“No sign of her,” Laura said tersely. “I’m really worried, J.C., and not just because she didn’t show up. I guess that’s understandable under the circumstances, but the talk around school isn’t good. The kids are taking sides. Some of them, especially those who’ve dealt with their own instances of bullying over the years, are firmly on her side, but the others, I don’t know, J.C., their attitude scares me. I think they want revenge of some kind. They see Annabelle and Greg and the others who’ve been suspended as the real victims.”
“Unfortunately, I suppose that’s not really surprising. Have you heard about any specific plans for retaliation?”
“No, but I have to wonder just how much more Misty can take. I called Diana before I called you, and she says Misty’s been locked in her room most of the day. She won’t talk and she won’t come out. I can tell that Diana’s starting to freak out just a little. I have a terrible feeling some of what I’m hearing here at school is spilling over onto the internet and Misty’s aware of it.”
“I can’t say I blame Misty for wanting to hide out or Diana for being scared,” J.C. said. “I’m sure my story about Stevie probably didn’t help matters. I meant it to be a warning to the perpetrators of how tragic things can get, but I imagine Diana can’t shake that image. I should have thought of that.”
“It was a story people needed to hear,” Laura said with conviction. “Don’t beat yourself up for sharing it. And I didn’t call to make you freak out over Misty, either. I’m just wondering if we shouldn’t go over there.”
“No question about it,” J.C. said. “I was there for a while on Saturday, and Misty seemed to be holding up okay, but I have no idea what’s been happening online since then. It makes sense to check on her. I’ll pick you up the minute school’s out.”
“Thank you,” Laura said.
“No thanks necessary.”
“Yes, there are. You didn’t make me feel like an idiot for worrying.”
“Are you kidding me?” he said incredulously. “It’s because you care so deeply that I fell for you.” He heard her faint gasp of surprise and almost smiled. That was definitely a conversation they needed to have soon. Things between them deserved some clarity, which he imagined had been in short supply the past few days with him steering clear of her, rather than turning to her for comfort.
“I’ll see you soon,” he told her. “We’re going to find everything is just fine when we get there.”
Despite the staunch words, though, he was a wreck for the next couple of hours until he could leave to pick up Laura. It took every ounce of restraint he possessed not to jump in his car and head straight over to the Dawsons. He did allow himself to make a quick call to Diana, who said Misty had emerged long enough to eat some soup. That was reassuring enough to get him through the rest of the afternoon.
Still, thoughts of Stevie were never far from mind. All those years ago, he’d managed to convince himself his brother was coping okay. He’d been so caught up in his own activities in high school, he’d left Stevie to fend for himself.
He’d realized just how mistaken he’d been when he’d come home one day to find his brother had hanged himself from the light fixture in his room. He was barely breathing when J.C. got to him. J.C. had done everything in his power to resuscitate him as he’d waited for the paramedics, but it had been too long. Though Stevie had clung to life with the help of machines for a few more days, his parents had eventually made the horrendous decision to let him go. None of them had ever entirely recovered. His mother had left for the final time soon after.
Those days had changed J.C. forever. He’d chosen his medical specialty of pediatrics with an eye toward being alert to all signs of bullying affecting his young patients. It still killed him that he hadn’t spotted it sooner in Misty’s case.
Though he told himself she was fine a hundred times as the clocked slowly ticked off each interminable minute, he still found himself at the high school at two, rather than three. Laura regarded him with surprise.
“Can you get away now?” he asked, unable to hide his sense of urgency.
She took one look at his face or heard something in his voice and immediately nodded. “Give me two minutes to get someone in here to cover my class.”
Not until they were in his car did she reach for his tensed arm, resting her hand there until he slowly relaxed.
“Did you speak to Misty?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“Diana?”
“Yes, and she even said Misty had eaten a little soup for lunch.”
“Then what spooked you? Were you thinking about your brother?”
“How could I not?” he asked angrily. “I should have done more. He died because I didn’t protect him.”
“No, J.C. What happened was a tragedy, but it wasn’t your fault. You were, what, eighteen when he died, even younger when you had to start protecting him? You couldn’t have understood then how lost and alone he was feeling.”
“Maybe not, but I did know what was happening. I just turned into some self-absorbed jerk and convinced myself he could handle it. I forgot all about my own brother,” he said, his tone filled with the self-loathing that was never far away whenever he thought of Stevie’s death.
As they pulled to a stop in front of the Dawsons’ house, Laura forced him to meet her gaze. “Have you ever let down another child?”
“There have been patients I couldn’t help,” he said.
“But not for lack of trying, right? Just as you’re doing everything possible for Misty. We both are. This situation is going to get better, J.C.”
“How can you possibly be so sure of that?” he asked.
She smiled then and the ice around his heart seemed to melt just a little.
“Because you and I will see to it,” she told him. “I have that much faith in us, in you.”
For the first time in years, J.C. actually felt as if he just might be the kind of man who was worthy of such unquestioning trust.
* * *
When Misty heard a car outside and glanced out her bedroom window, she saw both Dr. Fullerton and Ms. Reed walking toward the house. At the sight of them, she panicked. Leaving her room, she raced down the stairs to beat her mom to the door.
“You’re not here to make me go back to school, are you?” she demanded when she opened it. “Please, don’t try to force me to go. I can’t. All of Annabelle’s friends hate me now, and just the way I thought it would, it’s getting uglier online. Now the other kids are posting mean things, too. Today’s been worse than ever.”
Dr. Fullerton’s gaze narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Everybody hates me now,” Misty said, near tears.
“Let me see,” Ms. Reed commanded.
Misty regarded her with dismay. “Do I have to? They’re pretty disgusting.”
“We need to see them,” the doctor said. “It’s okay, Misty. We’re not going to believe them. Have a little faith in us. We both know the kind of person you are.”
She knew if they went online themselves, they’d be able to find the sites on their own, so she finally sighed and showed the posts to them.
“I just don’t understand how this could keep happening now that the court’s involved,” Misty said miserably. “Surely Annabelle’s parents wouldn’t allow it, and the other kids should be smart enough to see how severe the punishment is. Look at what’s happened to half the football team.”
“It’s not Annabelle,” J.C. said, after studying the posts. “I’d bet money on that.”
“But that’s her screen name,” Misty argued. “She’d stopped using the page, but today it was back up.”
“I have a hunch she’s given someone else access to her account,” J.C. said. “Laura, you read papers all the time. I imagine you look to see if an essay sounds as if it was written by the student who turned it in. What do you think?”
Ms. Reed glanced at the posts and nodded. “There’s definitely something different abou
t these.”
Misty was completely thrown by their reaction. “Are you sure? How can you tell?”
“An expert would have to compare them, but there’s a difference that seems apparent to me,” Dr. Fullerton insisted. “Laura, do you have anything more specific?”
Ms. Reed studied them with a thoughtful expression. “There’s a different vocabulary for one thing, and the grammar isn’t quite the same.”
“But who?” Misty asked, then sighed. “I guess there are plenty of kids who really hate me now. It could be any of them.”
“Or it’s not a kid at all,” Dr. Fullerton said, looking angrier than Misty had ever seen him.
Misty blinked at him. “You don’t think it could be Annabelle’s mom, do you?”
“She would have access to the computer,” Ms. Reed said, though she looked as stunned by the possibility as Misty was. “I just can’t see Mariah resorting to this, though.”
“Okay, then what about Greg Bennett?” Dr. Fullerton asked. “He’s one angry kid. He’s lost a lot. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if he figured out a way to retaliate. And Helen says he’s the one who was behind the pictures posted right before the rally.”
Misty stared at him in shock, then stood up, practically shaking with fury. “That does it,” she said furiously. “One bully was bad enough, but I will not allow a creep like that to freak me out.” She looked at her English teacher. “I’ll be back at school tomorrow and I’ll be in class.”
Both adults seemed startled by her announcement. Misty understood their reaction. She’d been a shaky mess when they’d gotten here. In fact, for weeks now she’d acted as if the things being said about her were true and she had a reason to hide. No more. She was done with that.
Maybe it was standing on that stage on Saturday after all that had given her a different perspective. Even though things had gone horribly wrong at the rally, she’d seen a few people look at her with understanding and sympathy. Some people had gotten it, just the way Ms. Reed had said they would.
Just walking onto the stage and facing the crowd had taken more courage than she’d ever imagined she possessed. Now she would draw on that strength and face the kids who’d made her life miserable. They were the ones who should be ashamed of themselves, not her.
Ms. Reed smiled at her. “Misty, I could not be more proud of you.”
“Me, too,” Dr. Fullerton said, then grinned. “Want a ride to school?”
“Nope,” Misty said decisively. “I’ll go with my friends. I still have some, despite what’s happened. They’ll back me up.” She gave Ms. Reed a knowing look. “You know they will.”
The teacher smiled. “Yes, you have some very good friends. They’ve just been waiting for you to say you needed them.”
“And one of them took matters into her own hands. I know that, too,” she said. “I know Katie’s been feeling guilty for ratting me out to her grandmother, not that she’s admitted that she did it, but come on, who else would talk to Mrs. Vreeland? It’s about time for me to tell her she did the right thing. I haven’t been willing to admit that before.”
“I know she’ll appreciate that,” Ms. Reed said. “And if you need any extra backup at all tomorrow, you can count on me.”
“You two have been great through all of this,” Misty told them, then gave them a sly look. “So when are you going to go out on, like, a real date instead of pretending that you’re together all the time because of me?”
To her amusement, Ms. Reed blushed and even Doc Fullerton looked flustered. She laughed.
“You two are so busted,” she told them. She grinned at J.C. “There’s that silver lining thing, doc. The one you were trying to convince me is always there.”
He looked a little embarrassed, but he nodded. “No question about it, Misty. No question at all.”
Misty wondered if maybe she hadn’t found her own silver lining, as well. It turned out she just might be a whole lot stronger than she’d ever imagined. Tomorrow would tell.
21
“So, are we going to let a teenager call us on being a pair of chickens?” J.C. asked Laura as they left Misty’s.
“You’re the one with the lousy track record who wasn’t interested in dating,” she reminded him. “I’ve dutifully kept from labeling whatever it is we have been doing.”
“Maybe it’s time that stopped,” J.C. said. “Earlier today I was thinking maybe we should have some clarity about what’s going on here. Put our cards on the table, so to speak.”
“I certainly stress clarity in my students’ essays,” Laura said. “It might be nice to have some coming from you.” She gave him a considering look. “Unless you’re still not ready for that kind of conversation.”
J.C. smiled at that. “Willing to let me off the hook?”
“If need be,” she said. “I’ve discovered lately that I’m incredibly patient.”
“What if I admit that I’m starting to see the error of my ways? Not dating, at least right out there in the open and calling it what it is, isn’t really working all that well for me anymore. You deserve better.” Feeling vaguely bewildered, he added, “And it seems I want more.”
To his relief, Laura gave in readily. “Then I wouldn’t say no to another dinner at Sullivan’s,” she said.
“With not a single mention of Misty all evening?”
She held his gaze. “I can do that. Can you?”
He laughed. “I guess we’ll just have to give it a try and find out.”
Unfortunately, getting through the evening without the subject of Misty coming up proved to be impossible. Most of the patrons at Sullivan’s fell silent when J.C. and Laura entered. Then, one by one, many of them approached to offer a few words of support, both for Misty and for J.C. and the pain he’d suffered years ago on losing his brother.
Uncomfortable with all of the attention, he saw no graceful way to make his excuses and leave, but Laura clearly guessed some of the emotional turmoil he was going through.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze and hurrying off in the direction of the kitchen.
When she returned, she was carrying a huge take-out bag. “Dinner,” she announced triumphantly.
“How’d you pull that off?”
“I told Dana Sue what was going on out here and said we needed to leave. She put two meals together in no time, along with dessert and a bottle of wine.” She grinned. “Best of all, it’s on the house. She flatly refused to let me pay her. She said she owed it to us because our dinner plans were interrupted by her intrusive customers.”
“I should thank her,” J.C. said.
“Call her later,” Laura urged. “The kitchen’s a madhouse. Only for you would I have risked going in there uninvited.” She shuddered dramatically. “I’m lucky to emerge without battle scars.”
J.C. chuckled. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Trust me, it was downright dangerous.”
When they were seated in his car, he turned to her. “Thank you for recognizing that I was about to come unglued at all that well-meant sympathy in there.”
“I doubt you would ever come unglued,” she said, “but I could see that you were uncomfortable. Now, shall we go to my place or yours for this feast?”
“Yours,” he said at once. “I stared at my walls way too long over the weekend. I need a change of scenery.”
“Okay,” she said, “but the rules are back in effect. No talk of Misty, bullying or anything related to it.”
J.C. nodded, then gave her a wicked look. “What will we do?”
Regarding him with amusement, Laura tapped on the bag of take-out containers. “Dinner,” she replied at once.
“I’m a fast eater.”
“Then we can negotiate over dessert for what comes next,” she teased. “I have some thousand-piece puzzles if you’re interested.”
He looked into her eyes and held her gaze until the color rose in her cheeks. “The only puzzle I’m even remotely
interested in is figuring out Laura Reed and why I can’t seem to stay away from you,” he said quietly.
A slow smile spread across her face. “Then that’s what we’ll work on.”
J.C. laughed. The end of the evening definitely promised to be a lot more intriguing and potentially satisfying than the beginning.
* * *
Laura closed her eyes and savored a bite of Erik’s triple-layer red-velvet cake. When she opened her eyes, she found J.C.’s gaze locked on her lips.
“Do you have any idea of how amazing that is?” she murmured.
“Hmm?”
She gestured toward the cake. “That,” she said. “It’s heavenly. Moist, delectable sex on a fork.”
“What?” J.C. asked, blinking. “Did you just compare that cake to sex?”
She nodded, grinning. “It’s pretty darn close.”
“Lemme see,” he said, motioning for her to share a bite.
She pulled her fork and the cake out of reach. “You have your own slice. This is mine.”
“But if you let me have just one taste of yours, I might be persuaded to leave that other slice here for you.”
“An intriguing offer,” she said, studying him. “How do I know you’ll do that?”
“It will take a certain amount of persuasion,” he told her thoughtfully. “I’m thinking a few kisses for starters, then we’ll see where that leads.”
She blinked, then chuckled. “You want to exchange actual sex for cake?”
“The way you were talking it would be a fair exchange. What do you think?”
“I think you’re nuts,” she said flatly, then shrugged. “But okay.” She offered him a taste of the cake. “Incredible, right?”
“Not bad,” he said, then gestured to his lips. “A kiss for comparison.”
Accepting the challenge, she leaned forward and touched her lips to his. He cupped a hand behind her neck and pulled her closer. What was meant to be a casual dare of a kiss turned into something deeper and far more compelling. She was pretty sure there was steam rising by the time he released her.
“No comparison,” he said, looking into her eyes. “That was way better than any cake ever made.”
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