by Pat Warren
Laurie sat up, distancing herself from Fallon. “I worked a couple of jobs here and there.” Her eyes swung to her sister, suddenly filled with accusation. “Is this why you hunted me down, to interrogate me?”
Fallon’s guilt surfaced as she tried to understand. “Of course not. But you can’t imagine how worried we’ve been. Mom has been crying nonstop since you left.” Which wasn’t exactly the truth, but despite her pleasure over her stepson’s visit, Fallon knew that their mother was still concerned about Laurie. “I’m just trying to figure out how you managed to live all this time, how you supported yourself.”
Laurie crossed her arms over her chest in a protective gesture. “Well, I wasn’t turning tricks, if that’s what you wanted to know.”
Chagrined, Fallon placed her hand on her sister’s rigid arm. “Oh, Laurie, I never thought that.” But she had feared that her sister might have been forced to do things she ordinarily wouldn’t, just to survive. However, they were getting nowhere, so she decided to back off, for now. There would be plenty of time to talk later.
Laurie stared ahead, her defiant gaze settling on Michael, who hadn’t said a word since they’d left L.A. “Are you involved with him?” she asked Fallon.
Back at Niko’s, she’d introduced Michael to Laurie, even though she knew they’d already met, explaining his presence, but perhaps Laurie had been too upset emotionally for the information to register. “Michael runs a house for runaways in San Diego and—”
“I know that.” Exasperation tinged her sister’s voice. “A girl I knew back home gave me the number of his place. I even spent a night there a while back with someone I met when I first got to San Diego.”
“Yes. Emma. Michael told me. I found a piece of paper with his phone number on it in your room. That’s how I traced you.” Michael had warned her that her sister would change after living on the streets, and he’d been right. Gone was the shy, sweet girl, replaced by a testy young woman with a definitely belligerent attitude.
Laurie was silent for a couple of minutes, then turned to her sister, keeping her voice low. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you involved with him?”
Tamping down her temper, Fallon met Laurie’s gaze, unwilling to discuss her feelings for Michael with her rebellious sister. “Laurie, I came to California with only one thought in mind—to find you. That’s the reason for my being here, and nothing else.”
Laurie seemed to deflate a bit. “How is Mom?”
“Like I said, worried, weepy, frightened for you.”
Laurie swung back, once more challenging. “And what about Roy? What does he think about all this?”
Fallon decided to take the line of least resistance. “Well, he hired a detective to locate you, so he must be concerned.” Which, again, wasn’t the whole story. Fallon waited for Laurie’s reaction.
“What detective?”
“Didn’t you meet with a tall bearded man named Raymond Tompkins in the Rodeo Bar a few nights ago?”
“Was he a detective?”
“That’s what he said he was.”
“You talked with him?”
“No. Rollie, the Rodeo bartender, told us that he saw Tompkins give you an envelope of money. What was that all about?” Again she waited, this time for an explanation.
“Damn, is there anyone else you’ve set to spying on me? I can’t believe this. Did you pay Rollie and Niko and whoever else for information on me?” Angrily, Laurie curled up in the corner of the bench seat, as far away from her sister as possible.
Apparently Laurie had learned to be maddeningly evasive since leaving home, Fallon realized. She hadn’t explained the money, the so-called detective or her relationship with T.J. except in the broadest terms. And she exploded into anger whenever Fallon got too close with a question she didn’t want to answer. “I didn’t pay anyone for information on you. Michael has connections and we talked to a few people, finally tracing you to Niko’s. Are you angry that I found you?”
“No, but I’m not happy with the way you went about it.”
This teeter-totter of emotions was enough to test the patience of a saint, Fallon thought. “Laurie, I want to ask you something.”
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing? What’s one more?”
She’s been through a lot, Fallon reminded herself. There had to be a reason for all this and if she learned what it was, maybe she would understand her sister better. “Why did you leave home?”
Laurie pulled her legs up onto the seat and leaned her head onto her bent knees. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore right now. I’m too tired.” With that, she closed her eyes.
Feeling her frustration increase, Fallon moved up to take the passenger seat opposite Michael. Turning to face him, she mouthed a brief message to him: I give up.
Without saying a word, Michael reached over and took her hand, letting his touch silently convey his understanding.
Fallon tapped lightly on the bedroom door, then opened it without waiting for the invitation she wasn’t sure would be forthcoming. Laurie had slept the rest of the way back to Michael’s House, eaten a sandwich that Sukey had made especially for her, then taken a long shower. Now, lying between clean white sheets, she looked more like fourteen than sixteen, more like the sister Fallon remembered.
She stepped to the bed and sat down on the edge, noting the shadows of fatigue beneath Laurie’s big eyes—eyes that measured her in a way they never had before. “How are you feeling?” Fallon began.
“Tired, but better.” Laurie watched her fingers trace the hem of the sheet as she searched for the right thing to say. “I’m sorry if I said some things that hurt you. I never meant to. You’ve always been good to me, Fallon.”
“That’s probably because I love you. I always have.”
Tears sprang to Laurie’s eyes and she found herself blinking. “I love you, too.”
Fallon took her hand, then noticed that something was missing. “Your opal ring. Did you lose it?” Michael had mentioned that she’d been wearing it the first night she’d shown up on his doorstep.
Laurie’s cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. “I gave it to T.J. to hock. He said he’d pay me back, but...” Twin tears trailed down her cheeks. “I’m not a very good judge of people, I guess. I’ve trusted the wrong ones and been mean to you when you were the one person I could always count on being in my corner.”
Fallon felt her heart twist for the confused and frightened girl. “I try to be, Laurie. I’ve been thinking that we disappointed you, all of us, and that’s why you left. Roy’s so damned strict and Mom doesn’t ever stand up to him. And then I didn’t let you come visit when you wanted to, and—”
“No.” Laurie laced her fingers with her sister’s. “It wasn’t you, never you. It was...just things. Things piled up and I didn’t want to stay there anymore.”
“Are you saying you don’t want to go back to live with Roy and Mom?”
Sniffling, Laurie nodded. “Please, don’t make me do that.”
“I won’t. How about coming to live with me?” Lord, could she do this? Could she handle a sixteen-year-old who’d already run away once? Yes, Fallon thought, she would manage somehow. She loved Laurie, and love could see them through her sister’s growing pains.
“Do you mean it?” Laurie asked hesitantly. “You want me?”
Deeply moved, Fallon leaned down to hug her sister tightly. “Of course I want you.”
After a few moments, Laurie eased back, frowning again. “What will Mom say?”
“You let me handle Mom.” Jane Gifford wouldn’t be happy about the situation, would take on the blame herself when in fact Fallon was certain that Laurie was running from Roy’s obsessive ways. But their mother would get used to the idea in time. At least, she would know her younger daughter was safe.
Fallon reached to open the drawer of the nightstand and removed the twirling ballerina that Laurie had left on her first visit to Michael’s House. “I thought you might want this
back.”
Laurie gazed at the delicate figurine inside the dome with sad affection, but shook her head. “I left it on purpose. I think I need to grow up, to leave childish things behind me.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Fallon replaced the ballerina, wondering at this new sign of maturity. Leaving behind something their father had given her seemed so drastic, as if Laurie wanted to sever all ties to her past.
She studied her sister thoughtfully. “Maybe we should take you to a doctor tomorrow before we fly back. A checkup wouldn’t hurt, considering the way you’ve been living these past weeks.”
A trace of Laurie’s defiance returned. “Is that a subtle way of asking if I might be pregnant or have some sort of disease?”
It honestly hadn’t been, but maybe she had a valid point. “Is that a possibility?”
“I made sure T.J. used protection.” She saw the shocked look Fallon tried to keep from showing. “Surprised that your little sister’s not as pure as the driven snow? Don’t be. It’s not as if I left home a virgin.” The bitterness came through, despite Laurie’s efforts to keep her voice neutral.
Oh, God. Fallon’s worst fear, the thing that Michael had insisted might be so, had finally surfaced. She had to ask. “Laurie, did Roy molest you? Because if he did—”
“Him?” She gave a short, humorless laugh. “I wouldn’t let that man touch me for a million dollars in pure gold.”
Relief flooded Fallon. She must have had sex with someone else. Some high-school boy, probably. While Fallon wasn’t thrilled that her sister was sexually active at sixteen, that was far easier to handle than a stepfather who would take advantage. She wouldn’t question her further on this right now, believing that Laurie was entitled to some privacy. “I didn’t think so.”
“I guess you’re disappointed in me, right?”
“I think sixteen’s a little young for sex, but...”
“You know what? So do I. But what’s done is done.”
Cynical at sixteen. What a shame. “Listen, Laurie, we’ll get past this, all of this. I’ll take you to Denver and fix up the spare room for you. There’s a high school not terribly far from my place. You’re bright, you’ll adjust, make new friends.” When Laurie said nothing, Fallon stood, realizing that her sister needed sleep more than another lecture. “We’ll do things together. Maybe Mom will drive up and visit us. Without Roy.”
Laurie’s smile was sleepy. “I’d like that.”
“And we can drive to the academy and see Danny. He’s home visiting, right now. Mom said he asked about you and wished you were there.”
Laurie didn’t comment, just closed her eyes.
Fallon decided that her sister had lost the battle to stay awake. The poor kid was beat. Quietly, she left the room, closing the door behind her.
It would work out, she told herself. She hadn’t planned on taking in a sixteen-year-old but, as Michael had once said, you had to play the hand life dealt you.
Feeling better than she had in weeks, Fallon went downstairs to look for Michael.
In the morning, Laurie’s bed was empty and her pitifully few belongings were gone.
If someone had told me when we set out to search for Sloan’s son that I might find joy in the rugged mountains of Mexico, I would have laughed. But I have.
A miracle has happened. I’ve fallen in love with Sloan, and he with me. This beautiful person is like a gift I never dared hope for, much less realize. He is kindness personified—a big, rugged man with a tender heart. His love for his child, his willingness to put his life on hold, to do anything it takes to find his boy, only makes me love him more.
I was only sixteen when Lance and I married. Michael was born six months later. Although we were in love and we were a happy little family, the endless hard work of running a farm and raising a baby when we were scarcely more than children ourselves left little time for the two of us. Then Lance’s mother died and his father changed, grieving so much that within a year, he, too, was gone. The two of us never had time to talk, to be foolishly romantic, to have fun together. We were always working, always tired.
I loved Lance, but we never were able to share the deep friendship I now know with Sloan. For weeks, we’ve been together, alone, just the two of us for the most part, except for the occasional stranger we meet along the way. His illness drew us closer and the obstacles we’ve had to overcome on our journey have forged a bond that’s very strong. I don’t think there’s a subject we haven’t talked over, a thought we haven’t shared.
For me, loving Sloan has been like an awakening. I can scarcely believe how sensual and uninhibited he makes me feel—at my age. I know he’s also the reason my energy level is so high. I want desperately to find Christopher, to find him well taken care of and to be able to disentangle him from his heartless mother.
Right now, the future is uncertain for both Sloan and me. It would be foolish to make plans when a large part of ourselves—our children—isn’t with us yet. But one day, when all these terrible days and nights are but distant memories, I pray that there’ll be a future for us, together with all four children.
Chapter 11
Fallon sat slumped in a chair across the desk from Michael. Her hands were curled around a mug of hot coffee and yet they still felt cold and clammy. “Why? I just want to know why. Dammit, I thought we’d squared things last night. She hugged me with tears in her eyes, told me she loved me, told me she wanted to move to Denver and live with me. Then, bingo! She runs again.” A shiver raced along Fallon’s spine and she took a sip of coffee, wishing she could warm up.
Leaning back in his chair, Michael wondered what to say. It wasn’t quite as if he could have predicted that Laurie would bolt. Yet it didn’t surprise him. She had before. And he’d experienced the same thing with other runaways. After living on the streets for a while, some kids simply didn’t want to stay in one place.
He’d overheard much of their conversation directly behind him in the van as he’d driven back yesterday, and had decided that Laurie was far from over whatever it was that had made her leave in the first place. She displayed anger, confusion, frustration. She vacillated between accusations and apologies, between exasperation and excitability.
In other words, she’d behaved very much like a typical teenage girl whose back was to the wall.
“I thought she sounded kind of defensive when I heard you two talking on the drive,” he said, uncertain just what to say to Fallon, who was obviously blaming herself. “It could be that it wasn’t anything you said or did, and merely that she has this need to run away—from questions, from authority, from anyone who dares to judge or criticize her.”
“You think I was critical and judgmental?” Fallon didn’t sound defensive, but rather as if she really wanted to know.
“I didn’t say that.” Straightening, he tossed down the pen he’d been toying with. “I’m pretty much in the dark on this, same as you, Fallon.”
“But you must have some ideas. You’ve dealt with runaways for years.”
He wished he could give her the answer she wanted, the right answer. The most he could do was try. “All right, let’s try to analyze this. Tell me what you talked about last night in her room, everything that was said.”
So she did, replaying the scene for Michael. But when she’d finished, she still had no clue. “Niko told us that Laurie had come to him looking for a job after T.J. stole her money because she was tired of living on the street. Yet I offer her a home, love and all that goes with it, and she runs.” Unable to sit still another minute, Fallon rose, pacing to the window. “I can’t remember my teen years being this difficult.”
Michael was thinking over all he’d heard. “Did she seem at all enthusiastic when you mentioned that your mother could drive up without Roy and that you’d visit Danny at the academy?”
“No. She just closed her eyes, as if she was very tired and didn’t want to talk anymore. I don’t think she even heard me leave the room.”
&nb
sp; “And you didn’t look shocked or get on her case when she told you she was no longer a virgin?”
“I certainly was shocked, though I don’t think she could tell.” She turned from the window. “Wouldn’t you be if your sixteen-year-old sister who’d hardly dated, to the best of your knowledge, told you that?”
Michael wished he had a sister of any age. He would deal with the problems as they came up. But that wasn’t what Fallon wanted to hear. “So T.J. wasn’t the first?”
“Apparently not.”
“And you believed her when she said that Roy hadn’t touched her?”
“Absolutely. She was revolted at the very idea.”
Had that been a smokescreen? Michael wondered. Runaways often became very good liars in no time, as he himself had. And they denied their fears, even to themselves.
He reached for her hand, sat down in his desk chair and drew her onto his lap. “Laurie’s disturbed about something, I’m convinced of that. We just haven’t figured out what it is, the same as with Daryl.”
Fallon had been so absorbed in her own problems, she’d forgotten that she’d found Michael having a long talk with Daryl last night when she’d gone looking for him. The boy hadn’t looked good, so she’d left his office quickly. “How did that go?”
Wearily, Michael shrugged. “Like you, I wish I could get through to that kid. He got into a brawl at school with this older boy who stole the few bucks he had on him. Daryl didn’t defend himself, just let the kid use him as a punching bag.”
“When I stuck my head in here last night, I noticed that his face was bruised and puffy. Why wouldn’t he at least try to fight back?”
“Because he’s certain he can’t win. He’s told me that his father used to slap him and his little brother around from the time they were toddlers. The brother is deaf in one ear from one of the blows. When you’re small and defenseless, after so much pummeling, especially dished out by the very people who are supposed to love and protect you, you give up. The fight drains out of you. You take your lumps and try to remain inconspicuous in everything so nothing you do sets them off.”
