by Gina Wilkins
Kelsey shook her head, her blue eyes huge and somber. “My daddy died, too. With my mommy. They were in a plane crash. Me and Pip live with Aunt Opal, but she’s gone to California.”
“Who is taking care of you while your aunt is away?” Ryan asked. Or, rather, who should be taking care of them? she wondered grimly.
“Mrs. Culpepper. She’s our landlady.”
“Does she know you’re at the mall alone?”
Kelsey bit her lower lip. “Well…”
The child’s expression was quite revealing.
Ryan thought of Pip, out on the streets alone. It was no more safe for him at the park than it was for Kelsey to be alone in a crowded mall.
Ryan wouldn’t be able to put her mind at ease until she knew he was safe.
She sighed and straightened. “Lynn, I’m taking the rest of the afternoon off, okay? Will you and Cathy be okay without me?”
Lynn looked surprised, but nodded. “Of course we will. Is anything wrong?”
“No,” she assured her. “There’s just something I have to do.” She turned to Kelsey. “Let’s go find Pip, shall we?”
Kelsey looked indecisive. “I don’t know. He told me to wait here.”
Ryan gave the little girl a warm smile. “I don’t think he’ll mind if you’re with me. I’ll take full responsibility.”
Kelsey nodded. “Okay.” She kissed the doll’s cool plastic cheek. “Bye, Annie,” she said, carefully placing her back on the shelf.
“Annie?” Ryan repeated curiously.
Kelsey’s head bobbed again. “I like that name, don’t you?”
“Yes. It’s a very nice name.” Ryan held out her hand to the child. “Shall we go?”
Kelsey slipped her tiny fingers trustingly into Ryan’s.
4
THE PARK WAS a big one, with acres and acres of rolling hills and partially cleared woods. Facilities included a golf course, several baseball fields, a public swimming pool, bike and hiking trails, playgrounds, pavilions and picnic tables—the city had gone all out to provide something for everyone. Ryan only hoped she’d be able to find one little boy in such a large place.
Fortunately, it wasn’t peak season for park visitors. Driving her car slowly along the park roads, Ryan quickly spotted a group of men and women engaged in a rowdy game of touch football. She hoped it was Max’s group and that Pip had also found them.
She parked in the nearest empty space. “Button your jacket, Kelsey, it’s cool out,” she said automatically.
Kelsey unsnapped her seat belt and fumbled with the buttons of her too-thin jacket. “Two of the buttons are gone,” she said matter-of-factly. “I lost them.”
“That’s okay,” Ryan assured her with a slight pang. “Button the rest of them.”
She zipped her own heavier, lined jacket as she stepped out of her car. She was glad she’d worn pants instead of a skirt that day, having chosen another Christmas-patterned sweater with dark green slacks and comfortable brown loafers.
Kelsey met her at the front of the car, taking her hand as casually as though they’d known each other for ages. Wrapping her fingers warmly around the little girl’s, Ryan led her toward the small crowd clustered in the park common.
She spotted Max almost immediately. Dressed in a gray sweatshirt and jeans, his blond hair blowing in the wind, he was running downfield, his arms outstretched to catch a pass. She felt her heart jump and told herself she was here only to find Pip, not to see Max again. No matter how good he looked to her.
Max saw Ryan just as the quarterback released the football. He dropped his arms and stumbled. The ball hit him squarely in the back, to the groaning dismay of his team and the delight of the opposing players, who hooted derisively.
Grinning, Max called for time out and loped toward Ryan. “Hi! It’s great to see you here. I didn’t expect…” He paused when he noticed the child with her. “Oh. Hello, Kelsey.”
The little girl dimpled, delighted at the greeting. “Hi.”
Max looked questioningly at Ryan.
“Have you seen Pip?” Ryan asked him. “He said he was coming here to watch you play.”
“I haven’t seen him.”
Ryan winced. “Oh, no.”
Kelsey looked up with wide eyes. “Do you think Pip got lost?” she asked in a small voice.
“What’s going on?” Max inquired.
“Hey, Max—are you playing or what?” someone shouted impatiently.
He waved a hand. “Put someone in for me,” he called back. “Something’s come up.”
“Pip dropped Kelsey off at the mall and headed here,” Ryan explained, looking around carefully in search of one sandy-haired little boy. “He was on foot and alone.”
Max frowned. “Where are their parents? Do they know the kids are out on their own?”
In a low voice, Ryan quickly told him the situation Kelsey had outlined for her.
By the time she finished, Max looked grim. “We’d better find him,” he said. “I’ll get some of my friends to help us look.”
Ryan nodded. “We’ll split up. I’ll go that way and you and your friends can—”
“Kelsey! Hey, what are you doing here?”
The call from behind made them both whirl around quickly. With almost overwhelming relief, Ryan saw Pip running toward them, waving. Like Kelsey, he wore a jacket that was too thin for the weather, and jeans split at the knees. His nose and cheeks were reddened from the cold air.
“Pip!” Ryan reached out to touch him, just to reassure herself he was unharmed. “You worried us,” she said. “You really shouldn’t be out on the streets alone. It isn’t safe.”
The boy looked surprised. “I can take care of myself,” he assured her earnestly.
Hesitant to hurt his feelings, Ryan nodded. “I know you can, but—”
“She’s right, you know, pal,” Max said. “The park isn’t a very safe place for a kid on his own. And the mall isn’t a safe place for little girls to be alone, either,” he added.
Pip’s face fell. “I guess I shouldn’t have left Kelsey by herself,” he admitted. “But she wanted to look at the dolls and I wanted to watch your football game. I saw part of it, but I had to go to the rest room. You’re a good player, Max.”
“I didn’t see you watching.”
“I didn’t want to distract you,” Pip replied.
“Everything okay here, Max?” a black man with kind eyes asked from nearby.
Max nodded. “Count me out for the rest of the game, will you, Stan?”
Looking speculatively at Ryan and the children, his friend nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
Kelsey tugged at Ryan’s hand. “There’s the playground,” she said, pointing across the park. “I want to go swing.”
“C’mon, Kelsey. I’ll take you to the swings,” Pip said, automatically falling back into the authority role with her.
“Wait,” Ryan said quickly, tightening her fingers around Kelsey’s hand. She didn’t care how long Pip had been taking care of his little sister, she wasn’t letting these children out of her sight again until there was an adult to supervise them. “Won’t Mrs. Culpepper be wondering where you are?”
Pip seemed startled that Ryan knew the name. He looked narrowly at his sister. “Mrs. C. doesn’t expect us home until five,” he explained. He tapped his Batman watch. “We’ve got about an hour before we have to start walking home.”
Ryan bit her tongue to keep from expressing her opinion of a woman who allowed two children to roam the streets unsupervised. “Do you mind if I come with you to the playground?” she asked instead. “I’d like to watch you play.”
“That sounds like fun!” Kelsey bounced in excitement. “Will you come, too, Max?”
“Sure. Just let me get my stuff.”
Ryan and the children remained where they were while Max ran over to a bench piled with coats and other paraphernalia.
Ryan thought maybe she’d talk to him about the children while the kids played on t
he playground equipment. Not that she expected him to be much help, but she felt the need to discuss the situation with another adult before she decided what to do.
Even if the only available adult happened to be Max Monroe.
Before Max rejoined them, an attractive black woman with two small children in tow approached Ryan. “Do you know if the game’s almost over?” she asked. “I’m here to pick up my husband.”
“No, I’m sorry, I don’t know how long they’ll be.”
The woman looked at Ryan in curiosity. “I’m Stan’s wife, Gayle. Are you Ben’s wife?”
“No.” She seemed to expect more of an explanation, so Ryan cleared her throat. “I’m with Max. Sort of.”
“Max Monroe?” Gayle looked over to the bench, where Max was talking to another man as he donned a denim jacket. “He and my Stan have been friends for years.”
Ryan wasn’t sure what to say. She settled for a smile.
“I don’t know Max very well myself,” Gayle admitted. “But I love his books.”
“His…books?”
Gayle nodded. “M. L. Monroe is one of my favorite authors. I just wish he would write more. Stan says—”
Max joined them then. “Hi, Gayle. Here to collect Stan?”
“Yes.”
“He should be finished soon. The game’s almost over.”
Gayle smiled, looking at Max a bit shyly. “Thanks.”
Kelsey shuffled her feet. “Are you ready now, Max?”
He smiled. “Yes, I’m ready. See you around, Gayle.”
They’d taken only a few steps toward the playground when they were detained yet again, this time by a bubbly blonde in a skintight, cropped sweater and her similarly dressed young friend. After a moment, Ryan recognized the blonde: Brittany, who worked at the ice-cream parlor across the mall from Beautiful Babies.
“Max!” Brittany crooned. “I was hoping you’d still be here. This is my friend, Marti.”
“Hi. Brittany, isn’t it?”
She giggled and nodded. “Is the game over?” she asked, looking sideways at Ryan and the children.
“No, it’s still on. Why don’t you and your friend go join in?”
Brittany bit her full lower lip. “But I thought you said you would be playing.”
“I’m through. Go on over, though. It’s an open game. You and Marti will be welcome.”
Brittany stuck out her lip in a pout. “But—”
Two grinning young men skidded to a stop a few feet away. “Hi,” they said, staring wide-eyed at Brittany and Marti. “Are you here for the game? We could introduce you.”
Ryan hadn’t missed Max’s subtle signal to call the young men over. Though Brittany pouted a bit, she allowed herself to be led away and was giggling again before a full minute had passed.
Ryan gave Max a cool glance. “Why don’t you stay with your friends? I’ll watch the children and make sure they get home.”
Kelsey looked disappointed. “But Max said he wanted to come with us.”
“And I do,” he assured her. “Let’s go before someone stops us again.”
When they reached the playground, Kelsey ran straight to the swings. Max helped her onto one and then stood behind her to give her a push. Her chubby legs pumped the air, her hair flying out behind her as she soared, squealing and laughing. Pip stood nearby with a smile and a protective expression.
Taking a seat on a nearby bench, Ryan watched pensively, thinking that Pip hardly seemed like a child himself. He was much too serious for a boy his age. Didn’t he ever act silly, the way most pre-adolescent boys behaved?
Catching his eye, she pointed to a tower slide behind the swings. “That looks like fun,” she said. “Why don’t you try it?”
Pip took one more look at Kelsey, as though making sure she was having a good time, and then he nodded and ran over to agilely climb the eight-foot tower. Ryan noted in satisfaction that he was grinning as he shot down the winding tube of aluminum on the seat of his faded jeans. Hitting the ground on both feet, he immediately started climbing again.
Ryan’s attention turned back to Kelsey, but before long she found herself staring at Max. He looked particularly attractive at play, his dark gold hair tumbled around his wind-reddened cheeks, his blue-gray eyes gleaming, his crooked smile flashing.
She thought of what she’d learned about him only minutes earlier.
M. L. Monroe. She’d had no idea that Max was the popular writer, author of a fast-paced series starring a foot-loose adventurer who answered only to the name of Montana.
She’d read a couple of the books herself, though her brother Nick was the true fan. Nick had raved about the series on more than one occasion, even mentioning that there was a potential movie deal in the works.
Ryan couldn’t help wondering how much of himself Max wrote into his hero.
Montana was a man who played at life the way some people played at cards. The restless type, always off in search of a new challenge. Never staying in any place long enough to set down even the most shallow of roots.
A heartbreaker.
She couldn’t really say she was surprised that the gorgeous and cocky Max Monroe had created the character.
Leaving Kelsey to play with Pip, Max joined Ryan on the bench. “Kelsey told me I was the best swinger she’d ever met.”
Ryan didn’t share his obvious amusement. “I’m sure she’s right,” she said coolly.
He cleared his throat. “Er, about Brittany…”
“I have to decide what to do about the children,” she said, ignoring him. “It’s obvious that they aren’t being properly cared for. It’s only a matter of time before one of them is hurt or—or worse.”
“What, exactly, did Kelsey tell you?”
“That her parents are dead. That she and Pip live with her aunt Opal, but her aunt is away, leaving them in the care of their landlady, a Mrs. Culpepper. On the way over here, I asked her to tell me more about Mrs. Culpepper. She was very vague. She said only that the woman doesn’t seem to like children very much. It didn’t sound as though they are being physically abused, but they are most definitely being neglected.”
“Maybe their aunt has no idea what sort of woman she’s left them with. Does Kelsey know how to reach her?”
Ryan shook her head. “She said she doesn’t know where her aunt is. Only that she said she had to get away from work and kids for a while. Apparently, that was the last thing she said to them as she left them with the landlady.”
“Damn.” Max looked grimly at the two children, watching as Pip climbed the slide tower behind Kelsey, protecting her with outstretched arms. “That boy’s something else, isn’t he? I’ve never met a kid quite like him.”
“I was just thinking that he’s much too serious for a child his age. He takes his responsibilities very much to heart.”
“They seem to have bonded very quickly with you.”
Ryan bit her lip. “I know. And I’m a total stranger to them. What do you think I should do?”
“Me?” Max asked, looking startled. “Hell, I don’t know. This isn’t really my area of expertise.”
She bit her tongue. “Maybe I should call my brother, Nick,” she murmured, almost to herself.
“Why?”
“He’s an attorney. He’d be more likely to know the legal procedures for making sure children are being properly cared for.”
“He’ll probably suggest calling child-welfare services. Pip and Kelsey will probably be taken from the landlady and put into foster care until their aunt is found.”
Ryan frowned. “You really think so?”
“What else could anyone do?” he asked logically.
“I’ve heard some real horror stories about foster care.”
“I’m sure most foster homes are decent places.” Max sounded as though he meant to be reassuring. “You know how the media tends to focus only on the worst of the bunch.”
“You don’t suppose anyone would try to split them up, do you?
Pip and Kelsey would be miserable if they weren’t together. Even I can see that, after spending very little time with them.”
Now Max was frowning. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I hadn’t thought of that. Surely they’d keep them together.”
But he didn’t sound as confident as Ryan would have liked.
“I’m going to take them home and meet Mrs. Culpepper,” Ryan said in sudden decision. “Maybe she isn’t as bad as we think. Maybe she doesn’t know the children have been out alone so much. Maybe she thinks they’re at a friend’s house or something.”
“Maybe,” Max said, still sounding doubtful.
Ryan didn’t really believe it, either, but she had to find out for herself. She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost four-thirty. I should probably take them home soon.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Startled by the offer, she looked at Max warily. “Why?”
“Now you’ve got me concerned about them,” he admitted. “They’re cute kids. I’d hate to see something happen to them. Besides,” he added with a winning smile, “I need a ride myself. One of my buddies picked me up this afternoon and he left the park while we’ve been watching the kids play.”
Ryan sighed.
“You don’t mind, do you, Ryan?”
There didn’t seem to be much she could say. After all, she had sort of dragged him into this situation—though only because Pip had decided he wanted to watch Max play football. “I guess not.”
Max didn’t comment on her obvious lack of enthusiasm. He simply nodded and rose to his feet. “Maybe we should go. It’s getting colder and that little jacket Kelsey has on isn’t very warm. Her lips are starting to turn blue.”
If he was deliberately trying to disarm her, he succeeded. Ryan couldn’t help but be a bit touched by his concern for little Kelsey—assuming, of course, it wasn’t just an act for her benefit.
She motioned to the children.
Obediently, they raced up to her. Kelsey wrapped an arm trustingly around Max’s legs, making his eyes widen in surprise, though he awkwardly patted her shoulder as she smiled up at him. “What’s up?” she asked.