“Wendy!” Julie scooped her up and crushed her in a fierce embrace, not letting her go until Wendy squeaked and started struggling. She pushed the girl back by her thin shoulders and bore wildly into Wendy’s face. “What are you doing here, Wendy? Why did you leave?”
Confusion shimmered in the girl’s blue eyes. “I wanted to see where he got that bear.”
Julie shot a glance around them at the stream of people flowing past them. “What? Who?”
Wendy gestured behind her. “The man.”
Weak all over with barely suppressed rage and the steady flow of fear still coursing through her, Julie staggered unsteadily to her feet. One hand remained clasped firmly on Wendy’s shoulder, like she was afraid the girl might somehow mysteriously vanish again.
“Who?” she said again.
Wendy shrugged. “I don’t know. He was right there.”
The space around the tank of ducks was empty except for the boy manning the booth and he was too busy staring at his phone to notice anything. It was by far the least occupied stand along the game strip, like no one really wanted to go fishing for ducks with little magnetic strips attached to plastic fishing poles. But she could see which bears Wendy was referring to. They were plush, red bears hugging satin pillows with the words I love you in white stitching. It wasn’t remotely unique, or all that eye catching, but Wendy was still just a little girl and a stuffed toy was a stuffed toy. Nevertheless...
“What are the rules, Wendy?” Julie rounded on the girl. “You told me in the car that you knew them. What are they?”
Wendy’s shoulder’s slipped up around her ears and her back hunched as she deflated into herself with shame. “Not to go anywhere without you?”
“Yes!” Julie practically roared. “You never, ever go anywhere with someone you don’t know, Wendy. You know better. What were you thinking?”
Tears shimmered in Wendy’s eyes. “I wanted a bear—”
“A bear?” Barely contained rage shook her voice. “Do you have any idea...?” Breathing hard, Julie stood, not trusting herself not to start screaming, or worse, shaking the girl until her teeth clacked. She took Wendy’s hand tightly instead and, without a word, hauled the girl back to the table.
Halfway there, Mason came barreling out of the crowd, dark hair flipping across his brow. His cheeks were pink with exertion and his blue eyes were bright with relief when they spotted her, then Wendy.
“Wendy!” He scooped the girl up and crushed her to his chest. His large hands nearly covered her entire back as they fisted in the fabric of her shirt. He buried his face into her shoulder. “Thank God!”
“I’m sorry.” Wendy’s face shriveled and her bottom lip began to tremble. “I only wanted to see the bears.”
Mason pulled back just enough to peer into her shiny eyes. “Bears? You scared the hell out of us, kid. Do you have any idea how dangerous what you did was?”
“I’m sorry.” She was sobbing now. Her tiny frame shaking violently. “I only wanted a bear.”
Mason set her down gently and cupped her face. He smoothed away her tears and peered closely into her eyes. His gentleness was endearing and, any other time, Julie would have been touched, but she was still struggling to bring her own emotions under control.
“You don’t ever go anywhere without me, or Julie. Something really bad could have happened to you.”
Fear and apprehension shone across the wet surface of her eyes. “Are you going to tell Mommy?”
“Yes!” Julie said before Mason could. “You are in a world of trouble.”
The corner of Mason’s mouth turned down a notch. “Julie’s right, brat.” He ruffled her hair and rose to his feet. “Get back to the others. Julie and I need to talk.”
Sniffling, Wendy hurried back to take her place next to Shaun. Mason waited until she was completely out of sight before turning to Julie.
“You okay?”
Hand mashed against her pounding heart, Julie shook her head. Her gaze never once strayed away from Wendy, or the other two.
“I think I’m having a heart attack.” She had meant it as a joke, but her voice broke and she had to draw in a breath when tears threatened to spill.
“Hey.”
Gentle fingers skimmed the ridged path of her spine to spread flat against her lower back. The heat of his palm burned through the material of her top, singing skin and chasing away the chill that had been twining through her. He tugged her attention onto him against her will.
“It’s okay now,” he murmured. “You found her.”
Still unable to catch her breath properly, Julie had to fight to speak and, even then, each word was a jagged pant. “What if I hadn’t? What if—”
“Stop.” He turned her to him completely. His arm remained around her middle like a steel band restraining her from running, or worse, falling in a mess to the ground. “There’s no point thinking what if, because she’s fine and safe.”
“But—”
“No,” he said firmly. “Deep breath. Do you want to go home?”
There was nothing she wanted more. At least at home, she could keep a closer watch on the children. At least at home, there weren’t strange faces everywhere with who knew what in mind.
“I ... my nerves are shot,” she said, wiping a shaky hand over her clammy brow. “I want to go home.”
Mason nodded slowly. “Okay.” He glanced towards the picnic table. “We’ll get the others and—” His eyes suddenly went wide with horror. “Luis!”
The abrupt change of subject threw Julie for a loop. It took her a second to figure out why he was crying out his friend’s name and she felt her own eyes widen as she recalled Luis leaving to call the police.
“Oh no!”
“I’ll be back!”
Leaving her staring after him, Mason bolted through the crowd. Julie prayed he got there in time. The last thing they needed was for the entire park to get shut down and swarmed by the police. Something told her Sheriff Reynolds would not be pleased at seeing them a second time in two days.
Forcing the stiffness in her limbs to bend, Julie joined the others at the picnic table.
“Where’s Mason?” Dustin looked up first.
Julie shot a glance in the direction Mason had taken. “He went to get Luis,” she answered.
“Are we leaving now because of Wendy?” Rick muttered, glaring at his sister, who looked small and miserable in her seat.
“Yes.” Julie ground her fingertips into her forehead. “But not because of Wendy. We’re leaving because it’s late.”
Dustin and Rick immediately boo’d and tossed Wendy scathing glowers. Wendy’s shoulders were up around her ears and she had sunk so low in her seat, all Julie could see of the girl was a bright, red forehead.
“But I’m still hungry!” Rick protested.
Julie had forgotten about the pizzas, the ones that had fallen from her grasp when Wendy had gone missing.
“Well, I’ll get you guys something, but afterwards...”
The drinks and one of the chip bags were still on the table from where Mason had left them, so it was only the pizzas she had to rebuy. She made Shaun swear not to take his eyes off them as she went back to standing in line. The whole time, she kept watch over the table, not looking away once, not even to blink.
Wendy and Rick were on their third slice when Mason returned, followed by Luis. He was chuckling at something the other man was saying and Julie had never been so happy to see anyone.
“Everything okay?” she asked when they were close enough.
Mason turned those startling eyes to her, a smile still curling his mouth. “Fine,” he said. “Candace had to call the sheriff’s station and let them know everything was all right, but other than that...”
“Candace?”
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “The girl manning the booth.”
Not sure what to say, except give a soft oh of understanding, Julie turned her back on him and faced the children, who had
finished eating and were throwing bits of their paper plates at each other. Her gaze was caught instead by Shaun. He wasn’t smirking exactly, but there was a glimmer of triumph floating in the murky brown of his eyes, like he was somehow personally responsible for bringing Julie misery. She ignored him.
“Is anyone still hungry?”
When the only response she got was squeals as the paper fight continued, she snatched the empty plates away from the children and carried everything to the trash. Then she motioned for everyone to get up and follow her.
“You guys can stay if you want,” she told Mason and the other two. “I’m going to take the children home and put them to bed.”
Mason glanced at his friends, first Luis then Shaun. “What do you guys want to do?”
Luis wrinkled his nose. “I’m kind of fun’d out,” he admitted, patting his middle gingerly and making a face.
Shaun rolled his eyes. “Whiny bitches.” He heaved his hulking frame up and off the bench. “But no point in sticking around if you ladies are going home.”
Mason shook his head, but said nothing.
They walked together in silence out of the park. Other families seemed to have had the same idea, because it was a zoo. People everywhere. Dustin left with Shaun and Luis when they turned right and headed in the opposite direction of Julie’s parked car. Julie had been tempted to call the boy back, but opted against it.
Mason stayed with her. His strides were long, but he remained firmly by her side all the way to her car. He helped strap the children in and shut the door behind them before turning to face Julie.
“Tired?”
Julie chuckled wearily. “Exhausted.” Sucking in a breath filled with cotton candy, machine grease, and pine, she looked up into his face. “Aren’t you?”
He gave a casual shrug. “I could sleep.” He glanced over the sea of shiny metal in the direction of his truck. “Follow me to my car and we’ll drive back together.”
She nodded and ducked behind the wheel.
It was just as tedious driving out as it had been driving in. Only difference was that people were maneuvering the parking area with enough slowness to drive Julie insane. Every few feet, they would stop and wait for another car to back out, or for another person to cross the road. It was pure madness. But at least the drive home was done in silence. It wasn’t until they reached the cabin that she noticed Wendy and Rick were both sleeping in the backseat, their heads against the windows.
Mason was already at her door when she came to a gentle stop behind his truck. Together, they gathered up the children and carried them inside.
“I think I’m going to bed,” she murmured once the last kid was tucked away in bed and they stood in the hall between Rick’s and Wendy’s doors.
Mason nodded. “I think I’m going to head there as well.” He grinned a little. “I nearly forgot how much energy those three have.”
Julie laughed and leaned back against the wall separating the two rooms. She closed her eyes and breathed in the end of a long day.
“I’m so tired,” she moaned, resting her head back. “And my feet hurt.”
She wiggled her stiff toes, curling and uncurling them against the hallway carpet. She groaned as the stiffness in each digit caused tiny slivers of pain to prickle up the tops of her feet.
A movement had her eyes popping open. She hadn’t exactly forgotten he was there, but she hadn’t realized how close he had gotten until that moment.
A full foot stood between them and yet every inch of that space was filled with him, with his heat, scent, and hunger. The air around them pulsed with heat and Julie was helpless to do anything but fall into those unwavering eyes. In her chest, her heart rocketed against her breast, anxious and excited as whatever distance was keeping her safe was demolished by a single step.
She was trapped. Her mind cried out for her to push him away, to remember not to give in, but her body, her senses, and her heart were rigid with anticipation.
“What am I going to do with you, Jewels?” It was placed as a question, but it was said as a demand, one she was incapable of answering, because what she wanted to say, she couldn’t. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to need a response. “Tell me what I can say to make you stop backing away from me.”
Once again, she was completely void of words, even as his filled her with a strange, floaty sensation.
Cautiously, Mason raised a hand and brought it to the side of her face. He lightly smoothed a coil of blonde hair off her cheek, letting the tips of his fingers graze the sensitive curve. It was only then that she caught the series of numbers across his palm in faint, blue ink topped with a name—Candace.
Julie jerked back. It was so rapid and unexpected, she smacked her head against the wall. Mason blinked in surprise by her reaction. He turned his hand over to see what had caught her eye and he cursed under his breath. He rubbed at the digits with the thumb of his other hand, smudging the numbers together until they were indistinguishable.
“This isn’t—”
But Julie had already skirted away from him. The moment broken.
“Goodnight, Mason.”
The front porch held only that morning’s paper and a sky full of clouds. The air was charged with the sort of electricity that came minutes before a thunderstorm. Julie exhaled the breath she was holding and pulled the folds of her hoodie tighter around her chilled frame. She crossed her arms across her midsection and watched as black bled through the tufts of gray overhead. The wind was lace with a frigid edge that lashed against the trees, making them bend and sway. It was definitely an indoor sort of day.
Grabbing the paper, she shut the door and headed into the kitchen. She was prepared for the figure at the island, bent over a bowl of cereal.
“It looks like we’re about to have a storm,” she said as she shook open the newspaper and eyed the front page.
It was nothing interesting. Some woman won first place for her apple pie. Julie crumpled the paper up and tossed it into the recycling bin.
She went to the fridge.
“So what’s it going to be?” Mason asked. “Eggs and bacon again or pancakes?” He pointed his spoon at her. “You owe me pancakes.”
Dragging out the milk carton, Julie frowned at him. “No, I don’t. You can make your own.”
“But they won’t be the best pancakes in the world.” He scooped corn flakes into his mouth, chewed. “They’ll be mediocre pancakes.”
Julie rolled her eyes in amusement. “Well, I’m not making pancakes.” She drew down several boxes of cereal and several packets of oatmeal. “We’re going to have a very simple breakfast.”
She walked to the sink and filled a pan with water. She set it on the stove and turned it on.
“Julie?”
In the process of opening the cupboard, she glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“We need to talk.”
Instinctively, Julie stiffened. She turned away with the pretense of drawing bowls down. She set them on the counter and kept her back to him.
“We can’t keep avoiding—”
“I’m not avoiding anything.” She faced him. “I also don’t think there’s anything to talk about. You said, or didn’t say all you had to four years ago. Unless you feel like there’s something more you’d like to add.”
Mason lowered his face until his chin nearly brushed the collar of his green skater t-shirt. His hands bunched on either side of his bowl.
“I had no idea ... I would never...” He rubbed the tip of his fingers over his furrowed brow with such force, she half expected him to peel his skin off. “I would never have let...”
Julie averted her eyes. “I don’t want to—”
“Well, you have to!” He shoved his plate aside and planted his palms hand down on the table. “You need to know...”
“Know what?” she snapped. Her hands trembled and she quickly balled them. “That you invited me to that party and then slapped me down in front of your friends? In front of t
he whole school?”
“That’s not what happened!”
“I was there!” she shot back.
“That’s not what happened!” He lunged to his feet and his fists made a resounding bang as he slammed them down on the table. “I never asked you to that party. I wouldn’t.”
“Because I wasn’t one of your usual supermodels?”
“Because you were fifteen!”
Julie blinked. “What?”
Solemn blue eyes met hers. “You were fifteen, Jewels. That might be okay with a lot of other guys, but not with me. I was eighteen. I was leaving for university and you didn’t even have your driver’s license. I’m a lot of things and I’ve done a lot of bad things, but even I have morals.”
Shock and confusion pulsed through her as his words wound around the memory she had clung to for the last four years, memories of that night that felt both eons and minutes old.
“But you invited me...”
“I didn’t.” He lowered himself back down on the stool and clasped his hands on the table in front of him like he was about to start prayer. “That’s one thing I can promise you.”
Julie shook her head, more to clear it than in denial. “Shaun said you ... Shaun?”
It was as though someone had smacked her upside the head with a two by four. The crack of it echoed through the chambers of her brain until her eyeballs rattled. But she kept them focused. Kept them trained on him.
Mason dropped his gaze to his fingers. The gesture said everything.
“But why?”
He shook his head slowly. “It doesn’t matter—”
“No, it does matter!” She yanked open a drawer and grabbed all the spoons from their slot. “That’s what this is all about. What does he have against me? Why would he do something so ... horrible?”
Mason made a sound between a sigh and a groan. He mashed the heel of his hands into the back of his eyelids and rubbed.
“Because of me.” He dropped his hands and raised his head. “Because he knew I liked you and he thought it was funny.”
“Why would that be funny?”
Kissing Trouble Page 11