by N L Hinkens
Sonia replayed the conversation in her head as she took another bite of her sandwich. Henry had clammed up after that, despite Jessica’s attempts to find out more. Sonia had talked it over with her mother later in the day, and they’d come to the conclusion that Henry might be adopted. Perhaps the adoption had only just been finalized when Ray’s wife passed away. It would make sense on several levels. It would explain why Henry had seemed so traumatized when they’d first met him, and why he didn’t display any affection for his father. If Ray’s wife had been the one to push for the adoption, Ray might even resent Henry now that he was stuck with a child he hadn’t really wanted to begin with, and certainly hadn’t planned on raising alone.
Sonia was halfway through her sandwich when her phone rang. An unknown number, but a local one, popped up on the screen. Anticipating a new client, she hurriedly swallowed the bite of turkey in her mouth and wiped her lips on a napkin. “Good afternoon, Masterton Designs.”
“Uh, yes, hello, is this Sonia Masterton?”
“It is,” Sonia replied, hurrying into her office to retrieve her appointment book. “How can I help you?”
“This is Trish Miller, the principal from Small Steps Preschool.” There was a brief pause before she continued, ”Ray Jenkins hasn’t shown up to pick up his son from school today and your name’s listed as the emergency contact. Is there any chance you could come and get Henry now?”
The hairs on the back of Sonia’s neck tingled. Her thoughts catapulted in several directions at once. Was Ray simply running late? Or had he actually forgotten to pick Henry up? Maybe Evelyn was right about him being a negligent father. She gripped the phone in her hand tighter, a foreboding feeling creeping over her. Surely, he hadn’t taken off again—bailed on his own kid. It might have been justified when he was sixteen, but he had responsibilities beyond himself now, no matter how broken he was over his wife’s death. She gritted her teeth, anger welling up inside. Whatever the case, Henry had suffered enough already. He didn’t deserve to be stranded at his preschool watching all the other kids go home one-by-one until he was left alone with the principal.
“I’m on my way,” Sonia said, gathering up her purse and keys as she sprang to her feet. She hurried out to the garage and retrieved Jessica’s old booster seat from the wire shelving at the back. It was covered in dust and she had no idea if it was suitable for Henry’s height and weight, but it would have to suffice for now.
Her fingers clenched the steering wheel like a vice as she drove to the preschool. What was she supposed to tell Henry? As little as possible would be best. She didn’t want him worrying that he’d been abandoned by his dad, on top of losing his mother. Sonia glanced at the clock on the dash. It was almost time to pick up Jessica. She might as well drive over to Broad River Elementary after she got Henry and wait rather than going home first. Besides, it would be a lot easier to keep Henry calm with Jessica in the car. She chewed on her lip as she went over what to tell the kids. Something simple—Ray had an appointment and had asked her to pick up Henry. Curiosity ran in Jessica’s genes, but hopefully she’d be too consumed with her plans for Henry for the rest of the afternoon to press for details.
Her mother, on the other hand, was another matter. She would see straight through her if she tried to fob her off with a lie. Sonia would have to explain the situation to her before picking her up. After dialing her mother’s number, she tapped her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. Evelyn wasn’t the best with technology, not to mention the fact that half the time her phone was on silent or buried at the bottom of her cavernous purse. She might even have left it behind at the house that morning. Sonia wracked her brains trying to remember if she’d reminded her mother to take her phone with her.
“Hello, dear,” Evelyn said, sounding flustered when she finally answered the call. “I hope you haven’t been trying to get a hold of me. Mary and I were sitting out in the garden. I totally lost track of time. Are you on your way?”
“No … I mean, yes. But I need to pick Jessica up first … and Henry.”
“Henry?” Evelyn echoed in a puzzled tone. ”Where is he?”
“The principal from Small Steps called me. Apparently, Ray forgot to pick Henry up.”
“See, what did I tell you?” Evelyn ranted. “He’s irresponsible. How could he forget to pick up his four-year-old?”
”Look, we can talk about this later,” Sonia answered, picturing her mother’s lips clamped in a disapproving line.“I just wanted to give you a head’s up so you don’t say anything in front of the kids.”
There was a long pause before Evelyn spoke, voicing Sonia’s own fear. “You don’t think he’s … disappeared again, do you?”
“We can’t jump to any conclusions, yet,” Sonia cautioned her. ”There could be a perfectly simple explanation. It’s possible Ray might even be at the school by the time I get there. Either way, I’ll swing by and pick you up afterward.” She ended the call, rolling her knotted shoulders to ease the tension. She hoped for everyone’s sake that Ray was at the school by the time she arrived. What was she supposed to do if he didn’t show up at all?
Henry was seated at a small desk in the school office coloring a picture of a long-eared puppy when Sonia arrived.
The principal, a small-framed woman with a tight, chestnut bun, got to her feet, relief flooding her face. “You must be Sonia, I’m Trish. Henry’s been waiting very patiently for you, haven’t you, Henry?” After checking Sonia’s ID and showing her where to sign him out, the principal escorted them both out to the car. She stood to one side observing as Sonia strapped Henry in, her eagle eye taking in the dusty booster seat. When Sonia closed the back door, Trish laid a hand on her arm and cleared her throat in a hesitant manner. ”I hate to trouble you any further, but perhaps you could remind Mr. Jenkins that he needs to bring in Henry’s birth certificate and immunization records on Monday. I realize circumstances have been difficult for him, with the recent deaths of his wife and mother. He mentioned he’s been going through boxes trying to find where he put certain documents. I let the paperwork slide for the first week, but, as you can appreciate, there are procedures I’m obligated to follow. I’m afraid Henry won’t be able to return to school on Monday unless we have all the necessary documentation in hand.”
Sonia gave a wary nod, her pulse thundering in her ears—little red flags fluttering in her head again. No matter which way she looked at it, there were too many pieces that didn’t fit together. Her brain was blaring a warning at her that something was wrong. Jessica’s words haunted her, he’s not Henry’s real dad.
She wasn’t even sure if she should take Henry home with her. Maybe she should call the police. If Ray really had disappeared, she couldn’t be responsible for a traumatized four-year-old who barely spoke and cried himself to sleep every night.
Trish glanced at her watch. “My apologies, I have to dash. I have a parent meeting in a few minutes. Thanks for coming so promptly to fetch Henry.” Before Sonia had a chance to respond, Trish turned on her sensible heels and marched briskly back inside the school.
Sonia took a deep breath and climbed into her car. She glanced in the rearview mirror as she pulled away from the curb. ”Did you have a fun day at school, Henry?”
He stared back at her, wide-eyed and solemn, offering nothing in response.
Sonia took a steadying breath, determined not to give up at the first try. She eyed the dried-up paint in his hair and took another stab at it. “Were you painting today?”
After a moment or two, he gave a nod so slight she half-suspected she might have imagined it. ”What did you paint?” she asked, restraining herself from offering up multiple possible answers as she had a bad habit of doing when a conversation lagged.
“Mommy.” His voice was little more than a whisper. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and turned his head to gaze out the window.
Tears scalded Sonia’s eyes as she turned down the street to Jessica’s school. She wanted nothing more t
han to pull over, take Henry in her arms and squeeze him tight. But that might make matters worse. He didn’t trust her, yet. He might think she was trying to replace his mother. While they waited in the car line, she made several more attempts to engage him in conversation before eventually giving up. She loosed a sigh of relief when the bell rang and kids began spilling out into the yard, their laughter replacing the silence she had tried to fill with her various Spotify playlists.
Moments later, Jessica yanked the car door open, squealing with delight when she spotted Henry. She scrambled in next to him and leaned over to tickle him. “You’re sitting in my old car seat! What a big boy you are!”
Henry pulled out his shriveled thumb and gave her a crooked smile.
“Is he coming to our house to play?” Jessica asked, wrestling with her seatbelt.
“Yes, but first we have to pick up Grandma. She went to visit her friend, Mary.”
“Can we feed the goldfish in her pond, please Mom?”
“Some other day, Jess,” Sonia replied. ”We need to get home—Henry’s dad will be back soon.”
“Where is he?”
“He … has an appointment.” Sonia plastered a smile on her face. “So, what do you kids want for a snack when we get home?”
She glanced in the rearview mirror as Jessica whispered something in Henry’s ear. He let out a shy chuckle followed by a nod.
“Milk and chocolate chip cookies, please,” Jessica announced.
“You got it,” Sonia said. “I’m pretty sure we have some in the freezer.”
Evelyn was ready and waiting with her coat buttoned when Sonia arrived. She clambered into the passenger seat with a grunt and turned around to greet Jessica and Henry. ”Isn’t this fun, kids? Another playdate.”
“Yup,” Jessica said, kicking the back of the seat in her excitement. ”Mom said we could have chocolate chip cookies and milk for snack today.”
“Much better than apple slices and peanut butter,” Evelyn said with a wink. She turned to Sonia, arching a brow. ”How was your day, dear?”
“Great,” Sonia replied, immediately launching into a rundown of the kitchen installation. As she talked, she cast the occasional glance in the rearview mirror at Jessica and Henry who were huddled together, giggling—playing some game Jessica had made up. Sonia lowered her voice. ”The principal at Small Steps said Ray hasn’t submitted all of Henry’s paperwork.”
Evelyn gave a small shrug, peering in the mirror on the visor as she patted her hair into place. ”There’s so much red tape involved in sending a kid to school these days. In my day, all you had to do was show up with your lunch pail.”
“He hasn’t turned in Henry’s birth certificate.” Sonia shot her mother a meaningful look. “What if he doesn’t have one?”
6
As soon as Jessica and Henry were out of earshot, Sonia and Evelyn sat down at the kitchen table with a pot of Moroccan mint tea to discuss the situation.
“I had a bad feeling about him from the minute I set eyes on him,” Evelyn mumbled with a disgruntled humph. ”How could he be this irresponsible?”
Sonia braced her elbows on the table. “The more pressing question is where is he?”
”What are you going to do if he doesn’t return by this evening? You’ll have to keep Henry overnight.”
“I can’t think about that yet,” Sonia said, pulling out her phone and dialing Ray’s number for the umpteenth time. “I’m going to keep trying until he answers.”
Not unexpectedly, her call went straight to voicemail. She set down her phone on the table with an exasperated sigh, staring at it as if she could will Ray into responding.
Her mother tutted her disapproval. ”You’re wasting your time. You’ve already left him several messages. He’ll get back with you when he’s ready.”
“When he’s ready?” Sonia angled a brow. “What does that mean?”
Evelyn shrugged. “Maybe he’s caught up in some story or other. He’s a journalist, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but not an investigative journalist. He works from home writing freelance articles for magazines, or something along those lines.” Sonia dragged a hand through her hair. “My gut tells me this isn’t about work. He seemed so overwhelmed by Henry, without his wife here to help. Maybe he cracked—couldn’t take the pressure.”
Evelyn blew on her tea, looking pensive. ”Do you think he planned this after meeting us? Perhaps that’s why he asked you to be Henry’s emergency contact for preschool.”
“It’s possible, I suppose. He might have decided to take the easy way out when he saw how well Jessica and Henry got along.” Sonia let out a beleaguered sigh. ”They say grief does strange things to people.”
Evelyn nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. ”Poor little Henry. Celia would be turning in her grave if she knew her son had abandoned her only grandchild.”
“We don’t know that’s what happened. I’m going to give it until dinner,” Sonia said. “If he hasn’t gotten in touch by then, I’m calling the police.”
“You can’t do that!” Evelyn threw her a horrified look. ”They’ll have Child Protective Services pick Henry up. We can’t let them take Celia’s grandchild.”
“Mom, we don’t have a choice. We can’t just keep him. We have a duty to inform the authorities.”
Evelyn blinked, her face beset with concern. ”We can keep him overnight, since you’re listed as his emergency contact at the school. If Ray hasn’t returned by morning, we’ll call the police then.”
Sonia picked at a broken nail, her mind spinning. She shouldn’t have been so quick to agree to serve as Henry’s emergency contact. She’d sensed something was off about the whole situation from the very beginning, but she’d ignored her instincts in a misguided attempt to be hospitable, for Celia’s sake. But Celia wasn’t here anymore. Ray was a stranger. She should have been more cautious about letting him into her life. Draining her tea, she pushed her chair out from the table. “I’m going over to Ray’s place—to make sure he’s not there. Can you keep an eye on the kids for a few minutes?”
“Of course he isn’t there,” Evelyn said in a testy tone. ”His truck’s gone.”
Sonia shrugged. “Doesn’t mean he’s not home. What if his truck broke down, or he’s having it serviced or something? He might have taken an Uber home and fallen asleep. Or tripped on Celia’s clutter and knocked himself out. He might need medical attention for all we know. But I can’t just sit here and keep dialing his number all afternoon.”
Evelyn pursed her lips, reaching for their mugs as she got to her feet. ”Be careful. If he opens the door, don’t go inside, whatever you do. I don’t trust him. And take your phone with you.”
Sonia winked as she exited the kitchen. ”Now who’s fussing?”
She rapped on Ray’s back door multiple times, but no one answered. Gingerly, she crept around to the side of the house and peered through the family room window. To her surprise, it looked exactly as it had when Celia lived there. She’d expected Ray to have moved things around, or perhaps even to have gotten rid of some of his mother’s belongings. But it didn’t look as if he’d put his personal stamp on his new abode in any shape or form.
Sonia continued on around the house and squinted through Celia’s bedroom window next. The same faded floral comforter covered the queen sleigh bed, the same dancing china figurines graced the top of the dresser—nothing about the room indicated it had a new male occupant. Sonia moved on to the guest bedroom, tenting her fingers over her eyes to peer through the smeared glass. Jessica had told her this was Henry’s bedroom, but nothing suggested a child was sleeping in it. A row of moving boxes was stacked along the bottom of the bed, and Sonia could make out several Target bags lying on the floor next to them. What on earth had Ray been doing all this time if he hadn’t even bothered to unpack Henry’s things?
She froze at the sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway. Finally, he’d returned! She gritted her teeth as she stepped out of the
planter she was standing in. He’d better have a good explanation for his absence. Hurrying around the house to greet him, she came to an abrupt halt at the sight of a squad car parked in place of Ray’s gray Toyota Tacoma pickup. Her eyes traveled to the front door where a thickset policeman stood, one hand on his holster. He dipped his head at her, as if to reassure her he didn’t consider her a threat, before striding over to her.
“Afternoon, ma’am. I’m Officer Reed with the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office. Do you live here?”
“I … no … I’m a neighbor.” She gestured at her house with a flick of her wrist, confusion flooding her brain. Was she in some kind of trouble? Had someone seen her peeking in the windows and mistaken her for a burglar? She immediately dismissed the irrational thought. The police couldn’t possibly have gotten here that quickly. The officer had to be here for some other reason. And then it hit her. This must concern Ray. Her heart clattered in her chest. “Is … everything all right?”
A furrow of concern formed on the officer’s forehead. ”I’m trying to reach Ray Jenkins’ next-of-kin.”
Sonia clapped a hand to her mouth. Next-of-kin. Was Ray dead? Her legs quivered. How would she ever break the news to Henry? The poor child had been through so much already. “I … don’t understand.”
“I’m afraid there’s been an accident.”
Sonia rested a hand on the fence to steady herself. “What … what kind of an accident?”
“Mr. Jenkins wrecked his truck. He’s been transported to the hospital. I’m trying to contact his family.”
”He doesn’t really have any family.” Sonia sucked in a labored breath, trying to collect her thoughts. “This is his mother’s house. She passed away recently—shortly after he lost his wife to cancer. He has a younger brother, but he hasn’t seen him in over twenty years. There’s really only his son, Henry.”
The officer adjusted his stance. ”Do you know where I might find him?”
