Then there was Faith she had to protect. The idea that someone could be watching her daughter terrified her. Sydney knew she was smothering Faith with her constant attention and the little girl was starting to rebel. Sydney wanted Faith to live as normal a life as possible but she couldn’t comprehend the danger they were in. Sydney needed to remember that.
She also had to find a way to walk away from Wade. That was going to be more difficult than she realized. Her new work schedule had helped. It took Wade a while to figure out when she’d be at the diner and that made it easier on her.
Not seeing him.
As wonderful as their date had been, Sydney knew it couldn’t last. It was obvious to her now that she shouldn’t have let herself lose control like that with him. It had been selfish. Every time she thought about him, she remembered the feel of his hands on her and the gentle way he held her in his arms. Because of that, she had all these deep feelings for him, ones that were complicated and stupid. Ones that would end in disaster for everyone, including Faith.
Cara knew something was up but she didn’t question it when Sydney asked her to switch sections because Wade sat at one of her tables. He knew she was avoiding him, too. He was a cop after all. He knew how to read people and everything about Sydney’s body language probably screamed ‘stay away’ because her emotions were still so raw and frazzled. Like the gentleman he was, Wade kept his distance, which only made Sydney feel worse. She never should have allowed herself that one night of happiness because now every time she looked at him she knew exactly what she was missing from her life.
“Why don’t you take a break?” Pete stuck his head out from the kitchen and motioned toward the door. “Get some fresh air, clear your head.”
“I’ll cover your tables,” Hailey offered with a smile. Hailey was the new girl that Pete had hired to take Melissa’s place. Not that anyone ever could. Hailey was only nineteen, perky, and not that bright, but she did what Cara asked and she was scared of Pete, so that was good enough for them.
The backdoor of the diner loomed ahead of her through the kitchen. Sydney hadn’t been out there since that night. The blood, the violence brought it all back. But it was high time to face a demon—or ten—otherwise she’d never get past it. With a steadying breath she pushed open the metal door and forced her feet to step outside. She imagined there would be markings on the ground, forever indicating the place where someone had died. Angie, her name was Angie and she had been from Greenville. Surprisingly, it looked as if nothing had happened. The area round the dumpster was free of markings except whatever liquid had leaked out of the bottom from all the trash. A few leaves blew across the asphalt in the breeze. But everything looked the same.
How was that possible?
“I’m sorry.” Sydney had no idea why she was suddenly swamped with grief as she looked at the barren space behind the diner. It seemed so unfair that there was nothing to mark the passing of this woman’s life on this spot. It was almost as if it never happened. But it had. And somewhere, there was someone whose life was changed forever because of it.
A jumble of emotion sent Sydney spiraling deep into the past. When she looked at the ground it wasn’t asphalt she saw but gravel on the side of the road. She could hear the brittle cornstalks brushing against one another.
“I don’t know if I did the right thing that night,” she said to no one in particular, but hoped the words would somehow find their way to heaven. “Maybe I should have fought him.” She wrung her hands together and paced across the concrete, but her mind was thousands of miles away. “Every day I wonder if I did the right thing that night. But since then, I know I’ve done right by you, and your daughter. Our daughter.” Sydney turned her face up to the sunshine and felt it’s warmth settle deep into her bones, lifting some of the terrible weight from her shoulders.
“Faith had to come first. She always has for me.” She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes. “I’m sorry for everything you went through.”
She collected herself and made sure her tears were gone before stepping back inside the diner. Somehow Sydney’s mind had needed to purge itself of years of guilt, and seeing where the woman, Angie, had died had given her the connection to death, and whatever came next, to make that happen. With less guilt in her heart, she hurried back to wait on her tables.
“There you are,” Hailey said, dropping a mangled piece of pie onto a place. Pete would kill her if he caught her trying to serve that to a customer.
“Why don’t you go on break now? Take that piece and go enjoy it. I’ll cut a new one and serve it for you.” Sydney swiftly cut a perfect triangle of pie and got it onto the plate without smearing blueberries from one edge of the plate to another like Hailey had done. “Which table ordered pie?”
“Wade, of course,” she said licking her fingers. “It’s all the guy orders.”
Sydney closed her eyes wondering if this was the cosmos’s way of exacting a little revenge from beyond. “No problem, I’ll take care of it.” She neatly folded a napkin and slipped a fork onto the plate beside the pie, allowing a few seconds to compose herself. With a smile that felt as forced as it must have looked, she brought over the dessert.
“I hear you ordered blackberry pie.”
Don’t look at him, don’t look at him, she told herself. If she saw any kindness in those green eyes she’d start crying again. She was just about to slide it onto the table when she heard her name.
“I almost forgot,” Hailey called from behind the counter, “you got a call when you were out back.”
“Who was it?”
Hailey shrugged, shoving a big bite of pie into her mouth, garbling her words. “Some guy. Wanted to know if you were here. I said no. Then he asked if you were with Faith.”
The plate holding the pie nearly slipped from her fingers. Wade grabbed it right before the fork went clanging to the floor. “W-What did you tell him?”
“I told him she was in school until three.”
“Why would you do that?” Sydney knew she was screaming but she couldn’t help it.
Hailey paused. “I thought it was your brother.”
“I don’t have a brother.” The gravity of what happened sank in and Sydney exploded. “Oh, my God.” Ripping off her apron, Sydney ran for the door. The bells clanged wildly as she rushed outside. She heard someone shouting her name, but ignored it. Her only thought was getting to Faith.
“Sydney!” Wade’s hand slammed down on the door as she tried to free the lock. “Look at me.”
Her head was shaking side to side, “I-I can’t. I need to see Faith. I have to get to her.” She pulled on the door handle but it wouldn’t budge with Wade’s body leaning on it. Why wouldn’t he just go away?
A firm hand settled on her shoulder. She forced herself to look Wade in the eye and straightened her spine to show him how serious she was. “Get out of my way.”
“Fine,” he said grabbing the keys from her trembling fingers. “I’ll take you to Faith. You can’t drive like this, you’re too upset.” He opened the door and Sydney scrambled across, settling into the passenger’s side, too desperate to get to Faith to be mad at him right now. It’d come later, she was sure, but for now all she needed was her daughter.
The car dipped as Wade climbed inside, his long legs crammed under the steering wheel. He moved the seat back and the engine roared to life. Wade pinned Sydney with a hard look. “After this, you and I need to have a long talk. Do you understand?”
She nodded even though she had no intention of telling him anything. Lying was second nature to her and it was the only way to get him to step on the gas. He flew down the road, thankfully rolling through the stop signs. The car had barely slowed in the parking lot when she jumped out and ran toward the school building.
“Thanks,” she called over her shoulder, not really caring if he heard or not.
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.