The Red Hat Society's Acting Their Age (13 page)

Leanne’s heart raced as she pushed through the crowd. She looked over her shoulder, then across the center kiosks to the mall’s other side.

A middle-aged man in a ballcap touched her arm as she passed him. “You need help?”

Continuing to walk, she glanced back at him. “I’ve lost someone.”

He caught up to her, his expression alarmed. “A child?”

She nodded. “A girl.”

He looked left then right, his eyes alert. “How old?”

“Fourteen.”

The man slowed his pace, and Leanne glanced back at him. “Check the food court,” he said with a smirk. Shaking his head, he turned and resumed his prior course.

When Leanne turned around, she bumped into the person in front of her, jarring a startled cry from the woman. “Excuse me,” Leanne said, but didn’t stop.

Ahead, ducking into a shoe store, she glimpsed the back of a kid’s head covered in spiky chestnut-colored hair. “Rachel!” She reached out, her arm tangling in the cape she still wore from the salon. She hurried her step, entering the store only moments later.

Peering down rack after rack of shoes, she finally spotted the back of Rachel’s head again. Afraid to call out and scare her off, she quickly weaved a pathway around shoppers until she reached the end of the aisle. Coming up from behind, she grabbed Rachel’s wrist.

“Hey!” A boy no more than eleven or twelve years old glared up at her with startled eyes. He was Rachel’s size, his hair the same color and a similar style. He jerked his arm free of her grasp. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry.” Leanne fought to control her breathing. “I thought you were someone else.”

Leanne left the store and waded upstream through a river of teenagers, wishing that they hadn’t darkened Rachel’s hair. Worrying about her. Frantic. Why? Why did the girl matter so much? Rachel wasn’t her responsibility. This time last week, she didn’t even know Rachel Nye.

Because she’s so lost
, came the answer, unbidden. Lost in the world. Lost in her worries. In yearnings and fears.
Because I know that feeling
.

Rounding the corner into the food court, Leanne moved quickly from table to table, searching every face. She scanned the lines of people at the fast food joints, ignoring their amused glances at her wet hair and cape. She didn’t care what anyone thought of her. All she could think about was what might happen to Rachel if she didn’t find her.

When she didn’t see her at any of the restaurants, Leanne hurried back to the main hall and worked her way down the opposite side. She reached an exit and left the building.

Running along the sidewalk that circled the mall, Leanne scanned the parking lot, the outside entrances of every store she passed, shouting Rachel’s name all the while. The cold breeze whipped the cape behind her as she dodged occasional icy patches that hadn’t yet been cleared from the concrete.

Rachel could be anywhere, Leanne thought, startled by the sting of tears in her eyes as a panicked sense of helplessness swept through her. How would she ever find her with so many vehicles in the parking lot? With all the people inside the mall?

After crossing a long stretch of sidewalk, she reached the first corner of the mall and rounded it, her lungs aching from exertion and from breathing the brisk winter air. A cement bench sat in a snow-covered patch of lawn beside the next store’s entrance. Leanne made her way to it and sank down to rest, her chest heaving. Shivering, she looked across a segment of parking lot she had yet to search. She cupped her hands around her mouth, shouted, “Rachel!” then sighed and closed her eyes.

At first, she thought she imagined the faint voice calling back to her. But the second time she heard it, Leanne opened her eyes and stood. Her gaze scanned over cars and minivans, trucks and SUVs. Then she spotted Mia’s Tahoe. Rachel leaned against it, hugging herself. As Leanne started toward her, Rachel pushed away from the vehicle and met her halfway.

When they were face to face, Rachel stared at the ground, her lower lip tucked between her teeth. After a moment, she lifted her gaze to Leanne. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, ending with a squeak.

“Don’t you
ever
—” Unable to finish, Leanne turned her head, her body trembling from tense relief and exposure to the cold. “I should turn you in right this minute, Rachel. You know that? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”

“I was scared.” A sob shook the girl’s shoulders. “I still am. I should’ve left Mia’s a long time ago. Maybe y’all won’t tell the sheriff about me now, but one of these days you will. You said so yourself.”

“We can’t get around that, Rachel. Sooner or later, we’ll have to talk to your caseworker and straighten this mess out.”

Rachel crossed her arms. “I won’t go back to the Underhills. I won’t let them put me in jail, either. If they try, I’ll run away again; I mean it.”

“Running away from problems never works. You have to face them and try to find a solution.” Leanne instantly realized the irony of those words. It was easy to
give
advice, but so difficult to follow it. Wasn’t she running from her own problems? Avoiding telling Eddie her feelings? Hoping their problems would all go away?

The look of frightened confusion in Rachel’s eyes softened Leanne. “We’ll figure something out, Packrat.” She touched the girl’s arm. “We won’t do anything until we’re sure you’ll be okay with the outcome. And we won’t trick you; when the time comes to go to Cade, we’ll tell you first.” She wiped a tear from Rachel’s cheek. “That’s a promise. And when I make a promise, I keep it.”

Swiping at her eyes, Rachel stepped closer to Leanne. Another tear slipped down her cheek. “I’m
sorry
.”

“Where did you plan to go?”

“I don’t know. I just ran. But when I saw Mia’s car . . . I couldn’t leave you.”

Leanne wanted to grab her, to hug her, to offer more reassurances. At the same time, she wanted to shake her senseless. “I care about you, Rachel. If you disappeared I’d worry about you. I couldn’t stand it.”

She looked into the girl’s eyes and felt something pass between them, one to the other, like an electrical current. Understanding. Recognition. Maybe they’d only met two days ago, but they knew each other. “Let’s find Mia and Aggie and go home,” Leanne murmured.

Rachel’s eyes swept over her, head to toe. “We can’t go home, yet. You have to go back to the salon.”

“I’m not in the mood for a cut anymore.”

“But your hair’s, like, really lopsided.” Rachel laughed through her tears. “One side’s shorter than the other.”

Leanne brushed her damp bangs aside. “You’re right. I guess I don’t have much choice.” The emotional roller coaster ride of the past half hour had drained her. The thought of walking back through the mall seemed as much a feat as climbing Mount Everest. She sighed. “I forgot to grab my purse and our shopping bags when I ran out of the salon. I hope they’re still there.”

Rachel giggled. “You forgot something else, too. “You’re
wearing
a
cape
.”

Leanne glanced down at herself and winced, then laughed, too. “You should’ve seen how everyone was gawking at me, running through the mall in this thing. I must’ve looked like Wonder Woman on speed.”

As they started back into the mall, Leanne left her tension and doubts outside. Right or wrong, rational or insane, she was in this thing with Rachel for the long haul. The fear she’d felt when she couldn’t find her made it clear to Leanne that, for whatever reason, the girl was important to her. Tomorrow, she’d call Jay, her attorney friend, and make an appointment.

She would do whatever she could for Rachel. Like Aggie had done for her a long time ago.

Relief rushed through Aggie when Leanne and Rachel walked into the salon. The stylist had recounted their quick exit and, for the past fifteen minutes, Aggie and Mia had paced while waiting for the two to return.

“What’s wrong?” Aggie asked Leanne, taking note of their disheveled appearances. Rachel’s eyes were red from crying and Leanne’s hair had dried in ten different directions.

“Nothing. Everything’s fine now.”

Neither Aggie nor Mia pressed for more information. Leanne’s expression indicated that they should drop the subject.

The tattooed hairstylist was nice enough to work Leanne back into her schedule. While the haircut proceeded, Aggie, Mia and Rachel window-shopped in the mall. Mia bought the girl some underthings she needed, and some she didn’t. Apparently over whatever had made her so upset, Rachel finagled Mia into buying her a pair of frivolous thong panties. Aggie expressed dismay at the price of three inches of satin and lace held together by dental floss. But at another store, when she saw Rachel eyeing a small radio with earphones, she couldn’t resist her own little splurge.

Now, Rachel lay in the back of the Tahoe with her new earphones on, listening to music, occasionally singing along with a chorus, oblivious to anything else.

Aggie sat in the middle seat behind Mia, who drove, and Leanne, who sat on the front passenger side. Before leaving Amarillo, they had visited an ATM where Leanne and Mia withdrew enough funds from their accounts to pay back everyone from whom Rachel had stolen. Rachel would mail the money to her victims, along with a brief note of apology. She could work off her debt to the women by helping with baking for the coffee shop, laundering tablecloths and cup towels, and any other chores the women could concoct.

Leanne came up with the idea to pay back Rachel’s victims. Aggie was all for it, but she took issue that the girl owed the Underhills anything. Still, she admired Leanne’s attempt to teach Rachel valuable lessons. Especially since Leanne had learned her own life lessons the hard way.

While Rachel was preoccupied with her music, Leanne explained what had taken place at the salon. Aggie voiced her disappointment that the girl was so slow to trust them.

“Why should she?” Leanne looked over the seat at Aggie. “Why should Rachel trust
any
adult? Every foster parent who discarded her sent her the message that grownups can’t be counted on for anything.”

“That’s so sad,” Aggie said, and Mia agreed.

“It is sad.” Leanne huffed a humorless laugh. “But I would’ve done exactly what she did at fourteen in her situation. I would’ve tried to escape my fears by running from them. And no reassurances would’ve swayed me, either. Especially after overhearing something like she heard last night.”

Mia tapped the steering wheel. “You mean that we were planning to tell Cade about her?”

Leanne nodded. “Rachel couldn’t risk the chance that we really hadn’t changed our minds about that.”

Halfway to Muddy Creek, Aggie’s cell phone rang. “I wonder who that could be?” She fished through her purse for the trilling phone.

“Hmmm,” Leanne scratched her head. “If I had Bill Gates’ money, I’d bet it all on Roy being at the other end of that line.”

Aggie located the phone and looked at the caller I.D.
Sure enough
. “How’d you know?”

Mia laughed. “I wonder? He probably can’t find something. And he’ll ask when you’re coming home. Again.”

Ignoring them, Aggie pushed the “
ON
” button. “Hi, sugar.”

“Where’s the blasted mayo?” Roy barked. “Didn’t I tell you to pick some up at the store?”

“Second shelf of the refrigerator. Right hand side.” Aggie pursed her lips and turned to the window when Mia and Leanne snickered. “Are you just now eating lunch, Roy? For heaven’s sake, it’s almost suppertime.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t spent all last night and the better part of today gallivanting around the country doing who knows what I’d be on schedule. When you gonna be home, anyhow?”

“Around six, like I told you before.” More snickers from up front. Aggie lifted her chin, smiling despite herself.

“Here it—
fat free
? This mayo isn’t—”

“Goodbye, Roy.” Aggie hung up on him mid-sentence. He’d use up all her phone minutes blustering about anything and everything except what was important.

Leanne glanced across the seat. “You have that man so spoiled he stinks. And now you’re spoiling Rachel.” She nodded at the rear of the vehicle where Rachel lay on her back, knees bent, one leg crossed over the other, her foot tapping the air. “Clothes are one thing, but you didn’t need to buy her that radio.”

“Be glad she did,” Mia said, checking the rearview mirror before changing lanes. “It has allowed us to talk.”

Leanne huffed. “You’re just trying to avoid me starting in on you about those ridiculous panties you bought her.”

Disregarding the comment, Mia relayed the details of hers and Aggie’s experience with Pam Underhill at the furniture store. “You can be sure that woman hasn’t lost any sleep worrying about Rachel.”

“So was it worth it?” Leanne asked.

“Meeting her foster mother?” Mia sighed. “Any concerns I might’ve had about Rachel’s honesty are out the window now. Pam pretty much backed up everything Rachel’s told us.”

Aggie agreed. “If I have to break a hundred laws to keep that child out of a facility, so be it.” She meant it, too. Even though if Roy found out, he would explode like a faulty Roman candle on the Fourth of July.

Leanne crossed her arms. “We still can’t let her call the shots. Believe me, I know all the tricks a kid can pull to get attention. I invented most of them. She needs love and nurturing, but she needs discipline, too. Indulging all her whims won’t do her any favors.”

“It was one pair of frivolous panties, Leanne,” Mia scoffed. “Big deal.”

When Aggie felt Leanne’s gaze boring into her, she said, “I’m not planning on indulging all her whims, either, Leanne. I didn’t overindulge
you
, did I?”

“Sometimes.” Leanne smiled at her.

“Well, you turned out just fine, if I do say so.”

Mia shrugged and said with mock seriousness, “She turned out okay, I guess.”

“Aggie?” Leanne said after several silent moments.

“Yes, sugar?”

“I’m not sure I’ve ever thanked you.”

“For what?”

“For everything.” Leanne’s brow wrinkled like she might cry. “For caring about me when I was a messed-up kid.”

Touched and stunned, Aggie said, “Why, that didn’t take any effort at all. You’re you. Of course I cared. I still do.” Blinking, she muttered quietly, “I swear . . . these contacts. Now I remember why I quit wearing them. They make my eyes water.”