“Thank you,” he answered. “This is my daughter, Sophie.”
“She looks just like your sister,” Aggie said. “Definitely a family resemblance.”
“And she’s just adorable,” Hettie added. Bending down, she touched Sophie’s cheek. “Welcome to Desperation, Sophie. I hope you like it here. Are you having a good time today?”
Garrett knew there’d be no verbal response from his daughter. “She’s a little shy, Hettie.”
Hettie straightened. “Oh, that’s all right. Don’t you worry about it, Sophie. Aggie and I are just two old ladies with nothing better to do than watch people having a good time at this carnival.” She turned to Garrett. “I’d like to talk to you about the new zoning, if you have a couple of minutes.”
“Of course.” He was always willing to give Hettie all the time she needed for anything. She didn’t hold a position on the council and never had, but she watched over the town as if it were her child and kept abreast of everything and everyone, making sure nothing and no one were ever in need.
He listened patiently to her concerns about the new zoning for a convenience store on the outskirts of town, answered her questions and then did his best to explain how he expected the council to vote when the time came.
“That makes me feel much easier,” Hettie said. “Thank you for taking the time, Garrett. I know this isn’t the time or place, but Aggie and I have been talking it over, and we both thought our best course was to come to you.”
After assuring both of them that he was always willing to help, they thanked him again and moved on. Content that he’d told them all that he could, he smiled and started to walk away. He’d taken no more than three steps, when he looked down and realized Sophie wasn’t with him. He turned back, trying to convince himself that she was standing where he’d just been. But she wasn’t. In fact, he didn’t see her anywhere in the immediate area, as he frantically looked around for her.
What had he done? His heart pounded as he quickly surveyed the area again, hoping she’d simply been hidden behind someone for a moment. But not only did he not see Sophie, he realized that Noah wasn’t anywhere nearby, either.
Could Sophie have gone with Noah, wherever he went? Garrett thought it might be possible. He hadn’t spent much more than five minutes with Hettie, so neither of them could have gone far. So again he searched, hoping to catch sight of the two children and afraid to go too far away.
But his heart took a nosedive when he spied Noah walking toward him, with Libby not far behind. “Is Sophie with you?” he called to them.
Noah turned to look at his mother, then both shook their heads. “She was standing right there,” he said, pointing to the spot where Garrett had stood talking to Hettie and Aggie.
Garrett had felt panic before. In fact, a week ago, when he’d discovered Sophie for the first time in his office and had read the letter her mother had written, announcing that Sophie was all his, he thought he’d never felt so scared in his life.
He’d been wrong.
Libby said something to Noah, who hurried away, then she approached Garrett. “The first thing you need to do is calm down,” she said, her voice quiet and even.
“How can I calm down?” he asked, raking his hand through his hair. “I’ve lost my daughter, Libby. My little girl. What kind of father does that?”
“A normal one,” she answered. “Where were you the last time you saw her?” she asked.
He pointed to the spot near the Ferris wheel where he’d been talking to Hettie. “Right over there.”
She slipped her hand around his arm and steered him in that direction. “How long has she been gone?”
The panic only seemed to get worse. “I don’t know. Ten minutes, maybe? I introduced her to Hettie and Aggie, and when Hettie and I finished talking city council business, I realized Sophie wasn’t standing there anymore.” He looked around the area, silently praying that he’d see Sophie. “I can’t believe I’ve lost my child! I can’t believe I wasn’t paying attention.” He stared at Libby, his eyes stinging. “What kind of father would do that?”
“These kind of things happen to the best of us, Garrett. It’ll be all right,” Libby insisted. When he started to tell her how wrong she was, she stopped him. “Guess what, Garrett? You’re as human as the rest of us. Parent or not, none of us is perfect. Sophie will be found, and she’ll be fine. She couldn’t have gone far, and I’m sure—”
“Garrett?”
He turned toward the voice, and his knees nearly buckled. Tucker O’Brien, one of Desperation’s sheriff deputies, walked toward him, holding Sophie’s hand. “I think this little one belongs to you,” Tucker said, when they reached Garrett and Libby.
Garrett dropped to his knees in front of Sophie and scooped her into his arms, hugging her and silently swearing he’d never let her out of his sight again, not even for one second.
He looked up at Tucker. “Where did you find her?”
“Well,” Tucker said, grinning at Noah, who was now standing with Libby, “if you’d loosen that grip you have on her, you might be able to figure that out yourself.”
Garrett stared at him. “What?” Understanding quickly dawned and he loosened his hold on Sophie, who moved back a little. It was then that he noticed there was a lump of something between them.
“Noah found her over by the game booths, staring at that teddy bear, so he threw darts at balloons until he ran out of money. The guy running the booth said he couldn’t stand the brokenhearted look on Noah’s face when his money was gone and no balloons were broken, or the tears in Sophie’s eyes, so he gave them the bear.”
Sophie moved back a little more and held up the toy.
“Well, I’ll be,” Garrett said, and had to clear his throat. “I guess you have yourself a new teddy bear.”
LIBBY STOOD AT THE SINK IN the tiny duplex apartment she shared with her son. Lou had sent her home early from working an additional Sunday shift. She was tired and her back hurt, but she wouldn’t leave the few dirty dishes until tomorrow. There was little worse than waking to a messy kitchen sink.
“It’s time for bed, Noah,” she announced, without turning around.
“Aw, Mom, can’t I stay up a little longer?”
Libby chuckled to herself. If he hadn’t tried that, she would’ve known he was sick. “Fifteen minutes.”
“Twenty?”
She turned around and looked at him over the open counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. “You’re wasting time.”
He looked up from the miniature race track he was playing with and grinned. “I know.”
Wiping her wet hands on a towel, she joined him to watch two small cars race along the intricate layout of the track. “Is it working okay now?”
He nodded. “Better than ever. You can fix just about anything, can’t you?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“Mr. Miles is a nice man,” Noah said, taking her by surprise.
She thought of how Garrett had been blindsided when he learned he was a father, and then how distraught he’d been the day before when Sophie had disappeared. Swallowing a sigh, she smoothed Noah’s dark hair with her fingers. “Put the cars away and get into your pajamas.”
“Can I leave the track set up?”
Surveying the floor where the track twisted and turned around and under the worn furniture, she didn’t have the heart to say no. He’d worked hard to get it set up just the way he wanted it.
“Sure,” she answered. “I don’t have to be at work tomorrow until later. You’ll have some time to play with it after school and football practice if you want to.”
Noah jumped up and threw his arms around her. “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”
“Well, I try,” she answered as she always did.
She watched him pocket the two race cars and start down the short hallway to his bedroom. Noah was a blessing, and she really did try hard to be a good mom. She wanted to give him the best of e
verything, especially the things he deserved. But on a waitress’s salary—
The buzz of the doorbell cut off her thoughts.
“I’ll get it!” Noah raced back down the hallway and nearly beat her to the door.
“Better let me,” she told him, and moved to open it. They didn’t have many visitors, and she couldn’t imagine who would be stopping by. There were reasons to be cautious, and sometimes Noah forgot.
Opening the door enough to see who was on the other side, she was surprised to find Garrett standing on her doorstep, Sophie at his side.
He held up a paper sack. “I brought ice cream.”
Libby didn’t understand and thought she might have heard wrong. “Ice cream?”
“I wanted to thank you both for helping me yesterday,” he said with a shrug.
“There’s no need to—” But the look on his face told her that wouldn’t float with him. “Noah was just on his way to bed.”
But her son slipped under her arm, opening the door wider to stand in front of her. “Hey, Sophie,” he greeted the little girl, and then looked up at Garrett, grinning.
Garrett looked at him and returned the grin. “Do you think your mom will give you a bedtime reprieve?”
Libby silently moaned. How could she say no? Placing her hand on Noah’s shoulder, she sighed. “This time it’s okay,” she said, glancing at Garrett and hoping he understood it was a one-time-only thing and wouldn’t be repeated. “Go put your cars in your room, wash your hands and you can have some ice cream.”
She had to admit that the idea of dessert sounded yummy. It wasn’t something they often enjoyed. Just keeping a roof over their heads and nutritious food in their stomachs tended to stretch her waitress’s salary, even when tips were good. Ice cream was a treat.
“Come on in,” she told Garrett, opening the door wider as Noah headed for his room.
Garrett and Sophie stepped inside the apartment. “Will it keep him up too late?” he asked. “I mean, I hadn’t thought of that. I guess I should have.”
Libby shrugged her shoulders and pointed to the table near the narrow kitchen. “Which is better, more sleep or the chance to have ice cream?”
Grinning, he set the sack on the table. “I know what I’d pick, but you’re the expert.”
“Ha!” She scooped up the pile of bills in plain sight on the table and turned around to stuff them next to the toaster on the counter. “If only it was that easy.”
Noting how tense and nervous she suddenly felt, she forced herself to relax. She picked up the sack and looked inside it to find several containers of ice cream and a variety of toppings. Ready to tell him he shouldn’t have, she was saved by Noah’s return.
“Let me see your hands,” she told him. Checking them for dirt of any kind, she approved. “Would you get us all bowls and spoons, please?”
“I’ll help,” Garrett said.
Libby pulled a tall stool from the corner and positioned it at the table. Picking up Sophie, she was surprised when the little girl put her arms around her neck and pressed her cheek to Libby’s. “It’s been kind of hard, hasn’t it?” Libby whispered to her, her heart squeezing, before setting Sophie on the stool.
Garrett and Noah delivered the bowls and spoons, while Libby opened the ice cream, then they all took their seats. As they enjoyed the sundaes they built, Libby listened to the conversation between Garrett and her son, saying very little herself. She’d thought she was impressed with the man before, but he had a way with Noah that most men didn’t. For someone who claimed to have no idea of how to relate to children, he was doing a pretty good job of it. She was pleased to see Noah enjoying himself. She only hoped he didn’t enjoy it too much. Kids had a way of latching on to someone and not understanding that it wouldn’t work out for the adults.
Garrett was a nice guy. She liked him, liked taking with him. It made her feel…worthwhile. But she knew they could never—ever—go any further than just being friends. He was an attorney, and she had learned the hard way not to trust the court system. At one time she had, but the courts had failed her eight months ago, and she’d had to find another way. That way wasn’t legal, but it was the only way she could be assured that Noah would be safe.
She’d placed her life and her son’s in the hands of people who she only knew by their first names, and had ended up in Desperation, Oklahoma. The running had ended, but the hiding never would.
Chapter Four
As Libby waited on several of the regular customers, out of the corner of her eye she saw Garrett enter Lou’s and head for his usual table. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since he’d stopped by with the ice cream, and she hoped it was a sign that everything was going well with Sophie.
“Anything else I can get you?” she asked the men at the table. When they all shook their heads, she hurried to fill their order. As soon as they had their drinks, she headed toward Garrett. She suspected he would want his usual cup of coffee, and she was eager to hear how he was adjusting to parenthood.
“How’s the new dad?” she asked when she reached his table.
He looked up with a weary, yet satisfied smile. “Wishing kids came with instructions.”
She laughed, knowing exactly how he felt, and also knowing that it was a wish that would never be granted. “I’ll just bet you do. But you’ve obviously survived the first couple of weeks.” She laughed again when he snorted. “So how’s Sophie doing? Is she talking yet?”
Shaking his head, he looked down, his hands clasped on the table in front of him. “I called Jules O’Brien, since she’s a psychologist, but learned she’s out of town. Thanks to Tanner, I was able to get in touch with her. She said there’s no way of knowing what’s causing Sophie’s silence, but to give her time.”
“She’s probably right. And if you don’t see any progress at all, I’m sure Jules will be happy to see and evaluate Sophie when she returns.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You sound like you know a lot about this kind of thing.”
“It’s from being a mother, I guess,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. Those psychology classes she took in college helped, too, but she didn’t mention them to Garrett. The less he knew about her, the better. They were friends. Nothing more. And that’s the way it would stay. It had to.
“How did you manage an evening out?” she asked. “Most parents—especially new ones—don’t have that luxury. Did you lock her in a closet?” she teased.
Garrett’s chuckle sent shivers of warmth through her. “Having a sister who’s a doctor and childless—at least for a while—can be an advantage,” he said. “Sophie is spending the evening with Paige and Tucker.”
“And I’ll bet they’re enjoying it.”
“For now,” he said, his expression thoughtful. And then his mouth turned up in a smile of joy. “You should see Sophie’s room. Every spare minute Paige and Tucker have had, they’ve been working on it. A complete make-over, Paige calls it.”
“How nice of them! What does Sophie think of it?”
“She seems to like it. She was right there to watch it all, and Paige got as much input from her as she could. Of course, if Sophie had told us what she wanted, it might have been easier, but…”
Libby didn’t miss the sad note in his voice or the worried creases between his eyes, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. “It’ll work out.” Realizing what she’d done, she pulled away and reached for the pencil from behind her ear. “So what can I—”
“Libby!”
She turned toward the voice and saw Lou only a few feet away, his scowl deep. “Be right back,” she told Garrett. Under her breath as she walked away, she quietly muttered, “I hope.”
“You need to do something,” Lou said, his ham-size hands fisted on the white apron hanging from his hips. “I told her you were workin’.”
When Libby was closer, she realized that not only was Janet Barkin, her day care provider there, but so was Noah. No wonder Lou was angry. Children weren’t all
owed in the tavern.
“What’s wrong?” she asked Janet.
“It’s just gotten to be too much,” Janet said. “I just can’t have him there every night. I want a normal life.”
“You’ve got to get the boy out of here,” Lou said, as if nothing else was happening.
“We need to step outside,” Libby told Janet.
“I thought this would work out for us,” Janet said as they finally stepped out into the cool night air. “But Randy is changing to first shift, and he won’t be gone nights. I just can’t have Noah there, and you traipsing in at all hours to pick him up. I—I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.”
Libby understood. She’d known that finding someone to watch over Noah while she worked such odd hours would be difficult. Finding any kind of child care in Desperation was difficult.
With a sigh, she patted Janet’s shoulder. “It’s all right. I understand. I’ll just have to find something else.” If only she could!
The door opened, and Lou stepped outside. “You’re going to have to take the boy home. He can’t stay here. You know that.” Nodding, Libby ducked her head, her eyes burning with unshed tears. If she couldn’t find someone to watch after Noah, she’d lose her job. If that happened, she have to leave Desperation, and that was something she really didn’t want to do. She liked the town and the people, even though she didn’t have any close friends.
“I don’t want to let you go, Libby,” Lou continued. “You’re a good worker and the customers like you. But I can’t have your kid coming in here, and I can’t have you runnin’ off because of him, when I need you here the most. I gotta tell ya that if you leave now…” He shook his bald head.
She didn’t have a choice. She had to take Noah home and stay there with him. It was still early, and she was scheduled to work until closing, which was well after midnight, but she had nowhere to leave Noah.
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