Dream On (Stories of Serendipity #2) (34 page)

“What do you mean?”  Alyssa reached across the table for his hand. 

“I think I’m going to build a place of my own.  I need to work out some logistics, though.  I have a buddy who is a home builder.  I’m going to talk to him this week.”  Dalton looked at her squarely, as if he were gauging her reaction.

“That’ll be good.  A place of your own.”  Alyssa was quiet.  She wasn’t sure how she felt about Dalton building his own house.  Of course, he wouldn’t be living with his mother any more, and that was good.  A thirty-six-year
-
old didn’t need to be living with his mom.  But she wanted him closer, and she was afraid to admit that to him.

As if he was reading her mind
,
and sensing her insecurities, Dalton pulled Alyssa into his embrace.  “I love you, Alyssa.  I want a life with you, if you’ll have me.  I’m not going anywhere.”

She turned and snuggled into his strong arms.  “I love you too, Dalton.”

Last night, he had been aggressive in his need for her.
 This morning, he was so gentle.  She liked the two sides to Dalton

Dalton released her, slowly.  “Happy Birthday, Alyssa.”  He kissed her, his mouth making all sorts of promises to hers.  “I want to make love to you, now.  Sweetly.”  His tongue thrust slowly inside her mouth, sending a convulsive shudder through her body.

The spent the rest of the morning in bed.

That afternoon, Dalton exiled Alyssa from the kitchen, while he rummaged around to make her dinner. “Mmmmm...Something smells good.”  She told him, when he emerged an hour after he went in.

“Stew.
 It’s got to simmer for awhile.  You need to eat before we go out tonight.”  He came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishtowel he’d slung over his shoulder.

“We’re going out tonight?”

He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the nose.
 
“Yup.
 I’m taking you to The Gin.  Feel like dancing?”

“Sure!”
 She went to her room to shower and change into
her
jeans and
her
boots before coming out to the kitchen to eat.
 The stew was really good.  Alyssa had to admit, he did know his way around a kitchen.

After they ate and cleaned up the kitchen, Dalton drove them to the bar.  They were incredibly early, which meant they were the only ones there, but Dalton didn’t mind.The DJ would play whatever they asked, and he could watch Alyssa dance without having to worry about anybody else.

He bought her a dressed up tequila shot with a beer chaser, and he settled in with his whiskey and coke to watch her dance.
 He wasn’t a huge country and western fan, but this was a honky tonk in Serendipity, and he couldn’t come here without being exposed to it.  And something about the way Alyssa moved when she danced by herself made him feel drunker than he was.  He got up to go dance with her, unable to resist the pull of her gravity field.

“You can’t grow up in this town without knowing how to two-step.” He pulled her into his arms
,
and felt her head on his shoulder
,
as he put one hand on her waist and grasped her hand in his other.
 As they swayed and moved together across the dance floor, he couldn’t help but feel that everything was going to be all right.  All of their questions, their insecurities with each other, all of the issues with her ex, they all melted away in that dance.  When the song faded away, they continued to sway to each other’s rhythms, lost in their own little world.  Dalton bent his head down to hers and tasted her lips, gently.

That’s when Alyssa’s back pocket vibrated, breaking the spell.
 She didn’t move at first, obviously feeling the same enchantment that Dalton had.  

“You should get that, Alyssa.
 It could be your mom.”

She pulled out her phone and looked at the called ID.
 “It’s Steven.”

Something in his gut clenched when she said that.
 He could only think of two reasons for Steven to be calling her on a Saturday night, and neither one of them gave him the warm fuzzies.  He followed her outside as she took the call, holding his breath.  Alyssa was facing away from him, so he couldn’t see her face, but he could see her shoulders hunch and her phone fall to the ground.  He ran to her
,
and caught her before her knees buckled and she crumpled to the ground.

“Alyssa.
 What’s wrong?  Is it the kids?”

“It’s Sierra.
 He’s lost her.  I’ve got to go find her.”

Chapter 27

Dalton could see the panic rising in her eyes, right before she vomited outside his car.
 As she pushed him back so she could bend over and retch out all of the stew and tequila, he pulled her hair back out of her face
,
and scratched her back gently.

“It’s okay, Alyssa.  Where are they?”  When she had finished, she turned to look at him, tears in her eyes.

“The state park.
 At the BooFest.  How could he let this happen?”

He had to pull her to him, as he whispered, “Shh...
 We’ll find her.”  He stroked her back, trying to ease the tension he felt there, but he was tense, too, and knew that no amount of comfort would help Alyssa now.  He had to take action.

After ushering into his car, Dalton got behind the wheel and drove purposefully to the state park
,
that encompassed four hundred wooded acres on the outskirts of town that was used for church camps year round.

Dalton had worked there as a lifeguard in the summers when he was in high school, and he knew there were
so
many places a small child could get lost on the property.
 Luckily, he had used most of them for his teenaged
dalliances
escapades
, and was relatively familiar with the terrain.

Once they got there, they found Steven and Cayden in the infirmary
,
next to the pool.
 He was waiting there with a security guard from the facility and
Stephanie
.  Dalton shouldn’t have been surprised to see her there, but he was nonetheless.  Steven didn’t even react to his presence.  His eyes were rimmed in red, and when he saw Alyssa walk into the room, he ran to her.

“I’m so sorry, Alyssa.
 I don’t know what happened.”

She pushed him away from him, looking at Stephanie.
 “I have a pretty good idea.  You are such a son of a bitch, Steven.  You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants, that’s what happened.”  Her voice was rising, the more she talked, and by the end of her
little tirade
outburst
, it had reached a fevered pitch.  Dalton came up behind her and put his arms around her, trying not to watch the security guard flinch at her language.  He looked all of nineteen
-
years
-
old, and clearly had no idea what he was dong.

“Where have y’all looked already?”  Dalton asked, briskly.

“Inside all of the cabins.”  Stephanie replied weakly.  

“I bet you checked out the cabins.”
 Alyssa hissed at her, tears forming in her eyes again.

Seeing his mother teary, Cayden started crying.
 “Dalton, can you find her?  She’s scared of the dark.”

Dalton’s heart melted as he
 tried to keep the calm in the room, since the park ranger was just sitting there dumbly, probably waiting for somebody to need a glass of water.  He hugged Cayden reassuringly, as he asked, “Has anybody checked out the trails?”

“No. Not yet.”
 The ranger replied, suddenly inspired.  He started passing out walkie-talkies.  “If we split up, we can cover a pretty big area.  I’ve got some employees coming in to help with the search.  I’m going to recommend that if you’re not familiar with the area, you stay here.”  He looked pointedly at everybody there, in turn.

“I’m familiar.
 And I’m going to the ropes course.  It’s near where the carnival was set up.”  Dalton grabbed a walkie-talkie and strode out the door.

He should stay with Alyssa, but he was as familiar with the compound as anybody was, and the thought of Sierra out here, cold in the dark, sent chills of terror up his spine.
 He couldn’t imagine how scared she might be.  He started running, calling her name.

“Sierra!”
 Dalton jogged through the field separating the ropes course from the pool area.  It had booths and carnival games all over the grassy area, but it was deserted of
H
h
alloweeners as every parent
's
s’
nightmare chased off the revelers.  “Sierra!”

He jogged down the trail to the ropes course, wishing he had brought a flashlight, calling her name.
 He squelched the rising panic threatening to overwhelm him.  He couldn’t imagine what Alyssa was going through right now.  He just hoped she hadn’t ripped Steven limb from limb, yet.  He really wanted to be a part of that.

“Sierra!”
 He jogged slower, realizing he was making too much noise
,
and wouldn’t be able to hear her, if she yelled for him.
 “Sierra!  It’s Dalton!  Are you okay?”  As he walked deeper into the woods, he prayed she hadn’t gone to the lake this scenic territory was named for.  Suppressing his horror at the idea that the beautiful little girl had fallen into that deep, cold, dark body of water, he renewed his energy.

“Sierra!
 Sierra!  Talk to me, baby!”  Dalton tried to suppress the panic rising in his chest.  He needed to focus on finding Sierra
,
and not what would happen if he couldn’t.

He almost turned around and ran to the lake, but this area was the most logical, and he forced himself to slow down and keep searching.  He knew he needed to be methodical
,
and not emotional.
 He couldn’t go running willy-nilly around this place.  He could check the lake, after he checked this piece of woods
next to
near
the area
the festival
had been
grounds
.

He stilled, and listened, willing his ragged breathing to hush.
 Did he hear something?  Yes!  He heard a slight whimper to his right.  Turning, and crashing through the underbrush, he whipped branches and vines out of his way, cursing as he went.

“Sierra!
 Are you here?”

“Dalton?”  A weak voice, filled with tears came from the dark woods.

“Oh, God, baby.  I’m coming, keep talking to me, baby!”  He ran in the direction her voice was coming from, hearing her cries as he came closer.  

Then he found the little girl, huddled in a ball of lavender tulle and sequins, tears streaming down her face.

“Are you okay?  Sierra?  I’ve got you...Shhh...”  He knelt down next to her as he pulled the walkie-talkie out of his belt.  “I’ve got her.  I’m checking for injuries, and I’ll bring her back.”  He spoke quickly into the handset, before putting it back on his belt.

He quickly, yet gently ran his fingers up and down her legs and arms, before checking her torso for marks.
 It felt like she had twisted her ankle, maybe sprained it.

His walkie-talkie squawked.
 “Dalton?  Is she okay?”

“Just a minute.
 I’m checking.  She seems to be mostly okay.”

“Did you hurt yourself, Sierra?”
 She nodded, tearfully.  “You’re ankle?”  Another nod.  “Do you think I could carry you back to your mommy and daddy?”  She held up her arms in response, and he lifted her gently and started walking back. He felt her relax in his arms, as she began crying in earnest.

“I know, sugar.
 It’s okay, you can cry.  I bet that was scary, but you’re okay now.  I’ve got you.”  He held her close to his chest
,
and tried to walk slowly, so as not to hurt her ankle.
 She weighed nothing, so he pulled the walkie-talkie off his belt as he walked with her.

“She’s got a bad ankle sprain, and she’s scared, but she’s going to be okay.”
 Dalton said into the speaker,
and then
wait
ing
ed
for a response.  It came quickly.

“Thank God, Dalton.
 Thank you.”  It was Alyssa’s voice, and she was crying.

“Sshhh. Alyssa.
 She’s okay.  We’re coming back.  I’ve got her.  It’s going to be okay.”