by Jamie Begley
“She has a beautiful voice, doesn’t she?” Lucky said, taking his eyes off the window to turn back toward him.
Gavin couldn’t have answered if his life depended on it.
Standing up from the desk, he walked to the window. He braced his hand on the wall and looked out.
The girl was sitting on a picnic table with her back to the church. She was singing “In the Arms of an Angel,” by Sarah McLachlan, and the way she sang held a wealth of pain making him wonder if she was aware of it. It was hauntingly beautiful and spoke to his soul as if she were directly speaking to him.
“She was here last night, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, she’s the girl I’m tutoring.”
“Who was the woman with her?”
“You must be talking about her foster mother.”
“She’s a bitch.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Lucky’s rueful voice told of the dislike for the foster mother. “She’s a good kid.”
“She’d have to be in order to sing like that.” Letting his hand drop, he forced himself to take a step away from the window, ignoring the whispers of the light wind that was stirring the curtains, telling him to wait just one more sec—
Feeling ridiculous that he was imagining the wind talking to him and that he was watching a young girl, he strode away, refusing to look back. He had not an ounce of sexual interest in her. It was more like sensing … something … Like seeing someone in a grocery store and unable to place a name or face or why it mattered.
Thinking that he was beginning to feel like he needed a shrink, Gavin turned his focus back on Lucky. “I’m going to have an early night. Don’t forget I’ll be waiting if you change your mind,” he said curtly, heading toward the door.
“I’ll walk out with you and keep her occupied until you’re out of sight.”
Going out the side door, he turned in the opposite direction from Lucky, giving him a brief wave before walking off, not mentioning Memphis, Crash, or what he was planning to tell Viper when he got to Ohio.
Deciding to return to Mrs. Langley’s house instead of eating his dinner at the diner, Gavin let himself inside.
Not seeing Mrs. Langley, he went up the stairs to the bedroom she’d given him. Taking a shower, he pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before going back downstairs and into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.
He sat and was watching television when Mrs. Langley came in, giving an exasperated look at him eating a sandwich. “I could have made you something better than that.”
“The last time I let you cook for me, I gained five pounds,” he said, getting up to pat his flat belly. “I need to watch my figure.”
Grinning that he made the grandmother blush, he carried his plate into the kitchen, then came back to see that she was settling down to watch television. “You better not be watching any scary movies tonight. I won’t be able to fight the zombies off for you. I need an early night. I’ll be leaving early tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll watch a documentary and play it safe.”
“You do that,” he said, heading toward the stairs. “Good night.”
“Good night, Gavin.”
Taking the steps two at a time, he went into his room where he tiredly turned the light off, then sat on the edge of the bed. He texted Memphis that he would be at the factory to watch the installation of the equipment before leaving for Ohio. He wanted to make sure there weren’t any issues before he paid them.
Lying back on the bed with a pillow at his back, he hit the number he called every night before going to bed, frowning when it went to voicemail.
“Hi, babe. Just wanting to say I love you before I go to sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.” Disconnecting the call, he put his phone on the nightstand.
Yawning, he settled on the mattress, letting his mind go blank. He had set his alarm for six, planning to get breakfast before going to the factory. The only part he was dreading about this weekend had nothing to do with apologizing to Viper and everything about having to eat another cake. If he never ate another piece of cake again, he would be happy.
Chapter Sixteen
“Pastor Dean is in his office with a parishioner. He said you can wait inside the church or sit on the picnic table until he’s ready for you. I have a nail appointment and I can’t keep Sherrie waiting. The pastor will text me when you’re done. If it’s not dark, you can walk home. If it is, Dalt will pick you up. Make sure you don’t keep him waiting like you did me.”
“I won’t.” Ginny got out of the car and was barely a step away before Lisa drove off, leaving her alone in the parking lot.
Deciding to enjoy the freedom of being alone, she went through the gate leading into the playground area. Setting her backpack on the picnic table, Ginny climbed on the top and took out her radio and headphones, putting them in her ears. With her back to the church, she then took out her homework folder and started working on the first problem.
Unconsciously, she began singing along with the song playing in her ears. Losing track of time, it was only when she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle that she looked up and stopped singing. Tugging one of her earbuds out to hang limply so she could hear, Ginny had the eerie feeling of being watched. Had Pastor Dean called her name?
Closing her folder and putting it back in the backpack, she jumped off the picnic table and headed toward the church. As she came around the corner, she saw the pastor walking to her.
“I was just coming to get you,” he greeted her with a broad smile.
Ginny gave him a confused frown. “I thought I heard you call for me.”
“No, one of the windows in my office overlooks the picnic table. You probably heard us complimenting your singing. You have a lovely voice.”
Ginny paled. She hadn’t been aware of anyone listening. She hadn’t sung in front of anyone since Trudy.
“The choir could use a voice like yours,” he said persuasively.
She shook her head.
“Why not?” He stared at her quizzically as they went inside the church.
Because he was a pastor, she didn’t lie. “I don’t like to sing in front of other people.”
“You have stage fright?”
“If that means I don’t like to sing in front of other people, then yes.” When she was little, she had loved singing to anyone who would listen. She hadn’t had a shy bone in her body. Manny had snuck his radio in often, getting in trouble with her parents when they were caught.
“The best part of belonging to a group is that it’s not about the individual. It’s just a suggestion, but you could go to choir practice and see if you like it before you close the door completely on something you obviously enjoy,” Pastor Dean advised as he rearranged the chair in front of his desk to sit next to his. “It couldn’t hurt.”
Ginny thought it over. She did enjoy singing. “No, it wouldn’t hurt,” she admitted, having no intention of taking him up on his offer. Just the thought of singing in front of others had her wanting to excuse herself to go to the bathroom to puke her guts out.
“We have a choir camp with other churches during the summer. It would give you something to do besides being stuck in the house.”
She paused at unpacking her bag. Anything that got her out of Lisa and Dalt’s house was better than being stuck with them.
“When do they practice?”
“Wednesday and Friday evenings until school lets out for the summer. You can ask Lily Cornett for the summer camp’s schedule.”
“I will. I don’t know if the Wests will let me go, though.”
“Would you like me to talk to them?”
She unconsciously bit down on her bottom lip. Would that make them angry at her? She learned the best way to get along with the couple was to make the least demands on their time or patience.
“No, don’t do that. If I decide to do it, I’ll talk to them about it.” It was better to be on the safe side with them. If it made them angr
y, they would turn Pastor Dean down and make her pay for him asking.
The pastor opened the book where they had left off before lifting troubled eyes to hers. “How is it going with the Wests being your foster parents? Are you happy?”
Ginny sat on the chair, seeing that the pastor was concerned and sincerely wanting to help. As much as she wanted to confide in him, she knew she wouldn’t. She knew Lisa would be vindictive if she felt like Ginny was bad-mouthing her. It had taken Lisa and Dalt flipping out on her to understand why Silas was trying so hard to keep his younger brothers—he didn’t want the same thing happening to them that was happening to her.
The thought of gentle Moses having to live with people like the Wests sent a cold shiver down her back. She might not like living with them, but she’d deal with it until she was old enough to get away. Moses didn’t deserve being taken from his family. He belonged; she didn’t.
“It’s going fine.” Unable to meet his eyes, she picked up her pencil. “Did I work the problem right?”
Their eyes dueled in silent battle for her to tell the truth. Staring back at him blankly as if she wasn’t getting the silent message he was trying to give her, she could see the sympathy in his gaze and wanted to tell him she didn’t deserve it.
Her dad and Leah deserved his sympathy. What had happened to them wasn’t their fault. She was the only one responsible for being at the Wests’ mercy. Just her. And as much as she regretted it, she couldn’t take back the day that was becoming less clear as she grew older.
She had been born on Clindale Island. Her earliest memory was of her tucked into her mother’s lap as she sat on the white sand with the water lapping over them. She remembered clapping her hands, then calling for the water to come back when it ebbed out. She could still hear the distant memory of her mother’s laughter when she had started clapping when it had come back. Her father, wanting in on the game, laughingly swung her into his arms and carried her into the water, with Trudy and their mother running with them.
Her father had taught her how to swim before she could walk. It was a magical place that became her playground. By the time she was walking, it was difficult for her parents to keep up with her. She always darted away from them to play in her magical playground. Her mother had her hands full teaching children and adults to speak and write in English, and her father was just as busy building a water system for the small island.
Trudy was too young to take the responsibility of watching her, so they had turned to one of her mother’s older students. He had become her best friend as Trudy had been expected to take classes with the children that her mother taught and was no longer able to spend the majority of the day with her.
Looking back, the teenager had been as much a part of her family as she and Trudy. She had loved Manny like a big brother. He let her run wild on the beach, swam with her, and was the one who taught her how to sing. He clapped for her when she remembered the words to songs.
In hindsight, she could look back and see the difference between Silas and Manny, neither had been related by blood, but one had been a true brother to her and the other had used her affection and innocence against her. It didn’t make her love Manny less, but as she had grown older the love she felt came with a clear-sightedness, allowing her to see through the eyes of experience and not those of the innocent child she’d been.
Gradually, Manny had built her parents’ trust and was allowed to take her exploring farther into the island. That was when she saw the village where her mother’s students lived, and the moment she truly fell in love with the people who loved her and her family with open hearts. They didn’t live in the buildings that her father and his crew built. Theirs were smaller with dirt floors and thatched roofs. She sat on the floor and played happily with the younger children who were like her and weren’t old enough to go to school. She stayed with them until Manny carried her sleeping form back to the compound her father built.
One day, she remembered playing with Manny’s baby brother, when their father, Gyi excitedly came into the hut to tell them “they were back.” Ginny hadn’t understood who was back until Manny’s older brother, Lagi, carried her outside and to the beach on the opposite side of the island.
“What are those?”
“Those are yachts,” Manny answered.
She remembered being memorized by the beautiful boats that were unlike any she had seen before.
“I want to see.”
Lagi shook his head at her, pointing at a large island farther away from the beach they were standing on. “They aren’t coming here. They’re going to Sherguevil Island.”
“I want to go.”
“Maybe your parents will take you,” Lagi said, setting her down on the sand, then moving away to talk excitably to his father.
Evangeline wanted to go for a ride on one of the beautiful boats. “Want to go,” she pleaded to Manny, tugging on his shorts.
He squatted down next to her and lowered his voice. “I’ll get in trouble if I take you.”
“Won’t tell, I promise.” She raised her hand to her heart like she did when Trudy wanted her to promise her to do something.
Manny looked at his father before lowering his voice again. “I’ll take you tomorrow, but you can’t tell the other children we’ll be going. I’ll try to sneak you on board, but you can’t tell anyone.”
“I promise,” she said, about to raise her hand again. “Can I tell Trudy?”
“She’ll tell, then I can’t take you,” he warned.
She looked over the water toward the beautiful boat, then put her hand back on her heart. “I promise.”
Manny repeated the gesture, placing his hand over his heart. “Then I promise to take you.”
He had taken her home then, and she could still remember how she had so innocently looked forward to being on the boat, even managing to talk Manny into letting her get on the biggest one.
Looking back now, Ginny just wanted to grit her teeth at how young and innocent she had been to let beauty blind her from doing what her parents wouldn’t have wanted her to do. She wasn’t supposed to keep secrets, yet she had kept quiet, hugging her parents and Trudy before taking Manny’s hand and leaving. She even remembered her mother complaining to Manny about so many students being absent; she’d given him a warning look that young Evangeline hadn’t understood at the time. When she and Manny left, she’d been unaware of the complex maze she was about to enter—one she still hadn’t been able to find her way out of.
He had taken her the normal way to the other beach, taking a trail that allowed them to hear the villagers, but kept her and Manny hidden.
“Wait here.”
Manny left the jungle, and just when she started to get scared at being left alone, he returned.
“You have to be play hide and seek when we get on the boat. I’ll hide you, and you have to be very quiet until I tell you it’s okay to come out.”
“Okay,” she innocently agreed.
Manny picked her up and carried her the rest of the way through the jungle, coming out to the beach she had been at the day before.
Her eyes widened when she saw there were even more boats. “They so pretty,” she said, awestruck.
“Yes, they are.”
Evangeline looked at Manny. He didn’t sound like he thought they were pretty. When he caught her staring at him, his expression lightened as he put a finger to his lips, silently telling her she had to be quiet.
Walking with her, Manny stepped onto the dock, then stopped when they came to a boat. Putting her on his shoulders, he climbed up the ladder, then sat her down on the deck before climbing the remaining steps up before dropping down beside her. They walked across the deck to another ladder and climbed down to the floor below. Manny took them to a large white box with a big mattress on top. He lifted the mattress and motioned for her to climb inside the stowage/bunk.
Getting inside, he then put a pillow under her head. “Remember, be very quiet.”
&n
bsp; Nodding, she tried not to be scared as he closed the bunk. Then she heard the sound of children’s loud voices and relaxed, thinking it was a game of hide and seek and one of her friends would find her. Curling onto her side, she put her hand over her mouth to keep them from hearing her laugh.
She must have fallen asleep, because she was barely aware of Manny lifting her out of her hiding space, then helping her walk up the small steps to the deck. There were three small children her age and Lagi, whose eyes widened when he saw her.
“Gyi will punish you for bringing her.”
“Not when he sees what she can do. Are you going to tell?”
Evangeline only half-listened to the brothers argue in their native language, and instead gaped at the beautiful boats that were now much closer. Fixated on them, she went to the side of the boat, but Manny caught her hand before she could climb down.
“Wait.”
Impatient, she tried to tug her hand away, but Manny wouldn’t let go. “We have to leave and get back before Gyi.” Manny picked her up and carried her down the ladder as Lagi and the three other children followed them.
Disappointed, Evangeline noticed they were getting farther away from the boats, not closer as Manny stepped off the dock. She was going to complain to him, but then the people sunbathing on the beach under huge colorful things she had never seen before caught her interest. They didn’t have those on her beach. She wanted one.
Evangeline pointed at one. “Can I have one?”
“No.” Manny moved away from the people sitting on the beach to a path she hadn’t seen before. His feet didn’t sink into the sand.
Going up the path, they passed buildings that were even bigger than the ones on the beach.
“Wanna see!”
“Stop it, Evangeline. We’re not allowed in there.”
Her mouth drooped in disappointment as she tried to think of a way to get Manny to change his mind.
She was about to cry for not being able to go inside the pretty buildings when Manny led her off the path to a magical place she had never seen before. Brightly colored stands were situated along a stretch of road. Groups of men and women were going to the stands and picking what they wanted from them. Each one had something different. Some had bins of fruits, some fresh fish, but the ones that interested her had jewelry hanging along the sides, catching the colorful light as they spun.