalized.

Reading her confusion, Jack said, “Look, Liz, I know I can’t measure up to Dave Delaney.” She shook her head, about to deny it, and he held up his hand as he hurried on. “At least, not in Samantha’s eyes. But on the day that I show up to make amends with her, to take her to dinner, and I give you roses, and then spend the entire evening looking for her, you think I took the time to indulge in a criminal act in between all that?”

He had her attention, he could see it. “Okay, just look at it logically. I happen to know that she was furious with you that day.” Again, he knew that was a safe bet. “Who uses bad language, Liz? Me, or Samantha? Would you say she has an issue with maturity, or that I do? It had to be one of us, right? Do a gut-check.” He sighed sadly, then said, “Look, I love her. But it’s way past time we stop protecting her. She needs to be treated like an adult, and be held accountable. For her own good, you know? She
did
it, Liz–and I know that, because it
wasn’t
me. There just is no one else who could have done it.”

She was gazing out over her gardens. “Oh, no…”

“She was much angrier than usual with you last week, right? You know why she was limping that night? Because she kicked
me
, and she did it so hard that she fell.”

Liz nodded, her eyes filling, remembering how cruel Sam had been as she left that morning. She could imagine her daughter doing exactly what Jack was accusing her of. She retrieved her napkin from the table, and dabbed at her eyes. “Jack. Can you ever forgive me?”

He looked unsure for just a moment, then approached her, his arms open. “She’s your daughter, Liz. I understand. Of course I forgive you.” As they hugged, he said, “We need to find her, you know.” He paused, then remembered. “And of course Tyler, too. He was supposed to come home last Monday. I miss them.”

“I know you do. I’m sure they’re okay. They’re with Maxine and Josie.”

“I can’t go over to their apartment building, though. You know that. I don’t even know what parts of Manchester I need to avoid, because I may run into one of them. They’re making it impossible to reach Samantha.” He stepped back, looking down at his feet and blinking hard. “I’ll probably wind up getting arrested for being in the wrong place.”

Liz nodded, sniffling. “Oh my, we can’t have that.”

“It would help a lot if we could just find Samantha.”

“I know.” She sniffed again. “I’m going to get a tissue. Can I get you anything, dear?”

“No, thanks. Actually,” he pointed upward, as if something had just occurred to him, “could you call her? Just see if she’s okay?”

She looked away, embarrassed. “I don’t have her new number, Jack.”

Damn it
. “Oh.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “Oh, Liz, how disrespectful. I’m so sorry. You deserve so much better than that.”

She sighed. “You know how she is. She’s disappeared before. She’ll turn up eventually.”

“I wouldn’t take her back this time, Liz,” Rhonda said.

Jack gave them each a knowing, long-suffering look. “She’s got some serious problems. But she’s not beyond hope. Liz, would you be willing to call Jo? Or even Dave–I’m losing my mind here. Everything’s so upside-down these days.”

Liz reached just inside the patio door, grabbing a tissue. “I owe you that. Of course I will. But I’ll call Josie, not Dave. His is
another
number I’m not allowed to have.”

He looked at her with pity. “Here, I have my phone. What’s Jo’s number?”