by Fields, MJ
“Is that hot doctor?” Harley whispered.
“I think so,” Bridget agreed.
“Fine, just fine.” I waved to her and tried to recapture my dignity.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I turned to find Ryan standing there. Clearly, he’d moved down so that he and Callie were directly behind us.
“Fine, just bruised pride, that’s all.”
Seven
Sadie
“Sadie, Sadie.”
Callie was running toward me, and I got off my bike, bracing myself for impact because the kid didn’t look to be slowing.
She hit me at full speed, knocking me back a step and forcing an, “Oomph,” from my lungs.
“I was hoping to see you.”
“Look at you, you’re in shorts and a T-shirt. Did you talk to your dad and grandma like I told you to?”
“Daddy and I had a talk. He’s going to take me shopping to get more clothes that I like.”
“That’s wonderful, see what happens when you’re honest?”
“Caroline, did you hear me hollering for you?” The sound of a woman’s cold voice chilled me.
“Caroline?” I asked.
“That’s her name, what kind of policewoman are you?” the cold woman asked. She was tall and statuesque. I imagined her being alive in an era when women pinned up their hair and wore floor-length skirts that rustled when they walked.
“Well, since I’m not a policewoman at all, I would say none. I’m a deputy, there’s a difference.” I turned to look at Callie. “Do you want me to call you Callie or Caroline?”
“Callie, like my daddy does.”
“Very well, that’s what I will call you.”
“Sadie, this is my grammy,” Callie said, introducing the two of us. The woman would be so much prettier if she would smile. “Grammy, this is Sadie.” Callie moved to grab hold of my hand and squeezed. “Sadie rides a motorcycle and has a gun. She is super tough. Oh, and that’s my Aunt Sonya.” Callie pointed to a younger version of the grandmother. But there was something in the woman’s eyes. Not a coldness like in the grandmother’s, but more of a vacancy.
“Hello, nice to meet you,” I said to both ladies. I figured that this must be Callie’s other grandmother, since she wasn’t the one with Ryan the other day. I extended my hand, but neither of the women took it. Turning my attention to the grandmother, who was obviously the leader, I said, “You must be so happy to have such a sweet granddaughter like Callie.”
“We are; although, I’m not sure how you know much about her.”
“Sadie is the one that found me,” Callie interrupted.
“Oh, she’s the civil servant you’ve told your Aunt Sonya and I about no less than twenty times.”
Wow, cat claws much? “Civil servant, I guess that’s one title for deputies,” I said more under my breath than anything. I could already tell it wouldn’t matter who I was or what I did; this woman wasn’t going to like me.
“Sadie, will I see you again?” Callie looked hopeful.
“I’m here almost every day before and after school. So, you can always come by and say hi.”
“Caroline, we pay for this woman to work, so she needs to be working,” the grandmother stated, making me want to roll my eyes.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
“I didn’t give it.” The grandmother looked over to Sonya, who I assumed was her daughter, given they looked so much alike.
“Very well, Didn’t Give It, you do realize that I also pay taxes, which means that, while I earn my money, I also contribute to my own paycheck? So, what were you saying?” I paused a few seconds, folded my arms over my chest, and assumed the position—the one that clearly states don’t fuck with me. “Callie, it was great seeing you.” I then met the eyes of bitch one and bitch two. “If you two will move on, I have work to do.”
“Does your boss know that you hang around kids for no reason other than to be creepy?” Sonya asked.
“You mean does he know that I’m outside the school monitoring for speeders, dealing with nuisances, and helping to find children when they wander off? Yes, he does. I would think you would be a bit more grateful for my presence. I guess your granddaughter’s safety just isn’t that important to you.”
“Grammy, Sadie works at the angel club that Daddy is taking me to.”
“Ahh, we have you to thank for that as well I see.”
“I volunteer there, it’s a great place.”
“Caroline doesn’t need to go there, she has us. We can help her when she feels she is missing something.”
I bit my tongue. It was hard, but I did it. I wanted to point out how wrong she was. Had Callie felt like they were a help, then she probably wouldn’t have run away in the first place.
Eight
Callie
“Caroline.” Aunt Sonya drove while Grammy sat in the front seat and turned to talk with me. “How well do you know Sadie?”
“She’s my bestest friend. I want to be a deputy when I grow up.”
“Have you met Sadie’s girlfriend?”
“Mom, don’t,” Aunt Sonya said.
“Don’t what? You know as well as I do the woman is very butch.”
“What’s that mean, Grammy?”
“Nothing. I just don’t think that Sadie should be your best friend, you barely know her.”
“Daddy does.”
“He does?” Grammy’s eyes were huge, like yo-yos.
“Yes. Sadie thanked him for fruit salad.”
“He’s gone out with her?”
“Gone where?”
“Mom, you’re confusing her,” Aunt Sonya whispered.
“You know that you have a mommy, right, Callie?”
I nodded. “Yep, she’s my angel-mommy. Sadie has an angel-mommy too.”
“Will you stop mentioning Sadie? I’m sick and tired of hearing about that woman. You have a mother. Your mommy loved you very much. Her name isn’t angel-mommy, her name is mommy. Do you hear me? It is mommy.”
My tummy hurt from Grammy’s words. I wanted to go home, but Grammy would be upset. “I’m sorry, Grammy.” My nose burned, and I wanted to wipe my eyes. I looked up and saw Aunt Sonya. She was looking at me in the mirror.
Nine
Ryan
I walked in and was a little shocked to find my home quiet. Normally, the sound of the television was going and I could usually smell popcorn that had recently been microwaved, but not today.
“Mom, Callie? Anyone here?”
“In the laundry room.”
“Where’s Callie?”
“Louise hasn’t dropped her off yet.”
That had anger searing through me, and I had to take several deep breaths. God, this woman pushed all of my buttons. But to pull this shit after our talk the other day? It was too much. Shoving my fingers through my hair, I got my emotions together, or rather, my temperament, before snagging my phone from my pocket. I dialed my ex-mother-in-law.
“Hello?”
“Louise, where is my daughter?”
“Oh, she’s eating, we’ll be there after dinner.”
“No. I told you the other day that I had rules. I enjoy having dinner with my daughter. Technically, this is kidnapping. You refused to bring my child back.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ryan, I’m her grandmother.”
“Exactly, and I’m her father. You broke my rules after we went over them and you agreed to abide by them. I will be there to get her shortly.”
“We aren’t at home.”
“Where are you?”
“We will bring her there when we are finished.”
“Louise, don’t play games. I know that you’re home, Fred doesn’t eat out on weeknights. I will be at your house in ten minutes to get my daughter. If you are not there, I will call law enforcement and file charges against you.” I walked out to my car and got in with my phone on speaker while I continued talking. “I offered to let you get Callie more days with the on
ly stipulation being that you bring her home by dinnertime. It isn’t an unreasonable request, but you want things your way. Well, that doesn’t work for me.” I disconnected.
I turned onto the street where Deirdre’s parents lived. Sonya’s car was in the driveway as well. Steeling myself for the fight that I knew was coming, I hopped out and ran up to the house.
I rang the doorbell and waited. Callie opened it, tears rolling down her face.
“What’s wrong, Callie girl?” I knelt to wrap her in my arms.
“Is Sadie going to arrest Grammy and Aunt Sonya?”
“No, why would you ask that?”
“Grammy said that Sadie was bad and that she was going to arrest them and keep them from seeing me again.”
I held Callie’s hand and pulled her into the house. “You told Callie that the nice deputy who rescued her was going—”
“Don’t blame me, you’re the one who said you would call the cops.” Louise held up her hands.
“Please get it through your head now, you will not be picking up Callie from school again. You’ve lost that right.”
“Ryan, you are being silly and overreacting. That is not best for Caroline.”
“And you are playing some power game with my daughter.” The bitch. “I’ll have security info changed at school tomorrow.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Louise warned.
“Or what?”
When she only pursed her lips, I nodded and led my daughter from the house. They could threaten all they wanted, but they had zero leg to stand on when it came to my daughter, and had no idea the lengths I would go to keep her safe. If those lengths meant cutting that viper out of our lives, then so be it.
Once she was buckled in and we were on our way home, I glanced back at her, asking, “Callie girl, you know that Sadie is a good person, right? She wouldn’t arrest your grammy or aunt Sonya. Grammy was just confused.”
“Daddy?”
Uhh, my heart melted at that one word. “Yes, pumpkin?”
“Are you going to send me to live with Aunt Sonya?”
“No. Why? I would never do that. You are mine, all mine, and I’m going to keep you until you are fifty years old.”
“You promise?”
“Yes, I promise. Why would you ask that?”
“Grammy told me that I needed to tell you that I wanted to live with Aunt Sonya. That Aunt Sonya could take care of me. That her husband worked, but she could be a stay-at-home mom.”
What the fuck was I listening to? They were trying to tell my daughter that I needed to give her up? “Well, that is never going to happen. Do they tell you that kind of stuff a lot?”
“Sometimes, but they told me to tell you that today.” I pulled into my garage and we both got out.
“Callie, have a seat at the table, will you?” She nodded. “Did you eat?”
“Yes, Grammy ordered pizza. Daddy, something was wrong with Sadie today.”
“You saw her?”
“Yes, at school. She was on her motorcycle watching cars go by. She met Grammy and Aunt Sonya. They didn’t like her. Did you know that Grammy pays for Sadie to have a job?” I groaned. God, I hated this. Why did people act like this? “Did Grammy tell Sadie that?” Callie nodded. I turned to see my mother standing in the doorway laughing. “Don’t, Mom.”
“Don’t what? This is Louise Hazelton we’re talking about. She’s the queen of entitlement.” I held up one hand to stop her.
“Daddy, I need to talk with Sadie. I was going to ask her something today but couldn’t. Please, Daddy, please.” Callie’s eyes brimmed with tears. I’d never seen her have such a reaction before.
“Okay. How about this, since you don’t have school tomorrow for a teacher in-service day and I’m off work, why don’t we see what we can do?”
“You could always take Callie up to the station tomorrow, I’m sure someone there will be able to help you find Sadie.”
“Please, Daddy, please. Can we do that? I need to apologize to Sadie.”
I pursed my lips, trying for a sardonic look that held absolutely no weight with my mother, but really, this type of input was not needed.
Callie stared down, not meeting my eyes. “I want to talk with you about something else.” Her words were muffled.
“What’s that?”
“Grammy said something about Sadie having a girlfriend.”
“Did you meet her today?”
“No. No one was there, just Sadie.” I racked my brain, maybe Sadie said something, oh well, that was irrelevant.
“You know Mrs. Polly at the hospital and how much you love her, right?” Callie nodded. “Mrs. Polly is a nurse, and she has a girlfriend.” Okay, she had a wife, but I had a point to prove here. Only, I didn’t know what else to say, so I looked to my mom, silently pleading.
“You know a lot of people have friends that are girls, your other grammy could have meant that as well.”
Good point, I mouthed. “What I’m trying to say is that Grammy doesn’t know and shouldn’t be talking about those things. But when you grow up, you can love whoever you want as long as you still love me.”
“Okay.” Callie giggled.
“And me,” my mom added in.
“Can I tell Grammy that she was wrong?”
“Let’s just leave it be, okay?” I asked, and Callie nodded.
* * *
I rubbed my palms on the sides of my jeans as Callie and I walked up the stairs to the Orange County Sheriff’s station. Something about this whole scenario was very teenager-asking-a-girl-out-for-the-first-time kind of vibe, and I was nervous as hell.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting . . . maybe the setting from NYPD Blue, but this wasn’t that. This was more of a medical plaza that was several stories high, with an atrium in the middle. A woman with red hair behind a glass window stood as Callie and I walked over.
“May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m not exactly sure how to do this, but we are trying to get in contact with Deputy Sadie Lazar.”
“She saved me,” Callie added and beamed up at the woman.
“She did, did she? Well, that was nice of Sadie, wasn’t it?” Callie nodded. “Sadie isn’t in the station right now, but if you give me a second, I’ll find out exactly where she is, would you like that?”
“Yes, please.” I smiled at Callie, who was on her best behavior and using her best manners.
The woman picked up a radio and spoke into it. Though, she might as well have been speaking a foreign language, for all I understood of it.
“Orange County, thirteen twenty-two, what’s your twenty?”
“Thirteen twenty-two, Kaley and I4.”
“You available to fifty-six a visitor at the station?”
“I can be there in ten minutes, meet in lobby.”
“Orange County copies, ten o-seven.”
When the woman put down the radio, she had a large smile on her face. “Sadie will be here in ten minutes.”
“Yay.” Callie clapped.
“Thank you.”
“I’m Bridget, by the way. Sadie is a good friend of mine.”
Callie was practically vibrating with excitement when she asked, “She is?”
“Yep, and I know all about you. I have something that I think you will like.” Bridget came through a door and had a plastic badge in her hand. “We only give this to certain people, and Sadie said that you were tough, so I figured that you probably deserved a star badge like hers. Can I clip it on you?” Callie nodded, and Bridget bent to her level. She looked up at me and seemed to be battling with something that she wanted to say. “Are you by chance a doctor?”
I was taken aback by her question, since I thought that she was just giving Callie a spiel that they gave all kids. “Umm, yes, I’m Doctor Ryan Montgomery, and this is Callie.” Bridget still had a wide smile on her face as she walked back behind the door.
“Well, she’ll be here in just a few, you can have a seat right ov
er there.” Bridget pointed to a row of chairs.
“Thanks.” While we waited for Sadie, I kept glancing over to Bridget, who spent the rest of the time on her cell phone.
“Sadie.” Callie got up and went to her.
“Hey, what are you doing here? Hello, Doctor Montgomery.”
“Call me Ryan. Callie has a few things that she wants to say. Don’t you, Callie?”
“I’m sorry for running away, but thank you for finding me.”
“You are very welcome.”
“I also wanted to ask if you would come to my school. It’s my turn to invite someone for career day, and I want you to come.”
I heard a laugh and turned to see Bridget and another woman watching us. They both had big smiles on their faces.
“Is it wrong for her to ask you?” I asked Sadie.
“No. They’re”—she threw her right thumb over her shoulder—“just idiots.” Sadie turned her focus back to Callie. “When is career day?”
“A week from Friday,” I answered when Callie looked up at me, waiting for me to speak.
“I’m off that day, so time won’t be a problem, but I still need to clear it with my lieutenant.”
“Okay, can you do that now?” Callie was not going to give the woman any chance to change her mind, and a part of me was happy for that.
“Let me see if he’s in his office.”
“He is,” Bridget answered for Sadie, and it was my turn to chuckle. Okay, obviously the two really were good friends, and she had been eavesdropping.
“I’ll be right back.” I smiled as Sadie and Bridget carried on some silent conversation.
“What if she can’t come, Daddy? What will I do?”
“I’ll come.”
“But I want all my friends to see how cool she is.”
“Whoa, I’m cool, aren’t I?” Callie shook her head. “I’m a doctor, thank you very much. I save lives.”
“Noooo, you’re a daddy, that isn’t cool.”