Feisty Heroines Romance Collection of Shorts

by D. F. Jones

  Ahead was the office supply store. She braced herself; this would definitely not be Daniel’s favorite place to spend time.

  “No thanks,” she shook her head at the salesclerk. “Yes, I’m sure and yes, I do know what I’m looking for.” She disliked interacting with strangers, with all the social expectations for small talk. She’d manage quicker without help from a geeky-looking young man.

  Daniel made sounds of impatience and Keira knew that their time in the store was limited. “We’ll get supper soon,” she told him. “Just give me a few more minutes.” She focused on her options, narrowing it down to three choices. She pulled out her phone and checked online reviews and specs. A quick glance to the side showed Daniel running his finger along an iPad screen.

  After deciding, she did need help from the clerk after all. The boxes containing the printer she chose were stacked on the top shelf, far out of her reach, and there was no ladder within sight. She signaled the young man who returned with less enthusiasm than he’d shown initially. What difference did it make to him? He’d still get his commission for the sale even if he didn’t talk her into her choice. Keira pointed to the box that she needed. He needed urging to go find a ladder quickly. He dragged his feet worse than Daniel when she told him to brush his teeth.

  Daniel!

  Whipping her head in each direction, she couldn’t spot her son. Not near the iPads. Not on the next aisle with the laptops or back by the printers. Drones! Yes, they’d capture his attention. But no, he wasn’t there.

  “Daniel.” She didn’t want to frighten him by yelling, but boy, she was getting scared.

  Calm down, keep it together. He was just here a minute ago; how fast could a four-year-old walk? He had to be right here. She knew with absolute certainty that he would not have gone off with anyone without raising bloody hell if he was touched.

  She heard scraping in the next aisle as her reluctant clerk wheeled over his ladder.

  “Quick,” she said. “My son, he’s missing. He was right here, but now he’s gone.”

  “Ya still want this printer?”

  “My son’s gone. I need help.”

  “He’ll be around here somewhere. Kids love this place. You can report missing kids to the front desk if you want. They’ll keep an eye out for him.” Glancing up, he gauged where to set up his ladder.

  “You don’t get it. My son, he doesn’t, he doesn’t like to talk to strangers.”

  “So, you taught him well. Good momma.” He started up the ladder.

  Was the jerk being sarcastic? “Use your pager and call the manager.” When he made no move toward the pager holder on his belt, she added, “Please.”

  Louder than before, she called, “Daniel!” as she speed-walked up the main aisle, eyeing each row she passed. No Daniel. She went back down the center aisle and walked its length again.

  Back at the front of the store and still no Daniel. Deep breath, deep breath. She needed to fight the panic that was rising up from her belly, threatening to freeze her diaphragm, stopping her breath. “I need help. My little boy is missing.” A teen looked at her from behind the counter.

  Did they let kids this young actually have jobs here?

  “Yes, ma’am. How can I help you?”

  Was this little girl brainless? “I just told you. My son is missing.” No response. “He’s four, about this high.” She demonstrated.

  “I haven’t seen him, ma’am, but I’ll watch for him.” She smiled her best customer appreciation smile.

  “Get me the manager. Now, please.” When the girl didn’t move immediately, she pushed, “It’s an emergency.” Noting the open door behind her, she added, “And stop anyone from leaving with a child.”

  “Lady, do you want this or not?” Her reluctant salesclerk was back, holding a printer box to his chest.

  “Yes, yes, put it down there and help me find my son.” Geez. Focus, kid, focus.

  “May I help you, madame?” Finally, someone over thirty.

  He understood the situation quickly and ordered the entrance doors to be closed. Yeah! Speaking into his phone, he rounded up the employees, organizing them to search the back room for a small boy. He smiled reassuringly at Keira. “We’ve never lost a child yet.”

  Really, Keira thought. But at least he seemed to have some organizational skills as he alerted all sales staff to be on the look-out for a four-year-old boy.

  “Ma’am, I think we have this covered in here. If he’s in this store, he’s not leaving, and we’ll find him. But are you sure that he didn’t go back out into the mall?”

  Keira’s heart fell to her knees. She could actually feel the two-foot drop.

  “Please, if you see him, don’t scare him. He, well, he doesn’t like to be touched by strangers.” They needed to know the rest. “And, he doesn’t talk. If you call him, he won’t be able to answer.”

  The manager didn’t question her statement. They could hear staff throughout the store calling, “Daniel!” Among those many voices, the talking and laughing, the music coming through the store’s cheap speakers, Keira realized that her son was not here. If he’d been in the store, his system would be on overload, and his shrieks would be heard above the cacophony.

  She spun to leave the store.

  Chapter 2

  The manager grabbed Keira’s arm. Wrong thing to do.

  As she wrenched her wrist away and turned on him, the manager took a step back, raising both palms toward her. “Whoa, lady. I was just going to ask if you want this purchase. Let’s all calm down, shall we?”

  “My son is missing, you ass. He’s not here; he’d never survive the racket in here, especially with all that yelling your staff is doing. I need to find him.”

  His face showed relief as he glanced over her shoulder.

  “Is there a problem, ma’am? Is this gentleman bothering you?”

  Behind Keira stood a police officer. He stared down the manager with lowered brows, somewhere in the same territory as the look on Keira’s face.

  “Look, this lady told us her little boy is missing, insisted my whole staff help look for him. Maybe you can help sort this out so we can all get back to our jobs.”

  Keira tried stepping around the men, but the officer was more nimble than he looked. He blocked her way, waiting, just waiting.

  “Yes, my son’s gone. He’s four years old. I only took my eyes off of him for a second. I didn’t tell this guy’s staff to yell for Daniel. If he was still here, all this racket would terrify him and we’d hear his meltdown. He’s not here. They said that a small child could not get by them, but he did.” She took a step to the left. “I have to get to him.”

  She felt the policeman matching his strides to hers and glared. For years it had been just her and Daniel and they’d made out all right. She didn’t need anyone’s help now.

  “I’ll come with you. Four eyes are better than two.”

  As long as he didn’t slow her down, what could it hurt? “Just don’t scare him,” she said.

  “It’s not usually my intention to frighten small children, although yeah, I could use a haircut.” Only one side of his mouth turned up.

  Keira’s eyes scanned both sides of the mall’s walkways. Up ahead, farther away than she liked, was that popcorn stand that had called to Daniel when they hurried by a while ago. Down on one knee was a rent-a-cop, dressed in the mall’s security uniform. His burly back blocked Keira’s view, but she watched as he reached up a giant paw to rest on something. Then Daniel screamed. Oh, lord. He’d touched her son’s head. Keira bolted ahead, but the cop quickly outpaced her.

  “Hey,” he said as he grabbed the elderly security guard’s arm. “What are you doing to that kid?”

  Keira had her son in her arms, and his sobs quieted to only the level of a klaxon. “He touched him,” she said.

  The cop’s grip on the security guard’s arm tightened. “What did you do to this boy?”

  “No, not that kind of touch.” Keira glared over her son
’s head. “The guy touched Daniel’s head. I saw him.”

  Both men looked confused.

  “He hates to have his head touched.” She looked at the security guard. “You scared him when you touched him.”

  “I saw this little guy all by himself, came to see if he was lost or something. I didn’t mean to scare him. Sheesh. I have grandkids myself.”

  “Daniel doesn’t have grandparents. He’s only used to me.” And this was just another example of why it was best that way, she thought. No one else understood her child the way she did. She shifted his weight in her arms so that his chest was plastered to hers. Like a monkey, Daniel wrapped his legs around her waist with his arms squeezing her neck.

  “Here, let me take him. He looks heavy.” The police officer reached for Daniel.

  Keira twisted her body so it was between her son and the men. “No. He’s fine. He trusts only me.”

  He smiled at Daniel. “Hi. My name’s Jake.” There was no sound from the child. At least no sound was better than his former shrieks. Jake couldn’t see the boy’s reaction as his mom’s long strides took them away.

  Before he started after her, Jake’s arm was nudged. Turning, he saw the manager from the office store, with a large box in his arms. “This is hers. We put it on her account. She came in for a printer but took off without it when she thought her kid was missing.”

  “He was missing.” This came out a bit testy. He took the box and card and strode after the mother and monkey-child.

  For a small woman, she could make good time, Jake thought. He picked up his pace to keep her in sight as she exited the outside door.

  Seeing a break in traffic, Keira stepped into the road.

  “Wait,” Jake called out. A hand wrapped around her arm. Hampered by the weight of her little boy, Keira’s fight or flight options narrowed. She whirled. “Get your hands off me!”

  “Whoa.” Jake backed up. “I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

  She glared.

  “And to give you this. I gather that’s why you were in the store in the first place.”

  Keira made no attempt to take the box. She couldn’t, as she had both arms wrapped around Daniel.

  Keira loosened one hand to search through her pocket, juggling Daniel’s weight on one hip. She retrieved her keys and returned her arm to supporting Daniel’s leg.

  “I can do that for you,” offered Jake. With a look from Keira, he quickly added, “I mean open your car.”

  “I’ve got it,” she said.

  Right, he thought. He stood there like an idiot, watching this little woman struggle with what must have been a fifty-pound weight while fumbling with her key fob, trying to reach the correct button by feel alone. She managed. Maybe this wasn’t the first time.

  Jake put the printer box on the back seat. “See you around, I guess. Take care.” His voice drifted off.

  Keira drove away without a glance, her focus only on her child.

  Chapter 3

  It was time, Keira mused in the drive back home. All the books said so, as did the professionals. It was time Daniel started school.

  Was Pre-K some kind of prep school for kindergarten? What could four-year-olds possibly need to learn?

  The answers from those so-called experts struck a chord. Pre-K was all about language development, social skills, learning how to be part of a group, and self-regulation. Not one of those things was her son’s strengths; some Keira wasn’t so strong in herself.

  Every instinct in her mother’s body told her to keep her son at home with her where he’d be safe. But for how long could that continue? One day he would need to go out and brave the world and would need skills in order to make it. Oh, but he was so young, and no one understood his needs the way she did.

  Until now Keira avoided having strangers look after Daniel as much as possible. He went to daycare between his first and second birthdays, or rather to daycares. Three, to be exact, and he was asked to leave each one. In desperation, Keira quit her job and began taking contracts so she could work at home. At least this way no one was constantly complaining to her about her son.

  But next week Pre-K would begin. This meant she would again have to entrust his care to people she didn’t know.

  Daniel was different; she knew that, but different was okay and who wanted to be just like everyone else anyway. She certainly didn’t. Daniel seemed too fragile, so unequipped to manage the world without her. Would the people at the school appreciate just what a wonderful, unique little boy he was?

  Tomorrow she’d meet with his teacher. Her offensive strategy was planned out.

  “Here’s the way it is,” Keira began as she paced. “Daniel will not speak to you. He’s not being rude when he doesn’t answer, he just can’t talk.” She looked around at the small group of adults perched on tiny chairs. “He’s smart. He just might not show it the same way as other kids. He can do stuff but likes to do it his own way and on his own time.”

  Ms. Robinson, the Pre-K teacher nodded. “That pretty much describes each child who comes through my door.”

  Keira turned to the teacher. “That’s where you’re wrong. He is not like those other kids, and you’ll see that soon enough.”

  “I see.” She observed Daniel waving his hand in the dust motes by the window. “If you’ll give me just a minute, I’ll have some others come join us.”

  Keira paced, keeping her eye on her son. A woman introducing herself as Mrs. Rose, the special ed. teacher, held out her hand.

  “Special ed? No!” Keira was definite. “My son is not being shunted off into a special ed. room. He deserves an education and a decent one like every other kid.”

  The two teachers nodded. Was this a ploy?

  “We don’t have a special ed. room in this school. And I dislike that term, ‘special ed.’, don’t you?”

  “Just because he doesn’t talk does not mean that he has no right to be with other kids his age.”

  “This is the only classroom we have for four-year-olds. All our Pre-K students are in this room.”

  “Ms. Foster,” the teacher interrupted. “Would it be all right if one of us took him into another room to play?”

  “No! My son stays with me. He doesn’t know you, and he’d be frightened.”

  Mrs. Rose stood. “How about I play with him at the other side of the room then? You can still see him from there.” She added, “We really don’t like talking about a child in front of him. Even if a child doesn’t speak, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t hear and understand. He could pick up on our tones as well.”

  Keira silently agreed. Yes, Daniel definitely picked up on her moods and tone of voice. After watching the woman interact with her son for a moment, she carried on with her plan. “I’ve managed to clear my schedule for the next month so that I can be here with him. After that, I may not be able to be away from work quite as much but will be here every second that I can.”

  Silence. The teachers looked at each other. “Uh...”

  “There’s Helen,” Ms. Robinson said, as a woman walked by in the hallway. “I’ll go get her.”

  So, they think they need reinforcements, Keira thought. I’m up for it.

  “We have an open-door policy for parents here,” Helen Frey, the administrator explained. “That means that you are welcome to talk to the teacher anytime, as long as it’s outside of class time, of course. My door is open to parents at any time. We value parents as classroom helpers and their participation in our school is greatly appreciated.”

  Good, thought Keira. We’re at least on the same page about something.

  “However, parents are not in the classrooms all day. We’ve found that especially for the young children, the presence of mom or dad does not help them build independence skills and relationships with others.”

  “That’s just it. Daniels doesn’t have relationships with anyone but me. No one else understands him.”

  Off in the corner, Daniel made noises. These wer
en’t his happy noises, but signs that he was becoming upset. The women in front of her didn’t look perturbed but then, they had no idea what might be coming. Just as well that they saw it now and understood exactly why Daniel needed his mother with him.

  Torn between explaining how things were and going to see if she could head off a scene, Keira hesitated. She knew that if she didn’t intervene soon, they’d be in for a long meltdown. As she took a step toward her son, the special ed. teacher murmured, and without touching him, guided him to a beanbag chair. Surprisingly, Daniel didn’t dig in his heels, but went with her.

  Once he sat and wiggled into the adult-sized chair, the teacher covered him from his toes to under his arms in one of those ancient fur coats women used to wear in the 1950s. The last time Keira had seen one, she’d been a child hiding in her grandmother’s front closet. The teacher guided Daniel’s hands to stroke the fur. Amazingly, Daniel didn’t freak out at her touch, but seemed calmer.

  But what worked once would not necessarily work the next time. Keira had found that out the hard way.

  The administrator nodded at the special ed. teacher. “She’s great with kids, has this way of getting on their wavelength and figuring out what they need.”

  Huh, Keira thought. That might be with most kids, but not with Daniel. Although, the interaction she’d just watched gave her the tiniest glimmer of hope. It was probably just a fluke or beginner’s luck. How many times had Keira thought she had things figured out only to find that she absolutely did not?

  The administrator called to a man going by in the hallway. “Here’s someone you’ll want to meet,” she told Keira. “We are so lucky to have a police presence in this school. This is Officer Dean from the community policing program.”

  Keira whirled. The police! They were calling in the police for her four-year-old son! All he’d done was squawk a little bit. If this was their reaction to that, what would they do when he had a full-blown meltdown?