Until Then (Cornerstone Book 2) (32 page)

She glanced over at Sean, who looked so handsome in a team jersey. His father-in-law’s company had sponsored Aaron’s team and paid for their uniforms. Michelle found herself wondering what it would be like to be a part of their life for real. She imagined herself driving Aaron to games, taking Ashley to the mall, going places together as a … family. She pushed the thought out of her mind as fast as it came. Maybe she wasn’t meant to have a happy family life. Maybe it wasn’t in God’s will for her.

The boys scrambled out of the van the second Sean shifted into park and ran across the field toward their coach. They flew out the door so fast, Michelle almost got whiplash.

“Wow! They are really excited about soccer. Are they always like this?”

“Pretty much.” Sean suddenly jumped out of the van and hollered after them. “Hey! Grab the cooler!”

Aaron and a couple of the boys returned, grumbling as they carried the heavy cooler to the sidelines.

Michelle couldn’t help but giggle at how slowly they were moving, compared to how fast they had been just moments before.

Sean walked to the back of the van and retrieved a couple of camp chairs.

As they walked toward the soccer field, Sean reached for her hand, his fingertips brushing her palm.

She moved her hand away.

He didn’t respond to her snub, but she could tell he wasn’t happy about it.

The soccer tournament was a great success for Aaron and his team, but not so for Michelle and Sean. They sat in silence most of the time, except when they were cheering Aaron on or commenting on the game. It wasn’t the ideal place to have a serious conversation.

Aaron’s team won all their games and took home a trophy. Even more exciting, Aaron scored the winning goal in their final game.

“He’s really good,” Michelle commented.

“He wants to keep playing on into high school. He loves it.”

“Maybe he’ll get a scholarship like his dad.”

Sean didn’t reply. She wasn’t sure if the sad look on his face was because he had lost that scholarship or because of how things were between them at the moment.

The pizza celebration was loud and rambunctious. The place was filled with several teams, parents, and siblings. It was noisy, to say the least.

Afterwards, they went from house to house again, dropping the boys off. Sean’s van should have had a taxi sign on top.

When they arrived home, the house was completely dark. It should not have been.

“Ashley!” Sean cried as they ran through the mud room. “Ashley!”

Aaron ran upstairs and looked in all the rooms. Sean ran downstairs to the family room. Michelle stood helplessly in the kitchen while they looked.

Ashley had stayed home from the soccer game with plans to go to her aunt and uncle’s house in the afternoon. Alex wanted her to come over and help his younger siblings color Easter eggs, or so she had said. Sean had agreed to it, but she was supposed to be home right after dinner.

The house was silent. No Ashley.

Sean called his brother in a panic. “Is Ashley there?”

Michelle prayed for her, that she was safe, wherever she was. And she prayed that Ashley hadn’t done any number of stupid things she herself had done at thirteen.

“OK. If you hear from her, call me on my cell.” He hung up and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Maybe she’s with Brandon,” Aaron said.

“She better not be with that punk,” he snapped loudly.

Aaron winced.

Sean sadly lowered his head and wrapped his arms around his son. “I’m sorry, bud. I’m just worried.”

“Does she have her cell phone on her?” Michelle asked.

Sean nodded. “She never goes anywhere without it.”

“You could call it,” Michelle suggested.

Sean pulled his phone out.

Michelle laid her hand on his. “Wait! That might spook her.”

“Hold on!” Aaron suddenly declared, and he ran upstairs to Ashley’s room.

They followed close behind.

Aaron seated himself at Ashley’s desk, opened her laptop, and started scrolling through the posts on her Facebook wall.

Sean hovered over him.

“Somebody tagged her in some photos,” Aaron announced. “See.” He clicked on one that showed Ashley with a couple of her friends at a party, then scrolled through several others, including one of her kissing a guy. His face was not clearly visible in the photo.

“That’s gotta be Brandon,” Sean stated with gritted teeth.

Michelle pointed at the screen. “It looks like they were just posted an hour ago.”

Aaron clicked through a few more.

“Look,” Michelle grabbed Sean’s arm. “That one says ‘Party at Brandon’s’.”

Sean was out the door before she finished her sentence. He called his brother, and they dropped Aaron off at his house on the way.

As they drove across town, Sean was seething.

“You need to calm down and have a level head when you go in there,” Michelle told him.

He gripped the steering wheel so hard his fingers turned white. “I’m not gonna calm down. My daughter is somewhere she knows she’s not supposed to be.”

Michelle said nothing more.

Brandon’s house was old and run-down and not in a very nice neighborhood. The yard was overflowing with cars, and there was loud, thumping music coming from within.

Michelle followed behind Sean as he entered through the front door.

There were lots of underage kids drinking, smoking pot, and making out. A strong feeling of deja vu hit Michelle. She had been at parties just like this when she was Ashley’s age. She had been the girl getting high and making out with older guys.

They walked from room to room, scanning the crowd for Ashley. Sean started calling out her name, which drew strange looks from the kids. As they reached the back of the house, they finally found her curled up in a ball in the corner of a dark stairway. The expression on Sean’s face at the sight of his daughter broke Michelle’s heart.

“Ashley.”

Ashley’s face was tear-streaked, her eyes wide with horror. “Dad? What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“Let’s go.”

She broke down sobbing, and he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the house.

Michelle slid open the side door of the van, and Sean lowered Ashley onto the seat.

“Are you OK? Are you hurt?” he asked.

Michelle reached into her purse, pulled out a tissue, and started to wipe Ashley’s tears.

Ashley slapped her hand away. “Don’t! You’re not my mom.”

She was close enough to smell alcohol on Ashley’s breath.

Sean paced back and forth beside the van. She could tell he was doing everything he could to keep control.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “Did someone hurt you?”

“Brandon,” she whimpered.

Sean spun around and covered his face with his hands. He was very close to losing it.

“What did he do to you?” Michelle asked.

“I found him in bed with my friend, Ari.” She spoke through more tears.

Sean turned and looked at her. “He didn’t touch you?”

“Nobody touched me, Dad.”

He let out a relieved sigh. “You are so lucky, young lady. Do you know what could have happened to you tonight?”

Ashley didn’t reply, and he slid the van door closed between them and climbed behind the steering wheel.

Michelle returned to the passenger seat and looked over at him.

He took a few deep breaths in and out, then started the van.

“Do you want me to drive home?” Michelle asked.

“I’m fine,” he cried.

He was far from fine. And neither was his daughter.

Back at the house, there was a lot of yelling and slamming of doors. Michelle sat at the kitchen table and prayed for them. She wished she could help. As she sat there, the image of her screaming at her mother, slamming her bedroom door, then sneaking out later that night popped into her mind. And she suddenly saw the entire situation from her mother’s perspective. She suddenly understood that helpless feeling a parent gets when their child is out of control and they have no idea what to do about it.

Sean came stomping down the stairs after Ashley locked herself in the bathroom to get cleaned up from the party. He plopped down at the table next to Michelle and rested his head in his hands. “Bet you’re glad you came to visit, huh?”

“I am, actually. I think I can help you.”

He looked up at her, exhausted and at a loss. “How?”

“When we walked into that party tonight, it was like stepping back in time. That was my life. Exactly my life.”

He listened intently as she shared about her partying ways, losing her virginity at Ashley’s age, thinking she had to put out for guys to like her.

“I’ve been where she is right now. Maybe I did it for different reasons, but we’re the same.”

“But how can you help?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I can just tell her my story. See if she’ll at least listen to me. It’s worth a try.”

“I’m open to anything at this point.” His head sank back into his hands.

Michelle took a seat at Ashley’s desk and waited for her to return to her room. She had no idea how this conversation would go, but she had to try. Her stomach was tied up in knots. She wanted to help, so much. She wanted to make things better for Ashley. But if this didn’t go well, she would have to walk down those stairs and see the disappointment in a father’s eyes.

Lord, please help me. Give me the right words to get through to her.

“Get out of my room!” Ashley cried when she spotted Michelle.

Michelle held her hands up. “I come in peace.”

“Whatever! Just get out!” Ashley picked up some clothes from the floor and threw them into her hamper.

“I thought you might wanna talk to someone other than your dad.”

“Well, you thought wrong,” Ashley snapped. She walked over and sat down at her vanity.

Michelle was quiet for a few minutes, while Ashley combed through her wet locks.

“You can go now.” Ashley stared at Michelle’s reflection in the mirror.

“I grew up in Chicago, too. Did you know that? I lived in the city with my mom in a crappy little apartment.”

“Who cares.”

Michelle ignored her and continued. “My parents weren’t around very much, so I could pretty much do whatever I wanted and get away with it.”

Ashley grabbed her cell phone and started checking her messages, but still Michelle talked.

“And I did for the most part. I went all over town with my friends. We went to parties, got drunk, smoked pot. We thought we were so cool.”

Ashley glanced at her, then back at her phone.

“I used to be so in love with this guy, Tyler. He was sixteen, a couple years older than me, and I thought he was everything.”

Ashley rolled her eyes.

“But he was a lot more experienced than me, and I thought the only way to get him to like me was to put out. So we got really drunk at a party one night, and I lost my virginity to him on some kid’s parents’ bed.” Michelle paused. She was surprised how raw the emotions were, and she fought back tears. “I’ve never told anyone but your dad about that.”

Ashley looked over at her and set down her phone. She reached for a tissue and held it out to Michelle.