“What a skank.”
“Yeah. Hoe. You should see what Adam posted on Facebook.” They shook their heads and laughed.
“Really?”
“He’s finished with her. That’s for sure.”
“Adam’s really hot,” one of them gushed. “Guess he’s fair game now,” she added happily.
Amber felt her face flush bright red.
“Oh, hi Amber!” one of them called out to her.
The others tried to suppress their smiles.
“Saw you with Mrs. B at the park last week,” another said. “Are you competing with Katy for teacher’s pet?”
“Right,” Amber replied sarcastically. She hurried past them to her locker.
Amber avoided eye contact with Michelle as she walked into the classroom, and Michelle noticed her scooting her desk away from the group of girls she’d hung out with earlier in the year.
Throughout the class period, Amber seemed to avoid all glances Michelle sent her way. As Michelle made her usual rounds up and down the aisles during work time, she paused at Amber’s desk momentarily and whispered, “Everything okay?”
Amber just shrugged.
She noticed two of the other girls passing a note across the aisle. “I’ll take that,” she said, reaching for the paper. The girl reluctantly handed it over and then buried her face in her work.
“I think Adam’s going to ask me out now that he’s dumped Amber. Can’t wait to go to their secret spot on the beach. But no way I’ll be as stupid as her. What a loser! LOL.”
Michelle flinched. No wonder Amber was so quiet and withdrawn.
When the bell rang, Amber disappeared before Michelle could try to flag her down. Knowing Amber had her appointment with the school counselor that afternoon, she hoped Karen would be able to help Amber deal with the snide remarks of her so-called friends.
Near the end of the day, the school phone in Michelle’s room rang. “Michelle Baron, room 107,” she said as she answered.
“Hi Michelle, it’s Karen Stafford in counseling.”
Michelle pressed the phone to her ear and glared at a couple of noisy kids, lifting one finger to her lips in a quiet sign. “Hi Karen. What’s up?”
“Amber Gamble didn’t show up for our appointment today. Was she in class this morning?”
“Yeah, she was.”
“She must have left school after your class. Her other teachers have her absent. Any idea where she might have gone?”
Turning away from the class and speaking in low tones, Michelle said, “No. She did seem upset, though.”
“About what?”
“I think some of the girls are giving her a hard time.”
“Yeah. That’s not surprising.”
“I intercepted a note between two of them,” Michelle added.
“I’ll come down and pick it up, if you still have it.”
“Yeah. It’s right here on my desk.”
A few minutes later, Karen peeked in the door. The class was busy working on an assignment, and Michelle was able to slip out into the hallway to talk to her for a minute. “Here’s the note,” she said, handing it to the counselor.
Karen glanced over it and shook her head. “Friends, right?”
Michelle nodded. “Yeah, supposedly.”
“Okay. I’ll keep this and pull in the girls to talk to them. Would you jot down their names on the back?”
“Sure.” Michelle flipped the paper over and wrote the students’ names.
“The meeting I was supposed to have with Amber today is really important. Daniel won’t let her stay at Magnolia unless she’s willing to work with me,” Karen said.
“I know. I’ll see if I can talk to her about it. Maybe I’ll call her foster mom and see if Amber went home.”
“Okay. Let me know when she wants to meet. I’m pretty free most afternoons this week.”
Michelle nodded. “Will do. Thanks, Karen.”
As she walked back into the room, she found several students chatting and a couple out of their seats. “Back to work, gang,” she said sternly.
After the last student had left for the day, Michelle picked up the phone and dialed Amber’s foster home.
“Hello?” Cecilia’s voice answered.
“Hello. This is Michelle Baron from Magnolia Middle School. Is Amber home?”
“No. I was just heading out the door to pick her up.”
“So you haven’t seen her all day?”
“No. Why? Wasn’t she in class?” Cecilia sounded weary and concerned.
“She was in my first period class, but didn’t show for the rest of the day. Any idea where she would be?”
“Hmmm… the beach maybe? I know she goes there sometimes with Adam, but he hasn’t been around lately.” She paused as if thinking of other possibilities. “She did go see her mother one day not too long ago, so I guess it’s possible she might be there, too. Should I come down to the school?”
“Let me call her social worker and get back to you,” Michelle replied.
After Michelle talked to Bonnie and explained the incident that morning, they decided it would be a good idea for Bonnie to call Amber’s mom.
That attempt led nowhere.
“I’ve got to go pick up my daughter,” Michelle said. “Please let me know when you find her.”
“I will, Michelle. She probably just went down to the beach to think. That girl’s got a lot to process right now.” Then Bonnie added, “How did it go at church yesterday?”
“Great. She seemed to really like it. Her mom didn’t show, though.”
“Figures,” Bonnie replied. “I’ll call you when I know more.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll be praying,” Michelle added before hanging up.
It was nine o’clock that night when Michelle finally received a call from Bonnie Blackwell. “I’m sorry to disturb you so late, but I told you I’d call,” she began.
“Did you find her?” Michelle asked hopefully.
“No. No one’s been able to track her down,” Bonnie replied. “I’ve tried her mom, the beach, and just driving around town, but she’s nowhere. You haven’t heard anything at all?”
“Nothing. I can’t imagine where she could have gone. Were you able to check with her boyfriend, Adam?”
“He hasn’t heard from her and didn’t seem too eager to help with a search.”
“What a prince,” Michelle said under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Michelle glanced at Steve who was watching her from the other side of the room. “Can you hold on a sec?” she asked.
“Sure.”
Michelle turned to Steve. “No one can find Amber. She’s still missing.”
Steve stood from his seat. “Want me to drive around and see if I can spot her?”
“Steve’s offering to drive around and look if that would help,” Michelle told Bonnie.
“I don’t think that’s necessary. The police have been notified. Since she’s a minor, they’ll have all the squad cars keeping an eye out. Let’s give her a little more time. Hopefully she’ll show up pretty soon.”
“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” Michelle replied.
“Will do,” Bonnie promised.
Amber crouched in the shadows under the overpass. Her phone had been ringing for hours. Some of the calls were from her foster mother and some from the social worker. None from Adam, of course. And none from her supposed friends.
I am such a loser. They’re right. I’m just a skank, and now I’m having a baby. There’s no way I can be a good mom to him. What am I thinking? And all that church stuff. Sure, it sounds good. But all those people are better than me. They don’t make the kind of stupid mistakes I’ve made. It’s too late for me.
As cars whizzed by, she sunk deeper and deeper into her self-condemnation. But whenever she thought about the alternative – the option of having an abortion – she just felt worse.
What was she going to do? An
d who could she really count on? Her mom? No way. Her foster mom? She had her hands full with the two brats. Her friends? What friends? And Adam – well he was clearly not going to help her.
Mrs. Baron was really nice. But she had a family of her own that she needed to take care of. Plus she was busy teaching. Sure she’d help when she could, but other than her social worker, Amber really didn’t have anyone.
As she pulled herself into the shadows and hugged her sweatshirt tightly to her chilled body, she felt a strange sensation. It was almost like a butterfly was fluttering around in her lower abdomen. Instinctively, she knew it was her baby.
He was moving!
She placed her hand over the area but couldn’t feel anything. A moment later the flutter repeated itself. Amber’s eyes filled with tears. What am I going to do? How am I going to take care of a baby?
Her heart broke as she pictured the innocent little boy who was growing in her womb.
You deserve a better mom than me. She began to cry as she again hugged her arms to her chest and started rocking back and forth.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of crunching footsteps coming down the slope from the bridge.
“Who’s there?” a man’s voice demanded.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Amber pushed herself to her feet, heart pounding.
“I said, who’s there?” He slurred his words slightly, and Amber could see that he was staggering toward her, a brown paper bag clutched in one hand with the neck of a bottle protruding from the top.
She started to run past him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her close, his breath reeking with the pungent smell of alcohol mixed with decaying teeth. “What’s ya doing in my pad, sweetie?” he asked, leering at her through bloodshot eyes.
“Let me go!” Amber struggled to free her arm, but his fingers dug in deeper.
“What’s the hurry?” he asked with a grin. “I haven’t seen anything as purty as you for quite some time. Especially here by my bed.” He laughed as he drew her closer and attempted to kiss her lips.
Amber pushed hard with her free arm and knocked the bottle from his hand. Swearing, he released his grip on her momentarily then lunged at her as she began to run away. Tackling her to the ground, he rolled her over and began pressing his body down on her, nuzzling his scruffy beard into her neck. “You smell good,” he moaned. “We’re gonna have a real good time tonight!”
Amber screamed as loudly as she could, fighting with all her strength to push him off. As he began clawing at her clothes, she heard another voice call out from the distance. “Get away from her!” A beam of light flashed down on them as a police officer rushed down the hill from above.
The man scrambled to his feet and took off without looking back. Amber pushed up to a sitting position, hands shaking as she brushed herself off.
“Are you okay?” the officer asked.
She nodded, turning her head to the side so he wouldn’t see her tears and shame. What kind of loser was she to be putting herself and her baby in danger like this?
“Here, let me help you up,” he offered, holding out a hand to her.
She grasped his hand and stood. Her clothes were covered in dirt and one leg of her jeans had a wet spot of alcohol from the spilled bottle next to her.
“What were you doing down here after dark?” he asked her.
“I just needed some time to think,” she stammered, feeling stupid.
His next question surprised her. “Your name Amber?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“We’ve been looking for you for a couple of hours now. There’s a missing person on you.”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s me. Missing a brain…” she muttered.
“Huh?”
“Nothing.”
“You sure you’re okay? He didn’t do anything to you, did he? I’ve seen that guy around here. Sleeps under this bridge most nights. If you’d like to press charges, we can bring him in.”
Amber shook her head. “It’s okay.”
“Let’s get you home, then.” He gestured toward the hill leading up to the bridge. “My squad car’s up there.” He leaned into the radio clipped to his shoulder and spoke to the dispatcher. “I’ve got the 10-57. She’s okay. We’re coming to the station.”
“10-4,” came the reply. “I’ll notify the subject’s guardian.”
Amber followed the officer up the hill and climbed into the backseat of the squad car. The steel grill separating her from him added to her sense of shame.
Maybe Adam’s right. I’m not ready to be a mom.
Then she flashed back to the ultrasound image of her baby, and she began to cry.
“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” the officer asked, studying at her in the rearview mirror.
She sniffled and nodded, turning her head to stare out the window so he wouldn’t see the tears streaming down her face.
“There’s a great social worker at the station, who can talk to you if you’d like,” he offered.
“Already have one,” she replied.
Apparently he got the message that she didn’t want to talk, and they drove the rest of the way to the station in silence, other than the occasional radio calls that peppered the air.
When they arrived, he opened her car door and again offered his hand to her. She pushed herself out of the car without taking it, and shuffled into the station behind him. When they got to the front desk, Bonnie Blackwell was waiting. She took one look at Amber and drew her into an embrace. Immediately Amber felt her shell crack, and she was suddenly a little girl, desperately needing a mom herself.
They stood for several minutes, Amber crying and Bonnie soothing her with a calm voice and gentle strokes as she held her close. Finally, the storm passed, and Amber shuddered once or twice then turned to thank the officer. But he was already gone.
“Ready to go home?” Bonnie asked. “We can talk about all this later. Right now, I think you need a shower and a warm bed.”
Amber nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.”
They walked arm-in-arm out to Bonnie’s car, Amber leaning on her for support as her legs threatened to buckle beneath her.
“We found your daughter,” Bonnie spoke into the phone.
“Thank God,” Stacy replied. “Is she okay?”
Bonnie hesitated for a moment. “We need to talk, Stacy.”
“What? What is it? Did something happen to Amber?” Stacy sounded panicky.
“Amber’s okay for now. But she needs you. She needs you to be home. To be a mom again.”
Stacy was silent on the other end.
“I know it’s hard. You’ve been through a lot. I understand. But Amber’s got some big issues facing her, and she needs her mom back. I’m helping her as much as I can, and her foster mom is hanging in there with her, but she needs you.”
“I’m not ready yet,” Stacy replied defensively. “Whenever I get alone, I lose it. All I can think of is running away. I’m just not cut out to be a mom. Especially by myself.”
“It’s never easy to be a single mom. I get that. But you need to try, Stacy. For Amber’s sake. Jack’s, too.”
“I should have never had kids,” she said in response. “I don’t know how to do this.”
Bonnie took a deep breath, mentally counting to five. “I’ll help you, Stacy. We’ll work on it together. But I need you to want this. It’s really up to you. Your counselors are waiting to see signs that you are ready to tackle parenting again. The kids won’t just be dropped in your lap. I promise I’ll be available to help.”
“If I just had a man. Someone who could be a father to them. That’s what I need.”
“No. You need to believe in yourself. You need to determine in your heart and mind that you are going to do this for them,” Bonnie urged. “I’d like to meet with you and your psychiatrist and see if we can work out a plan for you to go home.”
Silence.
“Okay?” Bonnie asked.
A pause and then Stacy replied, “Okay.”<
br />
After hanging up the phone, Bonnie closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck. What a day. Tomorrow she’d meet with Amber and then call Stacy’s psychiatrist.
She was just about to get into bed, when she remembered she’d promised to let Michelle know when they found Amber. Retrieving her cell phone from the end table, she flipped it open and sent a quick text.
Police found Amber. She’s okay. Will be talking to her more tomorrow. Hope I didn’t wake you.
A moment later the reply appeared on the screen. Thanks! So glad she’s okay.
Bonnie sat across from Stacy Gamble. She reached out and touched her knee. “I’m on your side, Stacy. We both want what’s best for the kids, right?”
Stacy nodded, her brow furrowed.
“It’s time to move on. You need to put the past behind you and start the journey of life again without your husband. He’s not coming back, and the kids need you. Especially now. Amber needs to know you’ll be there for her throughout this pregnancy, and afterward.”
Stacy looked up. “Do you think she wants to keep the baby?” she asked.
“She doesn’t know what she wants yet. Her only decision is that she’s not having an abortion.” Bonnie’s cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse to see the caller ID, then silenced the ring.
“Here’s the way I see it, Stacy. I think Amber is craving a family and the kind of love that never gives up. She may try to find that with this baby if she feels she’s lost it with you.”
“But she’s too young to be a mom,” Stacy argued.
“Yes. She is. And that’s why she needs you. She’s going to need all the adults in her life to rally around her and support her now – to help her make wise decisions about the future for herself and for the baby.”
“Do you think she’ll put it up for adoption?”
“I don’t know. We’ll broach that subject later. But first, I want to try to get her home with you and Jack, to remind her that she has a family who loves her.”
“Okay. I’ll try,” Stacy replied, but she shook her head skeptically. “I’ve never been very strong.”
Into Magnolia (Sandy Cove Series Book 3) Page 18