And that scared him most of all.
He squirmed free and sprinted toward the field beside the pond, his lunch a wad of fear in his throat. He was still close enough to hear the woman say, “Is he okay?” but he kept on running.
He was headed home, he realized, as he reached the main road and turned right. Back to his uncle’s, the place in Sweetbrook he hated most.
But even going back there was better than staying here and remembering.
* * *
“WHAT HAPPENED?” Josh asked as he helped Amy to the ground at the base of the tree.
She looked more worried than scared, which was a relief after the thundering crash and shouting he’d heard.
“I guess you were wrong.” She headed for the SUV. “I’m clearly capable of doing plenty of damage on my own. Daniel couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”
Josh caught her elbow as she opened the passenger door. “Did he hurt you?”
“What? No.” She disengaged herself from his grasp and settled onto the seat. “I tried to talk with him, hoping he’d calm down enough to go back home with you. But all I managed to do was make him angrier. He thinks you told me about what he and Melanie went through before they moved here.”
“Well, at least you got him down from the tree. He was hightailing it home the last time I saw him.” Josh braced a hand on the roof of the Range Rover and rubbed the other across his jaw. The need to reassure Amy felt right. Like old times, before he’d messed up their friendship so badly. “If I’d gone up there, we’d still be shouting at each other.”
Her half smile almost looked like she meant it. “I was trying to help him, not drive him off.”
“He was going to run anyway.” Josh dug at a loose rock in the dirt with the toe of his shoe, remembering his earlier conversation with Barbara Thomas. “He gets that way when you push him to remember stuff he can’t deal with. His therapist tells me it’s a normal distancing reaction after a kid’s lost a parent. Especially a child with Daniel’s history. At least this time, he’s angry at you and not me.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help you out.”
“Yeah.” He snorted and fished his keys from his pocket. “Seriously, what did you two talk about?”
A crazy kind of jealousy struck Josh at the idea of Daniel connecting with a total stranger easier than he could talk with his own uncle.
Amy shrugged and stared at the wind-ripped surface of the pond. The late-afternoon twilight caressed her features, softening the texture of her skin until it resembled the fine porcelain filling his mother’s curio cabinets. Amy’s loneliness was a raw, tangible thing. “I told him I knew what it was like to feel totally out of place and not have anyone you can trust.”
The honesty in her words grabbed at the soft inner part of Josh that she’d always been able to touch.
Years had passed since they’d been real friends, and he had no business prying where he didn’t belong. But he found himself stepping closer, longing to have the right to hold her, so he could reassure them both that things were going to get better any minute now.
“Amy, look… I’m sorry about the crack I made back there about your job. I may not know what it’s like to need to work to survive—”
Her laugh mocked him. “No, I don’t suppose you do.”
“But I do know that no amount of my family’s money is going to fix my problems with Daniel. And I’m not as convinced as you are that this job that’s taking up so much of your time is what you need for Becky, either.”
“What I need…” Emotion rippled her voice, even as she shrugged back into her business-as-usual persona. She turned in the seat until she was facing forward. “What I need is a ride back to my car, so I can go home.”
He admired the composure Amy seemed to be able to call on at will. She must be really something in the boardroom.
“Home it is, then.” With a nod, he shut her door and walked to his side of the SUV, letting the moment pass.
Focus on your job, man. You’re supposed to be helping settle her child into school. Not trying to solve all her and Becky’s problems.
Besides, waiting at home for him were hot dogs to boil and a decision to make about whether or not tonight was the right time to talk with Daniel about his father.
“Tomorrow’s SST meeting is at one o’clock.” He checked the digital clock on the dash as he fired the engine, and he got back to the issue that had driven Amy Loar to seek him out in the first place. “There’s no way of knowing what’s waiting for me at home with Daniel, and it’s already getting late. It looks like you and Becky might be in for a rough night, too. Why don’t you stop by early before the meeting, say around noon? I’ll bring you up to speed on everything then, before the others get there.”
He felt rather than saw Amy droop into the seat.
“Thanks,” she said simply.
A quick glance told him she’d closed her eyes.
“Becky’s going to be fine. You’re here for her now. That’s what’s important. We’ll have things at school under control in no time.”
“Yeah.” Amy clenched the golden heart dangling around her neck. “That’s you and me, Josh. We’ve got everything under control.”
* * *
“YOU HAVE A VISITOR,” Mrs. Lyons said over the office intercom the next morning.
Josh swallowed a growl and looked up from the new mound of paperwork he’d been sifting through—plans for next year’s third-grade-science curriculum. The committee had made their recommendations last month, and his approval was required before new materials could be purchased. The committee chair had stopped by twice during the week, tactfully reminding Josh he was holding up progress. So after spending an hour that morning talking with his lawyer about filing formal abuse charges against Daniel’s father, in addition to requesting a paternity test, Josh had barred himself in his office to do the part of his job he liked the least.
Daniel’s silent treatment last night, through dinner and beyond, had convinced Josh not to bring up the subject of the boy’s father. Instead, he’d spent a sleepless night trying to find some right way, some right time, to break the news. And all he had to show for his troubles was a nagging headache that was threatening to blow wide open at any moment.
He checked his watch and did a double take. It couldn’t be almost noon. The time fully registering, he remembered telling Amy to come an hour early for the SST meeting.
Setting his papers aside, he pressed the intercom button. “Tell her to come in, Mrs. Lyons.”
He stood and straightened his tie, then his shirt. Then he decided to roll down his sleeves.
Get a grip, man! She’s here for your help, not a date.
He was stepping toward the door when it swung open, and in walked a total stranger. The man gave Josh a shallow smile and held out his hand.
“Curtis Jenkins,” he announced, his limp handshake registering before his name.
Josh pulled back and wiped his palm on his slacks.
“I have a noon appointment, Mr. Jenkins.” He turned his back, his anger from yesterday’s conversation with Barbara Thomas roaring back. “You’ll have to leave.”
The other man’s hand on Josh’s arm stopped him. Josh jerked away, his skin crawling.
“Now there’s no need to be unneighborly,” Jenkins challenged, then he dropped uninvited into one of Josh’s guest chairs. “I’ve stopped by as a friendly gesture, to let you know I’m in town, and that I’d like to
see my son.”
Jenkins’s conservative suit should have given him a distinguished air. But to Josh, the man came off slimy. The urge to wrap his hands around Jenkins’s neck made him collect himself. He leaned a hip against the desk and folded his arms.
He wasn’t a violent person. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d raised a hand to another human being. He was a rational, reasonable individual who preferred handling disagreements logically. But the man sitting before him had abused Josh’s sister and her son. There was no logical solution to that.
“I wasn’t expecting you for a few more days.” He made a point of not sounding welcoming. “What do you want?”
The man’s confident smile slipped, but only slightly. “I’ve come to see my son.”
Josh’s silence said volumes.
“You can’t keep the boy from me.”
“You abandoned him and his mother over five years ago, once you got bored using them as punching bags.”
“I never laid a hand on either one of them.” Jenkins brushed imaginary wrinkles from his jacket.
“That’s not what my sister said.”
“Melanie’s not here to say much of anything anymore, now is she?”
Josh resisted the urge to take the man by the shoulders and shake him. “Daniel’s living with me now. He’s in my custody and—”
“Temporary custody, according to that Ms. Thomas I spoke with.”
“It won’t be temporary much longer. I’ve filed to adopt him. That’s what Melanie stipulated she wanted in her will.”
“Well now, there’s your problem. The boy’s mother should have consulted me before she went and did a thing like that.”
Josh laughed. He felt like howling. “No judge is going to give an abusive, deadbeat dad like you custody of a child.”
Jenkins schooled his features into a confident facade, sticking out his chest like a schoolyard bully whose bluff had been called. “I’m the biological father and that gives me rights, according to my lawyer. And I can provide that boy a good home. That’s what the judge will see. I’m a respectable citizen, same as you. Even though I don’t have your kind of money, I’ve got a job. I can give that kid a decent home. Plus, I’m his daddy.”
“You’re a violent, abusive jerk. And you’ll never lay a finger on my sister’s child—”
“I’ve got just as much claim on Daniel and Melanie’s insurance settlement as you do.”
“Insurance settlement?” Josh pushed away from the desk and straightened to his full height. It was a heady feeling when Jenkins shrank backward in his chair. “You heard about my sister’s death, some crackpot lawyer dug up the information on the money she left behind for her son, and now you’re here to latch on to a guaranteed meal ticket, is that it?”
Josh hadn’t given Melanie’s insurance policy a second thought since he’d deposited the settlement into a trust fund for Daniel.
“Let me make things perfectly clear,” he said, mimicking one of Daniel’s scowls. “If it’s the last thing I do, you and your sleazy lawyer will never see a dime of Melanie’s money.”
“Don’t get all high and mighty with me, Mr. White. Your bank account may be bulging, but that won’t buy you custody. That boy and everything his mother left him belongs with me.”
“How much?” Josh had never heard anything so depraved. “Name your price. How much will it take to get you out of our lives for good?”
“Nothing doing.” Jenkins shook his head, his easygoing manner hinting at the hard-edged opportunist beneath. “I figure, given how much you seem to be taken with my son, he’s worth a whole lot more to me than a one-time payoff. I’m just betting a concerned uncle like yourself will come through in a pinch, whenever I need a little help making ends meet.”
Josh’s fingers curled into fists. “If you think I’m going to bankroll you—”
“Oh, I think once I’ve got the kid, you’ll do just about anything I ask, if you ever want to see him again.”
Josh pulled the man up by his lapels, so hard that Jenkins’s head snapped back.
“Don’t mess with me. Don’t mess with my nephew.” A killer instinct he’d never known before raged higher. His vision narrowed to the flash of fear in the other man’s eyes. “I’m about the last person you want to be threatening right now.”
“Josh?” A soft voice penetrated the fury numbing his brain. A small hand pulled on his arm, yanking him back to the present.
Josh dropped Jenkins into the chair, his gazed locking on to Amy Loar’s troubled features. Her hand still rested on his arm, her delicate strength the only reason he wasn’t pummeling Daniel’s father to bits. Josh closed his eyes and rubbed his hand across his face.
What was he doing? He’d been so out of control he hadn’t heard her walk in.
“Is everything okay?” She glanced from one man to the other. A stylish jacket and chic black pants had taken the place of the suit she’d worn the night before. The gauzy designer jacket was the same reddish-gold as her hair.
Josh reined in the bewildering urge to touch her.
When Jenkins pushed himself out of the chair, Amy took a step back. Josh drew her to his side out of reflex. The arm he held trembled, and his anger flared to new life at her fear.
“And who is this beautiful young lady?” Jenkins’s gaze slid over Amy’s classic curves. His tone was Southern gentleman, with a slight leer lurking just below the surface. “She’s not at all what I thought a country boy like you would be interested in.”
“What?” Amy winced as she felt Josh’s hand tighten on her arm. She eased out of his grasp, her cheeks burning at the stranger’s last comment.
“Leave her alone, Jenkins.” Josh’s voice was so low that chills raced up her spine.
“From the stories Melanie told me,” the other man continued, “I would have thought the wholesome, motherly type would be more your speed, White.”
“Amy, this is Curtis Jenkins,” Josh said, placing himself between her and the man he’d been about to beat to a pulp. “He’s Daniel’s father, and he’s here to get his hands on as much of my family’s money as he can.”
“I thought he wanted Daniel back.” Amy resisted the urge to turn and run for safety. Her head was spinning from the disjointed conversation.
“It’s one and the same, isn’t it, Jenkins?” Josh looked ready to explode again.
“Now, raising my son would mean the world to me.” Mr. Jenkins’s smile was pure sincerity. “But I won’t turn down the money that’s my…his due. Caring for a child costs a fortune these days. It’s only fair to expect adequate compensation for taking on the responsibility.”
“Adequate compensation?” Amy’s own outrage exploded at the calculation beneath that Southern-bred smile. “You make caring for your son sound like a business deal.”
“And just what business is it of yours?” His steel-gray eyes hardened.
“I’m sorry, Mr. White.” Mrs. Lyons, the school admin Amy remembered from years before, hurried into the office. She sent both Amy and Curtis Jenkins a look of quiet disdain. “I ran to the bathroom for just a minute or two.”
“It’s okay, Edna,” Josh reassured her. “I was expecting Ms. Loar, and Mr. Jenkins was just leaving.”
Daniel’s father seemed to be deciding if staying and pushing Josh further would be of any use to him. Playing it safe must have won out, because he turned to go.
“Ma’am,” he said to Mrs. Lyons on his way past
her.
Josh sagged into his desk chair.
“Mr. White—” the older woman began.
“This is Becky Reese’s mother, Mrs. Lyons.” Josh sat straighter and cleared his throat. “She’s here for the SST meeting. Would you let us know when everyone else is ready? We’ll be meeting in the conference room.”
“Of course.” Mrs. Lyons still looked like she wanted a little chat with Amy about barging into offices without permission, but she left in a swirl of quiet efficiency and closed the door behind her.
“So that was Daniel’s father.” Amy made a point of perching on the edge of the chair Curtis Jenkins had not been sitting in.
“That—” Josh slumped, the starch leaking out of his posture “—was the man who’s going to take my sister’s child away from me.”
CHAPTER SIX
“SO MY RECOMMENDATION would be that you have Becky tested more thoroughly,” Mrs. Cole said from where she sat beside Amy.
The SST meeting was finally drawing to a close.
The teacher’s manner was calm and encouraging, her tone confident. The school counselor who sat to her right, Mr. Fletcher, possessed an equally effective knack for discussing disturbing information as if he were mulling over what was being served for lunch in the cafeteria that day. But regardless of everyone’s efforts to keep things positive, Amy’s anxiety for her daughter had only grown.
The facts she’d been presented during the hour-long meeting were clear. Her daughter was falling behind in courses she’d always excelled at. A once fun-loving, easygoing little girl was having difficulty making friends, and apparently spent most of her school day frustrated and in a bad mood that no one could penetrate.
If only Amy had had more of a chance to talk with Josh before the meeting. But by the time she’d arrived at his office and helped diffuse the confrontation with Curtis Jenkins, they’d been left with barely enough time to walk through his records of Becky’s mishaps and misbehavior. Then the other staff had arrived, and they’d moved to the more formal conference room and the deluge of information about ADD had begun.
A Sweetbrook Family (You, Me & the Kids) Page 9