Next Door Secrets (Secrets Series Book 2) (2 page)

CHAPTER THREE

It was late.
Darkness had fallen hours ago and still no sign of
Kaylee’s
father. Beth turned off the TV as the second Voyager episode ended and rubbed
her sweaty palms on her pants. “Where does your daddy work?”

“He’s a policeman.
Like on TV.”

Beth had never
seen him wearing a uniform, but that job would explain his working long hours.
Maybe he’d been tied up responding to a crime or worse, injured in the line of
duty. “I’ll call the police station and let him know you’re here.”

Kaylee
shrugged. She seemed content to watch endless hours
of TV, but Beth wondered what kind of father would leave his daughter alone for
this long.

Beth called the
local police and asked for Officer Stein. When a man’s voice answered, Beth’s
shoulders unclenched a little. “I wanted to let you know that your daughter,
Kaylee
, lost her house key and she’s at my place.”

“I don’t have a
daughter.” He sounded very business-like.

“Is there another
Officer Stein?”

“Not on duty,
ma’am.”

“Sorry to bother
you.” She hung up the phone and looked at
Kaylee
. “Is
your dad at work right now or somewhere else?”

“At work.”

Now Beth didn’t
know what to say. “Can you remember his phone number? Do you have a grandma or
anybody we could call?”

“Nope.”

She was running
out of ideas. Then she thought of it. Mrs.
Krandall
,
the landlady. She might have Jim Stein’s work number on his application.
Digging through the drawer, she found the apartment’s flier and dialed. “Hello?
This is Bethany Morris in 1247. I was wondering if you have a work number for
my neighbor in 1246. His little girl lost her key and can’t get in to her
apartment.”

“You mean
Kaylee
?
Such beautiful eyes.
If
she ever loses the baby fat, the boys will be lined up around the corner.”

Beth cringed, all
too familiar with the phrase, “You’d be pretty if you only lost some weight.”
Taking a deep breath, she chose to not give the woman a lecture on the delicate
self-esteem of a chubby girl. “Do you have the number? I’m sure he’d want to
know
Kaylee
is locked out.”

“You can’t leave
an eight-year-old alone. That’s against the law.”

“She isn’t alone.
She’s with me, but I’d like to inform her father.” Frustrated by Mrs.
Krandall’s
jabbering, Beth gripped the receiver tight.

“Let me see if I
can find it.” There was the sound of footsteps, a file cabinet drawer squeaking
and then. “Ah-ha. Here it is.”

Beth copied down
the number and quickly excused herself from the conversation. She dialed, but
no one answered. She hung up and dialed again. Still nothing.

“I’m hungry,”
Kaylee
announced.

Beth made her way
to the kitchen and opened every door until she found something that could feed
more than one. Between hitting “redial,” she cooked veggie burgers and sweet
potato fries she’d found in the freezer.

After they both
took their first bites,
Kaylee
made a funny face.
“That’s not a hamburger!”

“It’s called a
Boca burger. It’s good for you.”

“But I don’t like
food that’s good for me.”

Beth chuckled. “I
like mine with barbecue sauce, but you’re welcome to use ketchup or mustard.”
She gestured toward the condiments on the table.

The girl took
another bite and chewed slowly. “I guess it’s not too bad.” She squirted
ketchup on it and polished off her meal without any more complaints. After they
loaded the dishwasher, Beth ran next door to make sure the wind hadn’t blown
away the note. It was still there. She knocked, but Jim didn’t answer so she went
back to her apartment and started another Voyager episode.

Taking the phone,
she snuck into her bedroom and called the area hospitals checking for a Jim
Stein. The answer was always no. Sighing with relief and frustration, she
returned to the living room. Where
was
he?

At the end of the
show, the clock struck ten. Beth wasn’t sure when bedtime should be for an
eight–year-old, but she felt as if it was by now. On the other hand, she
didn’t want
Kaylee
to worry about why her dad wasn’t
putting her to bed. “Want to have a slumber party?”

“What’s that?”

“We put on
p.j.s
and brush each other’s hair and tell ghost stories.”

“I don’t like
ghosts. They’re scary.”

“We can skip the
stories. Maybe paint our nails instead.”

Clapping her
hands,
Kaylee
jumped up and down.

When Beth headed
for her bedroom, the little girl followed like a puppy. Beth opened her dresser
drawer and pulled out an Indiana University T-shirt. She held it up in front of
Kaylee
and it fell past the girl’s knees. “You can
sleep in this.” For herself she selected a green plaid L.L. Bean
night gown
that Parker said made her look like a farmer’s
wife. Well, she didn’t care. It was warm and cozy. Then she headed for the
bathroom for her brush. Searching under the sink, she found ponytail holders,
barrettes and some
rarely-used
pink nail polish. “Have
you ever painted your nails?”

Kaylee
shook her head.

“Do you want to?”

“Oh, yes!”

“Sit down and I’ll
do your toes.” Instantly
Kaylee
plopped down on the
bathroom tile and stuck her feet out. “Can we do my fingers, too?”

“Sure. But you won’t
be able to touch anything for a while.”

Beth shook the
bottle and listened to the tiny beads click against the glass. In college, her
roommate, Ivy had painted her nails every Thursday night in anticipation of her
weekend dates. Beth had occasionally joined her in the painting party, despite
spending her Friday nights alone in front of the TV. No amount of primping
could hide the fact that she had too many curves. Closing her eyes, Beth tried
to shut out the memories.

“What’s wrong?”
Kaylee
asked.

“Nothing.” Why did
she still let the past bother her? She had a handsome boyfriend now. Was it
possible he might reconcile with Ivy?
 

She forced herself
to focus on the here and now. It only took one swipe of the
paint
brush
on each of
Kaylee’s
tiny nails, so she
was done quickly.

A grin spread over
Kaylee’s
face. “Pretty!” She wiggled her pink fingers
and toes.

Beth reached for
her hairbrush and started stroking
Kaylee’s
hair. It
was so dark it almost looked black and it had a subtle peach scent that must’ve
been from her shampoo. She inhaled and smiled. “You have shiny hair.”

“I got it from my
Mommy. She was an Indian princess like Pocahontas.”

Beth wasn’t sure
whether to believe her or not. “What tribe was she?”

“Cherokee. They
were the only tribe to have their own written language.”

Maybe the girl
knew what she was talking about. She got her hair from her mom, but where did
she get those hauntingly blue eyes?

After their
primping party, Beth got a set of flannel sheets and wrapped them around the love
seat cushions. “You can sleep out here. It’s just your size.” A flash of
lightening shone through the horizontal blinds.

Kaylee’s
eyes grew wide with fear. “Can’t I sleep with
you?”

“No. But I’ll
leave the door open so if you need anything, I’ll hear you.”

They crawled into
their beds. Outside the storm raged on with random
thunder
claps
rattling the window panes. The rain sounded as if it had turned to
sleet.

Five minutes
later,
Kaylee
stood next to Beth’s face. “Can’t I
sleep in here? I promise I’ll be quiet.”

Even though she
had a queen-sized bed, Beth worried how it would look.

“
Pleeeeeease
.”
Kaylee’s
hands clasped
together in prayer.

Beth paused. “I
could sleep on the couch and you can be in here.”

“No. I want to be
next to you. I’m scared. My mommy used to let me sleep in her bed whenever it
rained.”

And now she didn’t
have a mommy. A lump in Beth’s throat nearly choked her. Finally, she relented
and lifted up the sheets.
Kaylee
climbed in and
covered her head with the pillow. Since it was probably way past her bedtime, it
didn’t take long for her breaths to switch from shallow to deep. Curled up like
a comma, her body radiated heat and serenity. Happy that her mere presence
brought comfort, Beth enjoyed listening to the child’s steady breathing.

At some point, the
rhythm of the rain lured Beth to sleep, too.

Until pounding on
the front door jerked her awake. The glow-in-the-dark alarm clock displayed ten
forty-six.
Kaylee
wrestled with the covers and rolled
over.

Beth leaped out of
bed and jogged to the living room. She looked through the door's
peep hole
and saw an angry man scowling at her.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Dressed in a black
Harley-Davidson leather jacket, the unshaven man held her crumpled note in his
hand. “Where’s my daughter?”

Recognizing Jim
Stein, Beth opened the door wider. “Hi! I see the storm finally passed.” He
ignored her.

Rubbing her eyes,
Kaylee
stumbled in from the bedroom in her too-big T-shirt
and bare feet. “Daddy!” She gave him a hug around his knees.

Cringing, Beth
worried that
Kaylee
wasn’t bundled up enough for the
chill Jim had ushered into the foyer. “She lost her key and I couldn’t let her
sit outside, so I invited her in.”

Kaylee
held out her fingers. “We had hot chocolate and
watched TV and look! Beth painted my nails.” The girl grinned until she glanced
at her father’s stern face.

His back remained
rigid. “Get dressed so we can go home.”

Kaylee
grabbed the clothes that Beth had left folded beside
the couch and headed for the bathroom.

He pointed his
finger toward the bedroom. “Is that your room? Were you sleeping with
Kaylee
?”

Feeling dirty, she
crossed her arms. “I fixed up the sofa, but she got scared from the thunder.
She said she used to sleep in her mom’s bed whenever it stormed.” Fidgeting,
she wished she’d put on her robe before answering the door to a strange man. “I
tried calling you at the police station, but they said you weren’t there.”

“Of course I
wasn’t. I’m not a criminal.”

“
Kaylee
said you were a police officer.”

He shook his head.
“You must’ve misunderstood her. I drive a truck.”

Beth swallowed her
protest. How could she have misunderstood that? “Anyway, she lost her key and
didn’t remember your cell number. I called the landlady, but no one answered at
the number on your application, either.”

“I just switched
jobs.”

“Oh.” Beth watched
Kaylee
return to the room and pull on her coat and
frayed mittens. “Anyway, she was no trouble at all. In fact, if you ever need a
babysitter, let me know.” She smiled at
Kaylee
who
returned her glowing expression.

He shook his head.
“Won’t be necessary. My sister babysits. She was supposed to come over tonight
after work.” He waved his hand dismissively. “It’s none of your business.”

Ignoring his
gruffness, Beth waved at
Kaylee
. “Good night.” After
waving back,
Kaylee
took her dad’s hand and stepped
outside.

Jim Stein did not
respond. Not even with a thank you, which made Beth wonder what else he was
holding back.

# #
#

The private line
rang in Parker’s office and he hoped it was Beth. Last night they’d had to
cancel their date and after seeing Ivy, he’d really wanted to spend time with
his girlfriend. He wanted to gaze into the eyes of someone who’d take in a
little girl she didn’t know just because she needed a warm place to stay. He
scanned e-mails as he reached for the ringing phone.

“It’s a boy!”
Ivy’s lyrical voice came over the line, but it sounded a little off.

“Is he all right?
You said he’s early.”

“He’s tiny, but he
seems OK. Three weeks early.”

He stopped reading
his e-mail. Ivy didn’t have the emotional or financial stamina for a preemie.
“Is there anything I can do?”

“
Aww
. Just yesterday you couldn’t wait to dash out the door
to get away from me. Now you’re acting like you care.”

“I do care. It’s
an innocent baby.”

 
“Do you want to see him?”

He gripped the
phone tight enough that his hand hurt. “Send me a picture.” It was hard for him
to be so cold, but he wanted Ivy out of his life.

 
Silence hovered between them until she
broke it. “This boy is going to need a father.”

“You’re right. But
just because you’re alone doesn’t mean I’m going to swoop in and be your knight
in shining armor. I've spent too many years playing that role and I’m through.”

“You know in the
eyes of the law, he’s yours.”

He flinched
despite the fact that his attorney had already informed him of the antiquated
law. “I also know now that he’s born, we can finalize the divorce.” Apparently,
in Indiana you can’t divorce your wife while she’s pregnant. Even if the child
belongs to another man.

“You’re ruining
what should be the happiest moment of my life.”

He sighed. “Don’t
blame this on me, Ivy. Good bye.” He slammed down the receiver. Damn, that
woman could get under his skin.

Shaking away
thoughts of Ivy, he strode out the door and down the hallway. The best way to
forget about her was to focus on work. He’d check on the interns. As he
approached the water cooler, he noticed the conversation between the three
college students abruptly stopped. They raised their paper cups to him. “Good
morning, Mr.
DuBois
.”

He nodded toward
the nearby conference room. “Let’s talk.”

The two males and
one female followed him into the room with the large mahogany table and
floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, the sun glistened on cars driving through
the puddles left by yesterday’s storm. Within twenty-four hours, the
temperature had fluctuated from the forties to the sixties. “Welcome to
springtime in Indiana.”

They chuckled. “I
can’t wait to go to Florida,” one of the guys said.

Was that one Larry
or Michael? Parker kept getting them confused. They looked like brothers--both
had brown hair, average-looking builds—except one of them appeared to be
trying to grow a moustache. They were from nearby Notre Dame’s business school
and did everything together. The woman, however, was from Parker’s alma mater,
Indiana University, and he always remembered her name was Elaine.

“Are you going
there for Spring Break?” Parker asked them.

“No, don’t you
remember?” one of the guys said. “You needed us to work over Spring Break, so
you said we could take a week as soon as we finished our project.”

The other guy
laced his fingers behind his head and smiled. “Two more weeks and we’re outta
here.”

Parker hated that
they could see how fuzzy his memory could be. Just then his focus landed on his
hands. Sure enough, they were twitching so he moved them under the table. “Of
course. What are you working on today?”

Elaine, who’d
tried to tame her
corkscrew
curls with a low ponytail,
made eye contact with the other interns before speaking. “Well, we were waiting
to hear what you wanted from us. You said you needed us today, but didn’t give
us any details.”

Again Parker
searched his brain. Yesterday he’d received that frantic call from Ivy and on
the way out the door, he’d noticed the interns around the water cooler laughing
a little too loudly. He was paying them good money on top of giving them
valuable experience and it made him mad to see them goofing off. They spent way
too much time swapping stories at the water cooler. But what did he intend for
them to work on today? He couldn’t recall.

He ran his hand
through his hair. “Part of this internship is for you to take initiative. I
want you to go over the Mall Land sales figures for each of our locations and
tell me about trends. Why are sales higher in Indianapolis than in Lansing?
What should we do to make Mall Land more profitable? Use your brains. Impress
me. Stop waiting for me to tell you what to do. I’m not your father.” As the
last sentence slipped from his mouth, he stood and marched out the door.

Out in the hall,
he heard the interns whispering. “What’s wrong with him?” “Do you think he’s on
something?” “Did you see his hands trembling?”

Shit. He couldn’t
keep his secret much longer.