“Thanks, Pete, I appreciate it, but that’s kind of going backward. I need a new place to go with who I am now. I wish you all the best and I’m truly sorry if I gave you a bad time. I can’t take that back, as much as I want to.”
“And I wish you the best too. Let’s stay in touch.”
“Only in the business end. What are you going to do with your life, Pete?”
“Well, much as I hate certain aspects of the law, I don’t think I’ll switch professions. It’s what I do best. I think I’m past due for a vacation. I think I’ll go someplace.”
“Someplace? That’s not good enough, Pete. Do it all. Go for it. Do it now. Don’t wait. There might not be a tomorrow. I guess I shouldn’t have said that, huh?”
“Hell no. You’re right. Maddie, if there’s anything I can do, all you—”
“I’ll ask. Take care, Pete.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“By the way, how’d you know where this house was?”
“I memorized it off the letter you wrote. Hey, guess what? I memorized the entire Sears catalog. Surfboards, page 486. The entire catalog, Mr. Sorenson. The index too. Try and top that.”
Maddie was laughing as she backed the car around. Pete had come outside to see her off. “Take care of yourself, Pete.”
“The whole catalog?” Pete said.
Maddie tapped the horn, five notes of zippy sound as she drove away.
“I’ll be damned.” In the house he sat down to think about what her visit meant to him personally. Maddie was taking charge of her life. For better or worse, she was going to do what was best for her.
Without thinking twice, Pete called the precinct and asked for Otis Nester. When his voice came over the wire, he identified himself and told him Maddie’s story. “Will your people look out for her, Nester?”
“Around the clock, and she won’t even know we’re there.”
“That’s good.” He didn’t say thanks. They owed her that much. More, but they’d never be able to make up for what they’d taken away. He hung up the phone, did the dishes, threw away the wine bottles, and put Marley’s tunes on the stereo again.
Upstairs, he showered, shaved, and packed his bags with enough clothes to last him a month. He carried his cases out to the Rover. His last trip into the house was spent turning down the thermostat, turning off the stereo, and locking all the doors and windows. He grinned broadly when he pulled the surfboard from the closet. He wiped at imaginary dust, his eyes brimming. Inside his breast pocket was his open-end ticket.
He had one stop to make, Fairy Tales, where he was going to swoop Annie off her feet and take her with him.
It didn’t work out that way. Pete charged into the store a little after four, his eyes raking the sales help and customers. When he didn’t see her, he bellowed her name.
“Annie isn’t here,” he was told by Ada Rollins. “She left around two. She had a plane to catch.”
Pete’s jaw dropped. “Where did she say she was going?” He should know that. He should have asked.
“She said good-bye, that’s it, Mr. Sorenson. She said she wouldn’t be back. Last week she said she was thinking about moving to San Francisco. Maybe that’s where she went. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.”
“I’m sorry too. Listen, the owner of the shop will be in tomorrow. She’ll be taking over from Annie. ’Bye, ladies,” he said to all the curious sales help looking at him.
Fall back and regroup.
Outside in the brisk air, the surfboard in the backseat of his Rover, Pete felt suddenly stupid. Always the last one out of the gate, Sorenson. Too much, too little, too late. Time to go back to Darien and think this through.
And that, Pete Sorenson, is the story of your life.
Well, hell, if Maddie had the guts to come back and take on life, then he had the guts to use Leo’s ticket and go for his dream.
“Yeahhhhh.”
It was dark when he drove down the shale road to his Darien home. He swerved to the side when a tow truck pulled alongside. The driver tapped his horn, slid over to the passenger side and rolled down the window. “Hey, are you Pete Sorenson?”
“Yeah. Who’re you?”
“I’m your last year’s Christmas present eleven months late. I’ll back down the drive.”
“What the hell . . .”
He must be lost. But the man had called him by name. Pete shrugged when he climbed out of the Rover. Last year’s Christmas present?
The man got out of the truck and approached. “Pete?”
“Yeah?”
“Do I look that different? Aside from this red bow on my head. I’d have known you anywhere.”
“Nah, it can’t be. How . . . Jesus . . . Barney! Barney, is it really you?”
“In the flesh. Pete, I don’t know what to say,” Barney said, gripping Pete’s hand in his. “This guy Simon Jakes, he tracked me down in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Someone named Annie Gabriel hired him to find me. Jakes told me he’s been looking for me for over a year. I was supposed to show up last year for Christmas, but he couldn’t find me. Until three days ago. The shop’s closed today. This was the first chance for me to drive up here. I tried to find you, kid, for years and years. I don’t want you thinking I’m the kind of person who makes idle promises.
“My mom lit out right after they took you away. She changed our names. Lord, I cried for days. For you. I was glad, though, we were getting away from David Watkins. We went to North Carolina and my mother got remarried and my stepfather adopted me. Guess that’s why Jakes had so much trouble finding me.”
Barney looked at Pete for a long moment, his eyes watery. “Pete, I prayed for you every night. On the day of your sixteenth birthday I got drunk with some buddies. I kept seeing your face. Maybe I should have tried harder, but there was no money for private detectives. They wouldn’t tell me anything at Child Welfare, and Social Services booted my ass out the door.
“I swear on my wife and five girls that a day didn’t go by that I didn’t think of you. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Barney, Barney, Barney,” was all Pete could say. Suddenly the two men embraced and Pete was wrapped in a strong pair of arms that were crushing him. He didn’t care. He was blubbering like a baby; so was Barney.
Arms around each other’s shoulders, Pete marched his friend up to the house. He opened the door and turned on lights, leading Barney inside. “Jesus, this is the best day of my life,” Pete said, blowing his nose lustily.
“Mine too, kid. Mine too.”
“Sit, sit. How about something to eat? A beer? You name it, I got it.”
“Peanut butter and jelly with mashed banana sandwiches, just the way your mom used to make them. Chocolate milk.”
Pete beamed. “You got it.”
They talked until the sun came up, and then they had breakfast.
“So, you’re the best foreign import mechanic in the business, huh?” Pete said.
“Yeah, but that’s just my opinion.” Barney laughed. “And you’re a hotshot attorney. I never would have figured you for an attorney, Pete.”
“What happened to horticulture, Barney? Hell, I wanted to be an engineer. I’m good at what I do, but it’s my own opinion too.”
“Are we screwed up or what?” Barney drawled. “I had no money for college.”
“Listen, I have an idea. You don’t have to get back right away, do you?”
“Nope, my wife gave me the whole weekend. Her family’s visiting, so she’s okay. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, since you’re my surprise, it’s only fair I show you my surprise. We’re going to Jersey. Follow me in your truck. This way you won’t have to come back for it. I have some things I have to load in my truck. I’m not coming back here either.”
“Pete?”
“Yeah.”
“If you never believe anything else the rest of your life, believe me when I tell you that Simon Jakes made my world right-side up. I’ve always felt like som
ething was missing in my life, that I had unfinished business to take care of. I can go back home to Woodbridge and tell my wife she’s never going to have to listen to me bellyache again about you. Only in a good sense now. We won’t lose touch, will we? Hey, I’m just a mechanic, and you’re this fancy attorney with a degree and all.”
“Kiss my ass, Barney Sims!” Pete exploded. They whooped with laughter, kids again as Pete loaded his bags into the Rover.
“Lead on, oh fearless leader, I’m right behind you, and if that fancy truck gets stuck or breaks down, I’m the guy who can fix it.”
“I love you, Barney,” Pete said unashamedly.
“I love you too, kid. You wanna know something? My daughter Jessie says kiss my ass all the time. I really have to wallop her. I can’t make her understand you only say that when all else fails.”
Pete smiled all the way to Ridgewood, New Jersey. He gunned the engine the moment the gates of Leo’s estate swung open. He roared up the drive, cut the engine, and was out of the truck in the time it took him to blink.
“Some fancy digs you got here, counselor.”
Pete watched as Barney ran from bush to bush, tree to tree, his grin stretching from ear to ear. “Listen, if you ever need a gardener, let me know.”
“I need a gardener. It’s yours, Barney,” he said, gesturing to indicate the entire estate.
“Huh?”
“It’s yours. I’ll work out the legal details when I get back. Here’re the keys,” he said, tossing a key ring at Barney. “Do you think your family will like living here?”
“Are you putting me on, Pete?”
“Hell no. I have my own house in Darien. This place ... this place doesn’t hold fond memories for me. I think Leo . . . would approve. You can fire the gardeners and do the gardening yourself. There’s a fund set up for that. Hell, you can live off what Leo was paying that crew. You’re set, Barney. I want to do this, don’t say no.”
“Pete, I appreciate this offer, but it’s too much. My wife is kind of funny about taking. Me too . . .”
“What would you say if I told you there was a string attached?”
“I’d say let’s hear it.”
“Okay,” Pete said, drawing a deep breath, “the string is, this is all yours providing you take in a couple of foster kids and ... love them. Do you think you could do that, or is having five kids too much for you to take on more? A couple of dogs too. That’s the deal.”
“Then it’s a done deal.” Barney grinned. “I’m sure my wife will okay it. The girls will for sure.”
“If you need extra income, rent out the carriage house. You can probably get a couple of thousand a month for it.”
“A couple of thousand a month!” Barney said in awe.
“Yeah. Prime location. Take a trip to New York and put an ad at the U.N. Look, stay as long as you like. I got some traveling to do and I don’t want to waste any more time. My destiny awaits,” Pete said grandly. “Listen, when I get back, we’ll get together. I want to meet your wife and kids. It’s a deal, then.”
“How do I say thanks?”
“No need, Barney. Just seeing you, just knowing you didn’t forget me, is all the thanks I need.”
“You take care of yourself, you hear me?” Barney said gruffly.
“Yeah, yeah, I will.” Tears puddled in Pete’s eyes as he embraced his old friend.
“Get going before you have me blubbering,” Barney said, blowing his nose. “I can’t cry, I’m older.”
“Kiss my ass, Barney,” Pete hooted as he climbed behind the wheel of the Rover. Barney howled, wiping his eyes until Pete was out of sight.
“Thank you, God, thank you for everything,” Pete said as he sailed through the opened gates. “For Leo, for Annie, and for Barney.”
Maddie sat in the taxi, her face pressed against the window. Fairy Tales.
At last.
She paid the driver and was suddenly overwhelmed at what she was seeing. Shoppers by the dozen, in and out, carrying the spiffy bags she’d designed. She felt light-headed when she made her way into the store.
It was decorated to perfection in shiny white and gold, and with glistening make-believe snowflake mobiles hanging from the ceiling. “Ahh,” she sighed as she walked around the store, touching this and that, her eyes trying to take in everything all at once.
Perfection.
Hers.
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she made her way to the back of the store, where busy salesclerks were wrapping gifts and smiling at the happy shoppers.
Hers.
She twirled around, a megawatt smile on her face. She was free. She was alive. She was going to get on with her life. Here in this wonderful place called Fairy Tales.
“Thank you, Pete. Thank you for everything.”
EPILOGUE
It was chilly, the sky overcast. Maybe rain before the end of the day. So what? Pete thought. I’m here. I waited all my life for this. I’m going to run down the beach and slam this board onto the water and then jump on it just the way they do in the movies. If I fall off, so what, I’ll get back on. Tomorrow I’ll sign up for lessons, but today is mine. If I get myself killed, I won’t have to take lessons.
There was hardly anyone on the beach, a few kids and a couple of teenagers working on a six-pack. Beyond the children a lone figure sat huddled in a beach robe. If he made an ass of himself, Pete thought, did he care if some tipsy teenager saw him, or some little kids who would giggle and laugh? Not likely. The only problem was, he would have to sprint in front of the huddled figure. He or she would probably laugh their head off. So, who the hell cares? This was his moment.
Pete hefted the surfboard as he dug his heels into the sand. His heart thumped in his chest as he started off down the beach. He was almost abreast of the huddled figure when he heard a voice say, “What took you so long?”
“Annie!”
“Yeah, it’s me. Who else would be stupid enough to try and follow someone else’s dream? I’ve taken root. I’ve been here for five days.”
Pete dropped the surfboard.
“Annie, it’s really you. I went to the store to ask you to come with me, but you were gone. Maddie’s back.”
“I know. She called me. She’s the one who told me to come here. She said . . . she said, ‘Just go and wait for him. He has to find his own way, the way I did.’ ”
“She was right, Annie.”
“I know.”
“I guess I always loved you. I was just too stupid to know it,” Pete said, hugging her.
“I know that too.”
“You always were smarter than me.”
“That’s true too, but we still make a good team. Are you going to kiss me now?”
“Hell no I’m not. I’m going to hit that water, and then I’m going to kiss you and never stop.”
“Then you’d better get moving because I’ve waited long enough for this moment.”
“Ah, the hell with the water. C’mere, Mrs. Soon-to-be-Sorenson.”
She wasn’t stupid, she did as she was told. “I like that. Do it some more.”
He obliged. He wasn’t stupid either.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels—one of the most beloved authors of our time—be sure not to miss a gripping novel filled with heart and hope as a young woman wrongly found guilty of murder receives the gift of a second chance . . .
TUESDAY’S CHILD
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A Zebra mass-market and e-book on sale April 2015.
PROLOGUE
July 2000
Dunwoody, Georgia
MIKALA AULANI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, SITTING FIRST CHAIR IN the case of State of Georgia vs. Sophie Lee, couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She felt like she was carved in stone and in a time warp all rolled into one. She wanted to say something, but her tongue wouldn’t work. She saw the foreman of the jury holding the paper he had just read from. She had seen the tremor in his hand and known imm
ediately what he was going to say. And that it was not going to be good for her client. She had seen his blank expression. Now she heard the words ricocheting around inside her head, over and over and over.
Her legs were wobbly, and she was soaked with perspiration because the air-conditioning in the courthouse was broken. Overhead, a paddle fan moved sluggishly, barely stirring the stale air. A fly buzzed dangerously near her nose. She wanted to swat at it.
She risked a glance at Ryan Spenser, the prosecutor, bastard that he was, and saw the smug expression that he tried unsuccessfully to hide. Why was she even looking at the son of a bitch? She should be looking at her client, the client who had just been convicted of a heinous crime. A conviction of first-degree murder that would get her a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole—for a crime she didn’t commit. Twenty-four-year-old dedicated nurses simply did not kill their patients, and yet that bastard Ryan had convinced a jury of seven men and five women that she had done just that. Bastard.
Mikala felt a hand on her arm and looked down, then up. Again, she heard the words but didn’t comprehend them. “Is today Tuesday, Kala?” Mikala nodded. “Every single thing, bad or good, has always happened to me on a Tuesday. I guess that makes me Tuesday’s Child. Thank you, Kala, for everything,” Sophie Lee said quietly.
Mikala Aulani wanted to cry. She wanted to hug her client, but she was being led away. The judge was thanking the jurors for their service and discharging them. The courtroom was emptying at the speed of light. The trial of the decade had finally ended, and the reporters wanted out to report on the verdict.
Mikala—Kala to friends and peers—sat down and stared at nothing. Jay Brighton, her second chair, started to pack up their briefcases. Across the aisle, Ryan Spenser’s staff was doing the same thing.
“Tough break, counselor,” Spenser said. “Guess this breaks that winning streak you’ve been on, huh? You know what they say—the best man wins. You put on a hell of a defense, Kala, I’ll give you that. I’ll give you something else, too. Your client handled the verdict well. Guess you coached her for that. Just out of curiosity, what did she whisper to you before they took her away?”
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