Love and Sorrow (Small Town Secrets Book 5), стр. 14
“Sarah.”
“I’m not going.”
“Sarah, you don’t have a choice. I’m out of options.”
“I don’t care. I’ll stay here by myself. I’m old enough to take care of myself.”
“Honey, you’re eleven. I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving you by yourself here late at night. If Noreen were going to be home, that might be okay.”
Her chin jutted out. “I’m not going to Mike’s.”
Devon finally spoke up, his eyes registering hurt. “What’s wrong with going to my dad’s?”
Hoping to sweeten the pot, I added, “He was going to take you guys out to eat.”
“Yeah, and we usually watch awesome action movies, too, Sarah.”
“I’m not going.” Before I could stop her, Sarah stormed off to her room.
Part of me was actually glad that Sarah had showed an emotion—any emotion—for a change, but her reaction seemed over the top. Why now, when I really needed all the pieces to stay in place, was she having such a problem staying at Mike’s? While she’d only visited him once since the divorce, she’d looked forward to that visit, had in fact enjoyed it, because Mike had spoiled her, too. Why was she opposed to it now?
Because Devon looked like his feelings were hurt, I patted his hand. “It’s okay, bud. Sarah’s just having a hard time now.”
“Do you think she’ll change her mind?”
“I don’t know.” This certainly made things that much more difficult, especially after the day I’d had arranging everything. “I’ll talk to her later.”
And we finished eating the same way we’d started: in silence.
I had so many questions about my child’s violent outburst. Had Mike ever physically abused her in the past and I’d missed it? I remembered him giving her a verbal lashing once or twice before I’d left him—but had he done more?
Was he someone else I’d need to keep an eye on?
As I cleared the dishes off the table, I reminded Devon to take his bath. Then, after I had the dishes in the drainer, I went to Sarah’s room. This time I didn’t even knock before opening the door.
Sarah was sitting on her bed, her back leaning against the headboard, the light off. I switched it on before sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at my daughter. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“What happened in the kitchen.”
“I just don’t want to go to Mike’s, okay?”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
For a little bit, we didn’t say anything—but I had to ask. “Are you sure there’s nothing you want to tell me?” When Sarah didn’t answer, I pressed further. “Did Mike ever do anything to you?”
“No. I just don’t want to go.”
This was difficult and getting us nowhere. “Look, if I take you with me to work, can you just sit there and be quiet? Maybe read a book?”
Sarah’s face softened at the suggestion. “Yes. I can be good and quiet.”
“Then I guess that’s what we’ll do.” After a few seconds, I added, “Why don’t you go take your shower? I think I heard Devon leave the bathroom a few minutes ago.”
Solemn again, she let out a long sigh. “Okay.” Then she got up, slouching as she’d been of late, shuffling out of her room and down the hall. I still sat on her bed, watching her enter the bathroom, closing the door behind her. As the click of the door echoed in my brain, I had but one question: where had I gone wrong as a mother?
Chapter Five
The next day, Noreen watched Sarah and picked Devon up after school while I worked. Before heading to class, I stopped by Noreen’s to chat with her and check in with the kids.
Noreen’s own children, a son and daughter both in high school, lounged in the living room with my kiddos watching a sitcom rerun while Noreen and I sat at the kitchen table, both of us nursing a cup of coffee.
“I’ll make sure Devon gets his homework done before dinner.”
“Thanks, Noreen. He seems to focus better earlier in the evening.”
Noreen, a forty-something divorcee who looked older than she was, had had a hard life, and it showed on the road map of her face. Her shoulder-length blonde hair showed no trace of gray, however, and her teeth looked perfect—almost too perfect. And, possibly due to her outgoing personality, Noreen always had a boyfriend. While they never stayed around long, she always had one, and she almost always managed to procure some sort of favor from each one before he moved on to greener pastures, whether that favor be repairing her fence or patching a hole in the drywall. Noreen’s current beau, for example, was teaching her son to drive.
I gazed into my coffee cup as I took a sip, trying not to judge Noreen’s love life. Meanwhile, she lowered her voice, asking, “So what’s goin’ on with Sarah?”
Although I didn’t quite trust the woman to keep the information to herself, she was a caregiver for my children and probably needed to know something—so I told her about the incident at school before revealing my suspicion that maybe something else had been going on that triggered Sarah’s new behaviors. That led to a question. “Have you noticed a change in her behavior over the last year?”
“Honestly, hon, you’d get more info if you asked Jeff and Jackie. They spend more time with your kids than I do. I’m too busy cleanin’ or cookin’ while they’re here.” Or gossiping on the phone. No matter what I thought about Noreen personally, though, the woman provided a safe place for my kids to stay when I wasn’t home.
That was all I needed to concern myself with.
“Well, she refuses to go to her stepfather’s house tomorrow night.”
“After what you told me about him, I wouldn’t want to go, either.”
“But the last time she went there, she had a lot of fun.” I took a sip of my coffee. “When I talked to her dad, he said Sarah acted weird this summer, too.”
“You said